Booking channels
Channel crossing T
Linda Fox examines the trend of putting the traveller at the heart of the booking process by making services seamless between online and offl ine channels
ravel bookers are there to bridge the gap between what can be done with technology and where a human touch is needed and often wanted.
One interesting trend is how bookers,
whether within a corporate or external agent, are finding ways to work with the technology that’s available but put the traveller back at the heart of the process. Carlson Wagonlit Travel is piloting a number of concepts which highlight the trend. The company is looking at how it can use data and create services to take a ‘big mother’ approach as opposed to a ‘big brother’ effect. One proof of concept it has been working
on is CWT Kiosk. The idea marries online and offline services, enabling customers to get in touch at any stage during the booking process whether via mobile device or, in some instances, via a physical kiosk sitting that might be part of an implant within the corporate. Developments at Chambers Travel Man- agement are also about making services available across multiple channels to appeal to Generation Y travellers as well as others. The company’s new myCT web portal mirrors Windows 8 technology so that bookers and travellers only need view the elements they use. Its IT director Andy Slough says it’s about giving customers the services on their own terms. Developments are not all about Generation Y entering the workplace; it’s just that their booking behaviour has highlighted flaws in the system. Expedia/Egencia’s recent report, The
Future of Travel, describes a world where travellers expect to move seamlessly from device to device, and from online to offline and back again. “We see the traveller of tomorrow operating in an ever-more fluid space, a world of blurred boundaries,” says the report. The industry must ensure that the efficiency and slickness of the booking process continues on the road and to do this, it means that governments, airlines, hoteliers and other travel providers must collaborate more than ever before. The report says that wifi is more important than extra legroom and mobile even more so. “For Millenials, technology,
“ We see the traveller of tomorrow operating in an ever-more fl uid space, a world of blurred boundaries ”
particularly mobile, is their personal assistant,” it says. “Travel providers have to be fully enabled through any platform.” The report suggests this may be a significant technological challenge for independent or smaller travel businesses and that intermediaries such as OTAs will increasingly help in this area. “The real value is in the knowledge of
the agent, creative ticketing and maxi- mising the value of the ticket,” says Gray Dawes. “Today, the technology does not do that and I’m not convinced it will in the future,” says the TMC. The company has been a proponent of
the integrated booking and expense management system route for the past few years. However, with 50 per cent of its
business involving complex itineraries, the offline experience is also crucial. Where Gray Dawes is working to further
a seamless process is in elements such as its master profiler which holds seat and meal preferences and other traveller details. The company also monitors offline and online purchase behaviour to see where processes could be improved. Meanwhile, systems such as KDS Neo
are highlighting all the available options for the door-to-door journey which should hopefully drive up adoption and reduce leakage. This in turn will free up agents to add the human touch, optimise travel programmes and look after the traveller’s well-being and efficiency while out there on the road.
THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE 75
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