Gamifying Digital and Physical Travel Loyalty

In this episode of the Travel Buddy Podcast, hosts Rachel Satow and Ian Andersen have an in-depth discussion on the power of gamification in the travel industry. The conversation explores the evolution of gamification, from its surprising historical roots to its modern applications across loyalty programs and on-the-ground travel experiences. With engaging real-world examples and practical advice, this episode reveals how tapping into human motivation through creative gamification can enhance traveler engagement and drive real business results. Tune in to discover how blending digital and physical touchpoints can transform both customer and employee journeys.

Chapters
(00:01) Origins and Evolution of Gamification
(02:28) Motivators Behind Gamification in Travel
(05:31) Real-World Examples and Digital Blending
(10:26) Stimulus-Reward and Business Applications
(15:30) Classic Campaigns and Revenue Impact
(20:17) Creating Seamless, Human-Centered Journeys
(22:26) Practical Implementation and Strategic Takeaways

Continue your journey
The History of Gamification
Gamification in Travel
Engaging and Retaining Customers in the Travel Industry with Gamification

Connect with Switchfly
Website: https://www.switchfly.com/
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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SwitchflyOfficial

Creators and Guests

Host

Ian Andersen

Demand Gen & Marketing Operations Manager

Host

Rachel Satow

Senior Marketing Strategist

What is Travel Buddy with Switchfly?

See more at Switchfly.com

Welcome to Travel Buddy,
presented by Switchfly.

In this podcast, we talk about all
things travel, rewards, and loyalty.

Let's get to it.

Brandon Giella: Hello and welcome to
another episode of The Travel Buddy

podcast presented by Switch Fly.

And I have, as, always we have Rachel
Ow and Ian Anderson joining the show.

today we are gonna be talking about
a little bit of the history of

gamification and much more about
how to combine gamification with

in-person experiences before, during,
and after our travel experience.

as we get started here, we have,
Gamification as a, I guess a

strategy, if you will, has been
around for 150, maybe 200 years.

you guys have a great blog post about
this called The Evolution of Gamification.

Go check it [e-mail].

And this blog post talks about how
in the 1820s there was a game that

was set up essentially, to create.

basically get more
engagement from the users.

And then that turned into
coupons and turned into a lot

of other modes of gamification.

And then when you had, really powerful
big data and cloud computing in the 2010s,

you saw this take shape in new ways that
developed into HR technology, rewards

and recognition, engagement technology.

And we see this proliferating throughout
a lot of aspects of the economy.

So.

That's kind of a, a
very, very brief history.

We have other episodes on that,
so go, go take a listen to those.

But I want to hear, from your perspective,
Rachel, tell me a little bit about

your perspective of gamification
briefly as you're seeing it, and then

how you've got these three, I guess
modes in the travel experience with

pre-trip, during trip and post trip.

How, Gamification can blend
physical and digital worlds.

So with that set up, take
us away a little bit.

Rachel.

Tell us, tell us what you're thinking.

Mm-hmm.

Rachel Satow: Yeah, for sure, for sure.

You gave a great overview of the blog.

You know, I.

This has been such a fun topic to
research just for most of our content,

but also for, you know, thinking of ways
that loyalty programs can really, you

know, expand their design philosophies.

It.

Going back to what you had mentioned
about, you know, this idea of gamification

really starting in the 18 hundreds with
the Game Creeks bill, which was that

tactical military game, and, you know,
it, it really became a structured learning

program for, the driving, the, the
design and engagement and performance of.

You know, individuals in the military
in the 18 hundreds, which is kind

of crazy to think about that those,
those principles still apply today.

but one of the things that, I.

just wanna hammer home is it doesn't
matter the evolution that it is undergone.

The reason gamification works is
because it's rooted in our intrinsic

behaviors and our motivators.

So if you think about
things like achievement.

Rewarding curiosity.

Those are all things that satisfy
this like element of human desire.

and that's why the idea of gamification,
I don't think will ever really go away.

It'll just transform as
technology and data transforms.

To answer your second part about how
we're really seeing it from a travel

perspective, I think there's always
going to be a way to create this

loop From a, a loyalty perspective.

You're, you're thinking about how
can you tap into, specifically for

travel, that pre-trip engagement, the.

