Next generation travellers
booking. “Millennials are savvy travellers,” says Cuschieri. “They will review online travel aggregators to assess alternatives. These travellers are far more self-service and don’t wish to rely on inefficient processes or indeed poor technology. Here lies the problem – technology in the managed travel sector has some catching-up to do.” Cuschieri isn’t
“ Millennials are savvy travellers. They don’t want to rely on ineffi cient
saying it explicitly but the implication is that travellers are looking for content and processes beyond that currently offered by the traditional GDS. He says, “The whole debate of open booking platform needs to be better understood in the corporate travel space. It’s a misconception that the traveller is left to their own devices to do what they want. People like being told what they can and can't do. They want flexibility, choice and to be able to do what they want to do, but they also want to know what's reasonable and what's acceptable in their company, be it a framework of guidelines or policy.” As Turner says, “We all want to be more in
control when we travel, whether that's for leisure or business. We want to find the most comfortable option at the best price. All of us have become smarter about how we purchase and business travel falls into this category as well. “It manifests itself in the fact that in most
organisations the traveller is becoming the booker as well because they can. Previously you had to be office-based and sat in front
processes or poor technology. Technology in the managed travel sector has some catching-up to do
”
of a PC; nowadays most of the information is at people’s fingertips. We can do this on trains, waiting at airports. We do the research and planning in a different way.” Stephens adds, “The back end needs to capture absolutely everything – what was booked and what the alternatives were. You need to be able to get data from multiple sources and to access it from multiple devices. “This generation
expects to work from
any point and from any device – be it phone, tablet or PC.” Business travellers no longer
rely on travel consultants or bookers for information. Or as Windsor puts it, “With a phone in your hand, it’s much easier to bang, bang and see all the information streaming onto your telephone.” Booking through different channels needn’t, however, affect corporates’ ability to meet their duty of care obligations. HRG’s Windsor emphasises the importance of travel pro- grammes having traveller tracking and controls in place. “By making online tools available
and keeping the bookings within a controlled environment they [employers] will know where their employees are.” Stephens agrees that IT is the essential
ingredient. “It can now offer the controls that were previously administered manually,” he says. “If you have decent systems, you can still
track employees,” he continues. “If, on the other hand, you let your employees use the web, you have no idea who they’re travelling with or where.” Cuschieri stresses that “open booking
does not profess to dismiss the responsibilities in applying some fundamental guidelines – services that travellers should not use, places they should not go, and things they should not do.” Business
travellers are taking more
responsibility for their bookings but
travel managers still have to exert control.
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