MAY/JUNE 2013
Technology
THE NAME ofTHE GAME
Trying to predict the next game-changing innovation is no easy feat. Martin Cowen explores current thinking and finds out that the biggest thing in this field today is the way in which technologies can work with each other
CORPORATE BUYERS and travel management companies (TMCs) work hard to keep on top of technology. They need to keep an eye on costs, compliance, security and productivity. At the same time, business travellers are fragmenting into a mass of individuals, each with their own demands and devices. As some technologies mature, new ones emerge. Sarah Kennedy Ellis is director of Sabre’s ‘future lab’ division, Sabre Travel Studios, but she doesn’t have time for geekery for the sake of it – her Sabre roots are in the nitty- gritty of its global distribution system (GDS) business, so whatever tech innovation her team is working on, Ellis is always looking for return on investment, cost savings, new service enhancements or revenue streams. “You can measure the impact of technology by how much you’d miss it,” she observes. But despite the self-sustaining
evolutionary nature of technology development, every now and again something comes along that causes a significant shift in how things are done. Forward-thinking TMCs and corporates are trying to predict which of the emerging technologies today are likely to survive, and if any of these will be revolutionary for business travel.
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GOING MOBILE Many of us take the presence of mobile for granted, but it has taken some time to establish itself as the biggest sea-change in technology our generation has experienced. The smartphone – particularly the iPhone 4, released in 2010, and the emergence of Google’s Android platform for mobiles – heralded a big rethink in the relationship between the business traveller and their travel organiser. ATPI sales director Scott
Wylie refers to mobile in terms of the Gartner hype cycle – the business theory which identifies five stages in the development of any successful technology. A ‘technology trigger’ is followed by ‘a peak of inflated expectations’ which leads to the ‘trough of disillusionment’. “We’ve moved out of that stage,” he says. “And we’re starting the slope of enlightenment as we understand more.” Travel technology giant Amadeus identified mobile as the ‘next big thing’ many years ago. Rob Golledge,
Despite the growth in mobile use, many businesses are not working hard enough to capture its benefits
head of marketing communications for Amadeus, explains that it is now ready with what it considers a major innovation. Put simply, Amadeus’s corporate booking tool, Amadeus Travel Management (AETM) is now available on mobile devices, in an extension called AETM Mobile. Although it sounds simple, Golledge insists that the real game-changer here is the consistency and control for the corporate. Travellers use the same AETM password to access the mobile and web versions, ensuring that any data derived from the mobile can be used with a desktop. Version one is already in pilot, and by the end of this year the mobile version will be able to automate ticket changes, make hotel bookings and feed into expense management. “One of the biggest gripes our corporate clients have is that if they’ve set up the online booking tool to be policy compliant, often that compliance is lost when the travellers are on the road. So there is
no visibility to the corporate until the expense claims are looked at later,” Golledge says. “With AETM Mobile, bookings on the road can be as policy compliant as those made on a desktop.” Research commissioned by Amadeus backs up his claim that, despite the growth in mobile use, many businesses are not working hard enough to capture its benefits. “66 per cent of travellers are now able to book their business travel through an online booking tool, but only 33 per cent are able to book travel on a mobile or tablet device,” he says. Not all travel
buyers are enthused about booking tool advancements. One buyer for a giant mining firm says their complex
itineraries mean they use their TMC rather than any self-booking tools (SBTs). Another senior buyer in global finance insists the only tech gaps in her travel programme are self-booking abilities for multi-sector trips and trips to restricted countries – but adds this is down to company choice than lack of tools available.
She says: “The thing most people are talking about is mobile apps and gamification – I have very little time for either, I believe it’s predominately a media frenzy driven by those companies that have mobile apps or gamification processes.”
INTEGRATION IS KEY ‘Big data’ is a phrase which has entered the vernacular over the past two years. It is an umbrella term to cover initiatives based around the ability to capture, store and access data from different sources, link them together and come up with a new revenue stream, a cost reduction or some valuable business insight.
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