During trip engagement and then
the post trip engagement that

all kind of stemmed together.

So when you're thinking about gamification
and how it can be applied for, for

travel, you know, there's plenty of
opportunities from a research perspective

to tap into the idea of engagement
and utilize, you know, what certain

search queries are people utilizing
on your platform that you know.

You can have them, you know, do certain
planning elements and perhaps throw a

couple hundred points here and there.

and then actually on the trip you have
all of that data, all of that first party

data that you have received from their
bookings, you know, where they're staying,

you know the certain areas they're going
to be in, if they have any activities

that they've, they've got planned.

You can always prompt.

During their trip.

Some, you know, visit this or
check in here to, to get a badge

or to get, you know, some, some
additional points here and there.

And the idea behind that really is how
can you take the inherently digital idea

of gamification that we know today and.

Tap into how they are actually traveling
and, and certain things that would

enhance the trip, not detract from it.

Brandon Giella: That's right.

That's right.

So, you have mentioned there's an
example, and I wanna bring a, an example

in like in, into the conversation
because it's not just theory.

It's not just like, oh, this sounds
really great, you know, based on

research because it is actually
something that's very effective.

And you mentioned the Visit Norway app.

Can you tell us about that?

I think that's such a great example.

Rachel Satow: Yeah.

So Visit Norway has an app called,
fairytale Finder, and it is a, an app

that is geared towards families, but it
essentially creates routes and games for

travelers who are exploring Norway to
find hidden gems throughout the country.

and it's, it's a really cool
example of how, you know.

We have these little
machines in our pockets.

And when you are going, you know,
on these really elaborate trips, how

can, how can organizations, you know,
utilize the technology that they have

at their fingertips to, encourage
more engagement, both with a digital

aspect, but also with, you know.

These beautiful places that
individuals are traveling to.

So the Visit Norway app and the the
Fairytale Finder was a pretty cool

example of like, it's, you know, catching
trolls in the backseat of the car.

And then when you stop at this, you know,
beautiful overlook or whatever it may

be, this destination, you know, you're,
you're tying the experience altogether,

both from a digital perspective and then
what you're seeing in the real world.

Brandon Giella: that's so cool.

And I, so there's other examples.

So we were talking about this before we
started recording, because again, you

know, gamification has been a topic for.

plus years at least in the, the kind
of tech world that we're all in.

but it, it still has a, a
very valuable role to play.

And so there's a couple of
of small examples about this.

One is, there's this, support
platform that I've been using lately.

It's called Fernan get fernan.com,

and it's got these, what they
call psychological levers.

one of them is called Hicks Law, where
it's, you look at one thing at a time.

So as you're going through support
tickets, you see only one at a time.

And it says That alone reduces the anxiety
of being like really overwhelmed by stuff.

And then there's a, a welcome screen
that shows you how many tickets are

available and how many time, how
long it takes to get to inbox zero.

And that psychological lever is
called progressive disclosure.

And then they've got another one
that says, progress to inbox zero.

And so the psychological lever there
is the goal gradient effect, which

basically says how much time or, or
basically how much progress you're

making so you don't get overwhelmed.

those are just very small examples
that show like if you just have these

small delights in the experience, you
can actually really improve, the, the

kind of overall experience where you're
just gamifying these little things.

And I will say, I am not a sucker
for these kind of things, and

I love these little delights.

And so, and you, you, Rachel, when we
were, talking about this before, you

mentioned Clickup being another example
where you're like, you're gamified into

your project management and you're,
it, it like activates your competitive

nature, which I think is awesome.

Rachel Satow: Yeah, yeah.

shout out to Clickup for, you know,
making me wanna be competitive and

earning a little badge on my profile.

But, yeah, to your point,
gamification is all about tapping

into these intrinsic behavioral
cues that, you know, as much as we.

to say that we are not, we are not,
ones to fall for certain things.

Like they always come back.

Something's, you just have to
find the right thing to, to

get people engaged in, in this.

But, yeah, I, I love the, the
app call out that you had.

Brandon Giella: we also, we
talked about, Google Maps,

Rachel Satow: Mm-hmm.

