Business Travel Executive, October 2017

SPECIAL REPORT Tooling Up 20Business Travel Executive OCTOBER 2017 existing booking tools are built around corporate requirements rather than end user requirements Challenges to Ideal Solutions The roadblocks to creating a seamless system are the same as those that exist for consumer facing technologies Gulmann says what the travel industry as a whole is solving for now is a seamless cross device experience According to Oliver Quayle vice president of product marketing and innovation for American Express Global Business Travel when it comes to employees traveling for business traditionally the overriding challenge for organizations has been to keep up with ever increasing consumer oriented expectations When employees access consumer technology to book business trips in the same way they do personal trips it leads to significant operational and financial challenges he says Company travel itineraries that are patched together through online travel search engines individual suppliers and sharing economy apps deprive businesses of valuable travel data savings and service This fragmented approach means organizations cant access the insights needed to implement effective travel policy and negotiate rates with travel suppliers It also makes it difficult to meet basic duty of care obligations The individualization Strauss says is another roadblock The leading booking tools try to tell every organization what is the perfect trip in their mind he explains However the perfect trip for a sport fashion manufacturer might be the cheapest but safe trip to China for most of their employees This is not necessarily the same for employees of a financial institution where trips may come up at the last minute wait listing is a normal procedure and the highest priority is that the travelers come to their destination on time but also to some extent relaxed to make such a meeting beneficial Travel Managers on the Lookout A fundamental challenge when comparing the consumer experience to the corporate booking experience surrounds the application of policy according to Jay Richmond head of business travel for Amadeus North America In the consumer world the traveler has the ability to construct the largest kind of superstore shopping experience that they want and have a chance to see every product at every price point with every variation and timing combination he says They can take whatever their requirements are and start to filter down to what makes sense In the corporate world he adds policy may limit the amount of product the corporate traveler can see Travelers come to the corporate tool and get frustrated because they know there is content available and not being displayed Richmond says What is available and what is evolving are booking tools that are more like the consumer experience and more applying situation logic relative to policy For example many of todays tools have integrated more multimedia elements So decision making has an easier look and feel especially around hotel Theres also a better display of information around whats included in an airline fare family what are the features and benefits whats included in the price what are the restrictions and rules etc he says In the corporate world whats happened really well is the integration of all of the functionality and information around the trip lifecycle Quayle notes travelers care about getting exactly what they want when they want it and with the least amount of time and effort Quick time and motion studies are a good measure of the effectiveness of a booking tool and dont require a lot of effort by the travel manager It terms of what travel managers should be looking for to keep travelers coming back the simple answer is to ensure you engage travelers in the selection process when it comes to an online booking tool he says Travelers take trips as part of their job and the technology and service elements should be almost invisible unless theres a problem Travel managers should be on the lookout for a consistent high quality experience across all booking channels Companies looking to get the cheapest fare from A to B subject to general rules and policies will go with the big offthe shelf vendors Strauss says However he warns travel managers to be prepared to have employees book around the system and spend work time to find ways to trick it into giving them what they prefer If you think that the cheapest is not always the best and subject to many aspects then you need to find a tool with Travel managers should be on the lookout for a consistent high quality experience across all booking channels