Mobile technology
application further using a number of corporate clients and integrating it with existing mobile technology platforms CWT To Go and WorldMate, probably towards the end of this year. Amadeus planned to unveil its own
e-Travel Management mobile app in April. It is designed to work as an extension of the desktop booking tool, ensuring the search and booking options comply with corporate policy. Rob Sinclair-Barnes, Amadeus marketing
director, describes the app as the best of both worlds. “Arming travellers with mobile booking options could be considered akin to opening Pandora’s Box. But this doesn’t have to be the case. Travellers have extended choice and convenience of booking via mobile and tablet applications, and travel managers can keep track of all bookings,” he explains.
SOLO SOLUTIONS
NOT everyone can access the increasingly joined up services from TMCs but there are other mobile solutions available from technology specialists and suppliers. Sabre, for example, has a free TripCase itinerary
application enabling travellers to access trip plans at any time and keep up to date with fl ight alerts. KDS, meanwhile, unveiled its Neo door-to-door service earlier this year, which uses Google services such as maps and predictive text to present itinerary options. Amadeus was planning to unveil its own mobile app in April, which is designed to be an extension of its e-Travel Management desktop booking facility. Many suppliers now have their own apps, while a number of companies aggregate content including Skyscanner and the Trainline, which also added TripAdvisor content to the app last year. A range of services for capturing expenses on the go also
exists which enable users to take a photo of receipts and store it to later help fi ll out expense claims. A a number of companies, including Traveldoo, offer mobile apps to help capture both managed and unmanaged travel spend.
A big question is still whether travellers
will actually want to make bookings on the go especially given the size of the devices. Checking itineraries, checking in for a flight and accessing local restaurant information in a destination is one thing, but trying to make a booking is a different scenario. Gary Hance, director of
IT and yield for ATPi, doesn’t yet see much demand for a mobile booking tool. “We’re still in a recession and more and more corporate clients are really pushing hard on travel policy. If you don’t get your expenses paid if you book on an app you’re not going to do it. I’m not convinced that the desire is there yet, but people do want to use mobile apps for convenience.” Like others, Hance believes travel managers need not worry about mobile tools not only because of how the financial crisis has changed things but also because of corporate social responsibility and the need for travel teams to know exactly where everyone is. HRG’s group commercial director,
Stewart Harvey, shares this view and says there is no evidence of policy leakage linked to mobile. He has also seen policy compliance increase in the past two years. However, he does see potential challenge in the increasingly young workforce as well as how accustomed we are all becoming to using technology. “About 70 per cent of the working
population is aged 26 to 28. We are able to do more things on the go and/or at home because we have mobiles and tablets and we come to work and we have fences all around us,” says Harvey. He argues that what travel managers
really want is someone to remove the confusion around the mobile arena and
present them with a range of integrated solutions that keep travellers within company policy and still enables them to get value from mobile developments. He adds that the debate around mobile
“ What travel managers
really want is someone to remove the confusion
around the mobile arena and present them with a
has moved beyond technology to bring in human resources, security teams and senior management. Harvey says some companies are mindful that by enabling travellers to be available all the time it is implying that employers want them to be always on hand. Before mobile
range of integrated solutions that keep travellers within company policy ”
developments advance beyond itinerary management and information services in the corporate travel world, travel managers will have to consider
the adoption of technology that is an extension of the PC-based booking tool and provides the necessary controls or systems that manage to capture out of policy spend and bring the data back into the corporate booking environment. In the interim, smartphone and tablet applications will continue to improve the traveller experience and there are already many examples of the technology being used to good effect. Liz Onisiforou, travel manager at
Euromoney PLC, a Hillgate Travel customer says, “Our travel management company offers our employees the ability to integrate travel itinerary information with either the TripIt or TripCase apps. “Mobile apps provide our travellers with
a highly convenient way to view their trip details, on a real-time basis, while on the move. The travel updates that the apps can provide are also useful for keeping our travellers in the loop should the unexpected occur.”
THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE 79
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