Brandon Giella: get notifications
about my reviews from years ago, and

it says like, you're a, you know,
local guide, you know, for my area.

and then there's Pokemon Go.

We talked about Pokemon Go.

That still.

Okay.

So this was launched in 2016.

It was like ar very sophisticated
technology at the time,

now less sophisticated.

You can, you can do this more
easily now, but there's still tens

of millions of users on Pokemon Go
generating millions and millions

and millions of dollars, of revenue.

it's just, it's, it's like still a
thing that's still really powerful

and I think there's a lot of ways
that, you guys talk about bringing

that into the travel experience.

Ian Andersen: Yeah.

it's not a new idea, right?

Like, I mean you mentioned that that
blog post we wrote a while back.

and I think even since then, depending
on how exactly you wanna classify,

you could go back even farther, right?

Like of, of, all gamification is, is
trying to excite that reward stimulus

reward center in your brain, right?

It's the reason why.

Over a third of all app downloads
on, on, phones are games.

there, there's something evolutionary
in us that, that enjoys those sort

of quick rewards for, for, you
know, completing a, a certain.

so I think especially with airlines,
there's a, there's a lot of different

ways to take advantage of that.

you know, Rachel brought up
the, the visit Norway that,

you know, it's not specifically
airline, but travel in general.

my how old are Miles programs, right?

Those are a form of gamification, right?

There are several different
ways you can do that.

You can do it as, an actual way to,
to sell product right to, to, to.

to give people either physical
or, or digital, rewards for,

for completing certain things.

I know, I have a, airline credit
card that, depending on my spending

tier, I get, you know, not only the,
the miles, but like, access to the

lounges or drink, you know, drink
up, upgrades on the on, on flight.

and then there's also.

The, the other way of just sort
of the bragging rights, right?

That it's not necessarily something
you're giving, giving away.

it is.

How many different apps do we
have that have some sort of badge?

for the random one, I listen
to a ton of audio books.

I mean, that's, I don't really
listen to a lot of music.

It's mostly just audio books.

So I've had Audible for over 10 years and,
They have these badges on, you know, if

you do certain things, you know, you get
these badges and some of them are crazy.

Like some of them you have to
specifically try to get right.

Like, listen for 3D to three
different books for, you know, 10

minutes each in one day, or, you
know, just something like that.

Like some sort of random thing.

You're not necessarily.

Gonna get if you're
just using the product.

But, you, you have to try to get it.

And, and what that's doing for,
the customer, for, for the user is,

is creating that sense of reward.

Rewarding those badges is
getting you to engage more.

And what it's doing for the company
is, maybe I only engage with this

product in one very specific way and
they're trying to bri, broaden my.

My engagement, you know, show me
different features, make me use it

in a way I wouldn't normally use
it, to, to then hopefully expand,

the what I use it for, right?

So, as far as as Switch fly, you
know, we are a travel platform.

We, we offer, our customers a, a, a
space for their customers and users

and employees and, whatever, to.

A, purchase travel through, and we work
directly with our customers to develop

certain kinds of programs, whether it's
marketing, a way to, to, you know, package

certain features together, whatever.

And all of that stuff can be used
in gamification because like I said,

all at the end of the day, all it is,
is, is, is, stimulus response, right.

Brandon Giella: Hmm.

Ian Andersen: Anything can be a game.

Like how many emails do you, you
could send a marketing email.

I, I'm not sure I would do this, but
I mean, theoretically you could, you

could send a marketing email that says
something like, the person that opens

the most marketing emails over the next
month is gonna win, $500 travel credit.

Or, you know, just something like, you
could literally do it with anything.

So they can be very simple like that,
or they can be much more complex.

like some of the other examples
that you and Rachel had mentioned?

Brandon Giella: Or, or
like the Monopoly game.

You mentioned that

Ian Andersen: Oh, my
favorite, my favorite.

I, I do think it is the epitome
of, of product gamification, right?

I mean, I, I remember as a kid, I,
I am, I am an elder millennial, so I

don't know how many pe people listening
are my age or older, but, I remember

begging my parents to go to McDonald's,
so during like the Monopoly game stuff,

and I had my little board, you know,
and I'd peel it off and stick 'em on

there, and they never stuck very well.

