Business Travel Executive, March 2020

Delta Air Lines told travel agencies in January that by the end of the March quarter it would add to delta com new corporate travel management capabilities developed by tech firm nuTravel Part of what Delta calls an omnichannel approach these capabilities relate to duty of care payment reporting and expense management integration According to Delta its ongoing retail transformation means enhancing the business experience across all sales channels Also in January ARC said it would acquire majority ownership of nuTravel to address the omnichannel trend gaining traction around the industry As air travelers shop and buy in more places and as airlines differentiate content and capabilities across those places there is a growing need to bridge the functionality gap between direct and indirect channels NuTravel will operate as an independent subsidiary of airline owned ARC Terms were not disclosed We believe ARCs recent investment in nuTravel is a foundational step in creating an ecosystem where our TMC partners who play a vital role in corporate travel can service a booking regardless of the channel it is booked in according to Delta It didnt seem like anyone was out there trying to pursue this new model where the indirect and direct model are more blurred said ARC CEO Mike Premo ARC in 2019 also invested in Traxo and Blockskye Traxo captures data on bookings or changes from airline sites and e mailed booking confirmations Blockskye is working on accounting and settlement using blockchain distributed ledger tech The agency servicing piece of nuTravels Universal Connect is a work in progress Meanwhile TMCs and clients may need to rethink fee structures some TMCs apply charges for non standard bookings notably those outside traditional global distribution system TMC processes Coming Soon Managed Travel Capabilities on Delta com InterContinental Hotels Group is building a customizable portal for enterprise accounts Its now in testing and will be ready for customer use in early 2020 according to the hotel company IHG said accounts would get their detailed spending information by brand region rate type traveler loyalty and guest rating The enterprise portal follows the mid 2018 launch of IHG Business Edge program and associated portal for small and midsize customers IHG SVP of global sales Derek DeCross a former American Airlines executive in 2019 told The Company Dime that the hospitality industry was behind airlines in building B2B portals Given the data challenges we have on the hospitality side due to that high level of system fragmentation one could argue that portals in our part of the industry could have more appeal than those from the airlines DeCross said at the time IHG also is among the hotel chains that provide customer specific environmental impact reports IHG brands include InterContinental Hotels Resorts Crowne Plaza Kimpton Holiday Inn Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites IHG FOLLOWS UP SMALL BUSINESS PORTAL WITH ONE FOR LARGE CLIENTS 22 Business Travel Executive askBTE com March 2020 TC TWO CENTS Two Cents From The Company Dime