So my mom would have to like
scotch tape 'em down and, it, it

was, and, and as a kid I had no
idea what McDonald's was doing.

I thought it was a fun game, right.

and I think most people don't.

Necessarily think of it as gamification
per se, that that example or others,

they think of it as, as, you know,
they understand that this company's

trying to get me to engage with them
to buy their product or whatever.

But like, I don't think they
necessarily think about the

gamification side of things.

Right.

And, and for me it was just like a
cool thing McDonald's was doing and

I wanted to go get some more Monopoly
tickets and or, you know, stickers.

And I knew like.

If I got the medium soda and the large
McNuggets, or like I, I knew as like a

eight, 9-year-old kid how to maximize
the amount of tickets I could get

or, you know, monopoly pieces I could
get for a certain amount of money.

and all that stuff just is
for a relatively simple idea.

I'm sure just an incredible boost in ROI.

Brandon Giella: Yeah, I was about to
say, so I don't know the details of

this, and I think that ended up being
a kind of like a legal battle and a

Ian Andersen: Yeah.

Yeah.

It might not have ended so well.

Yes.

Follow through with your gamification.

If you promise something,
make sure you give it to 'em.

Yeah.

Brandon Giella: Yes.

But, but the point, and this is where
we're going with all this, obviously,

the point of it is that I, I would
love to see like a baseline study

of like, what was their revenue?

Pre Monopoly game and then during Monopoly
game, like what was the increase or

the alpha, you could say, in revenue
that they drove because of that game.

Or like the Oval teen
game in a Christmas story.

Or like Beanie Babies turning their, their
collecting the, the animals into a game.

Like by just creating this kind of
design and thinking through how you

could activate that competitive spirit.

most people, I think almost
all humans except for me.

Have that competitive spirit, you can
really activate that, like drive to

collect all these things or, or you
know, do the, like, visit Norway.

I gotta, you know, I gotta collect
all the trolls on my, on my trip.

I'm gonna go probably, I bet they could,
they could show you some data on this

that people are going to these different
sites that they otherwise would not have

gone to if it weren't for this game.

And I think your contention
is, if I'm understanding

right, is you can do that with.

All kinds of data that the Switch Fly
platform can provide, as well as just

different creative uses around the
trip experience before, during, and

after, and create this kind of like
enormous drive in revenue or ROI because

of these kind of mechanics that are
underlying in the human psychology.

Rachel Satow: Yeah, and I, I think, a,
a stat that is pretty commonly used in

loyalty, is just increasing engagement.

By about 5% can raise profits
anywhere from 25-95 So the investment

in driving engagement through
gamification or through other, other

outlets is so important because it,
it truly does, you know, back to, to.

From a revenue perspective, and it
generates that, that value valuable

first party data that we're talking
about that can be used for on ground,

but also in digital experiences.

as like reinforcement loops.

So you're definitely, gamification
is, is definitely a design philosophy.

And to Ian's point is follow through
if you're gonna implement it.

for sure.

but all of that to be said, you
know, yes, there is an, certainly an

ROI on on the investment there and,
and one of the other things that I

think we're talking about is we've.

Provided tons of examples, both from
a solely digital perspective, but

also a solely on ground perspective.

And one of the things that is unique
to travel is there's the opportunity

for this blended gamification
where you have digital touch points

throughout the traveler journey.

But then there is the actual
trip itself and I, you know.

One of the things that, you know,
this blend that we're talking about,

it's not just about earning badges on
your phone because there is that real

life el element to the actual trip.

It's, it's about extending the sense of,
of progress and reward and the intrinsic

human behaviors that gamification
into in the real journey that that is.

You know, happening as a
part of the traveler journey.

and you know, travelers, we
talk about this quite often.

Travelers expect continuity
between all of the touch points.

And if your gamification in your
system can apply that continuity

utilizing the data gathered by from
bookings search, et cetera, you have

a real opportunity to to enhance.

The full journey and create
that, that continuous loop.

Brandon Giella: Yeah.

Yeah.

And I think if I could, push that
point a little bit further and,

and say almost like a challenge
to folks, wanting to implement one

of these programs is to really.

Think through how it's
valuable to the user.

I think that's what some of these
gamification kind of get lost in that.

Like, oh, we could just put this
like counter on this thing, or we

can do this, you know, kind of like
representation of this game, but.

think what's really important and
what makes these things stick and

what makes 'em valuable is making it
to where it actually does enhance the

user's journey through whatever it is.

Whether, you know, buying cheeseburgers
or going to visit Norway or, you know,

whatever it, it, how does it actually
make it their, you know, purchase

decisions are their experience better?

And, and of course tied
directly into like your.

You know, core offering, it's, it's not
easy to do, but I think if you do do it

well, it can be super, super valuable.

As we've, we've kind
of shown some examples.

Ian Andersen: I totally
agree with all that.

I think though it's possible
to overthink sometimes as well.

I mean, obviously a, something like the,
Rachel's Norway example or, or Monopoly

at McDonald's or whatever those are.

Extremely intensive, right?

That took a lot of work.

you know, totally redesigning,
product, packaging, you know,

marketing, all that stuff.

I think there's, there's that side of it
that, that you could absolutely go, kind

of top board if you're, if you're, you
know, selling whatever and, and, and you

want to encourage, additional buying.

additional purchasing, in that method,
I think, you absolutely need, to really

think through the details of the game.

Is it using, your product,
how you want it to be used?

Is it, is it encouraging users to use
it more often or to maybe change your

behavior and use it in a different way?

however, I think there's a flip
side to where, You don't have to be

so intensive with it all the time.

Right?

If, my silly example earlier of, of
opening, you know, all the AR marketing

emails this month that come out or
whatever, like you can do very simple

stuff, to increase, small engagement.

I think, one thing you see a lot
of different travel companies do.

and not just travel companies, things
like gyms or spas or stuff or, you

know, hey, tag our Instagram handle on
your picture when you were here and,

you know, we'll randomly pick somebody
to give 500 bucks or, or whatever.

Like you see that stuff all the time.

And that stuff's really easy to do, right?

That costs you almost nothing except,
a little bit of marketing time and

whatever your prize is gonna be.

Brandon Giella: true.

Ian Andersen: there are examples of
gamification that, will, that can be

very, subtle and, and easy and have
a, a really heck of a lot of, of ROI.

You know, for, for pretty
basic, simple, simple outputs.

So,

Brandon Giella: Hmm,

Ian Andersen: I know Rachel, back in a
previous life, we worked, at a marketing

agency, and one of the clients was
that, that did the awning, like were

the canopies, like sold canopies for
restaurants or, or whatever, patios.

And I remember, you know, doing simple
stuff like that with them, right.

With, you know, tag, tag your
photo of your, your patio with

our, our canopies and, you know,
win some reward or, or whatever.

that stuff does drive a lot of
engagement for really cheap and

really simple, simple outputs.

So I don't think, I don't think people
need to, to worry about, you know,

jumping straight to that top level.

Right?

You can.

You can start simple, see what works.

See, especially depending on
the product type, you know, very

different things are gonna gonna play.

and then, you know, just, if, if listen
to your customers, you know, if, if,

it's not getting good engagement, well
try a different, different way of, of

gamifying, your website or your product.

I think that's always important and.

Something that gets lost most
often is people need to listen

to, listen to their customers.

You know, it's the best feedback
you're gonna get about any product,

any marketing campaign, any, anything
is are people actually buying?

Brandon Giella: Yeah,
no, that's a great point.

That's a great point.

Maybe a, maybe a heuristic is, you
know, start, what is the simple.

Like obvious thing that we can do,
like, you know, some of your examples

or like fernand, that support tool that
all they did on one of those things

for that, that psychological lever was
just add a progress bar at the top of

the screen and it just make, it just
helps your brain understand like,

okay, I can get to the end of this.

And it helps you, know, helps you get
through it without, with less anxiety.

so it's like simple to like complex
maybe is one heuristic and the other is.

digital to physical or digital
to like, on the ground.

And then another one would be just
kind of the time, which would be

before, during, and after a trip.

And maybe with those three, kind
of, I don't know what you would call

'em, like a heuristic or schematic
or something with those principles,

maybe that would help organize, like,
okay, where could I apply some effort

to really improve some engagement?

So, okay, so what.

is there anything else that a customer or
a listener, thinking through, you know,

okay, maybe I could apply gamification.

When I'm thinking about travel,
I'm thinking about my, you know,

improving the experience from my users.

is there anything else that they
should take away when thinking about

gamification and this kind of blended
model that we're talking about?

Rachel Satow: Yeah, I, I mean, to touch on
what you and Ian just both talked through.

I think, you know, in a world where
loyalty can often equate to how much you

spend, especially from, from the user,
consumer side, being creative with how the

mechanics are deployed, either you know,
through tagging on Instagram or you know.

A couple po, a hundred points
thrown for completing reviews

after, after booking, et cetera.

It ga at its core, gamification just
helps make loyalty, feel human again.

and you know, you want to ensure that
as you are considering, you know,

implementing any of these things,
whether it be a low cost option or

you know, to the nines developing
a whole app, you know that you are.

Doing it from a place where you
want to be re rewarding curiosity

and celebrating progress and
enhancing the experience overall.

Not distracting from it or distracting
from, you know, what someone would be,

would be doing on their trip, etc So
that's my takeaway is like you can spend.

All you want on, on implementing these
principles, but sometimes it is the

smaller, the smaller, opportunities
for just deploying these mechanics

that, you know, make your product,
make your organization feel more human.

Brandon Giella: Mm.

I love that.

I love that.

Ian Andersen: Yeah, and I think that,
maybe just remember that it can work in,

in all avenues of business as far as like.

Think about it, not from the
game backwards, but from what

you're trying to achieve to, you
know, in developing the game.

So like if you have a product that
is underselling compared to some

of your other products, maybe tying
some sort of, of a gamified, approach

to, to marketing that product,
might be a good, good option.

Right?

So, You can use it to mold, prospect
and customer behavior, to, to what

you're actually trying to do, right?

Or whether it's, I mentioned Audible
that, part of the, some of the, the badges

where making me go into parts of the app
that I wouldn't necessarily do on my own.

Right.

and that I didn't know were there.

and that was the whole point of it, right?

Was to just make me aware
of some of that stuff.

So, so I think don't try to think
of like, think about it from, you

know, kind of the wrong direction.

Use it to, to really advance
your business goals first,

Brandon Giella: Hm.

Ian Andersen: and, and drive that, that
user behavior or customer behavior.

And, I think that's when
it'll be the most effective.

Brandon Giella: Hmm.

So if I could summarize this
conversation in one sentence, I could

say gamification is an important tool in
your strategy toolkit for your business.

Ian Andersen: Yeah, yeah.

It's not gonna replace your marketing,
it's not gonna replace your prospecting

or, or sales or anything like that.

It's, it's gonna just enhance your,
your overall efforts and whether that's

just simple, Brand awareness all the
way to, to, you know, increasing,

like directly increasing revenue.

whatever your product goals are or
your, your business, sales goals are.

I think gamification could
play a part of it, but it, it's

not gonna replace anything.

but it's, it's just a fun, a fun tool.

It's fun for, you to develop
and, and think through.

And it's also fun, you
know, for the, the users.

Brandon Giella: that's right.

That's right.

And has real business
impact as well if you

Ian Andersen: Exactly.

Brandon Giella: So again,
little ways, big ways.

Digital ways, physical ways, and
there's, before, during, and after a

trip when you're thinking about it.

Maybe that's a helpful framework
for, thinking through how to,

how to put gamification into
your, into your services.

Well, guys, this is so helpful.

Thank you.

I know we talked about gamification
before, but I, I love this, this kind of

way that you guys are thinking about it,
along the, you know, the, the during,

and after the trip and kind of blending
it in the physical and digital and then,

giving us a, a little bit of history and
examples on gamification used well, and

I think, again, it's really important.

Component of your overall
strategy as a business.

So, I'd love to hear what folks think
of, maybe implementing this in their

business and using data in important ways.

I know switch fly.

You guys have great data to
provide to folks that are thinking

about designing these tools.

And so, I can't wait to hear
how it goes, with different

customers trying their hand at it.

So thank you again and we
will see you next time.

Ian Andersen: Thanks Brandon.

Rachel Satow: Brandon.