Technology
moments based on local, social and destination content.” He predicts big data capabilities, combined with content sharing on social media platforms, will ratchet up the personalisation of travel in 2014, and suppliers on the vanguard would be the game changers.
BIG DATA
Big data has been, arguably, the most talked about topic on the global business travel conference circuit over the last two years, though the subject has been around for much longer. Google, for example, is already using real-time analyses of social media posts, web search results and geo- location technology to predict medical epidemics.
Despite the topic’s prevalence, there remains some confusion as to what the concept actually means in the business-to-business (B2B) world of business travel. Whatever the interpretation, BCD’s Kriedt believes industry suppliers still have a responsibility to work out how it will benefit travel procurement and programme management on behalf of corporate customers. “Suppliers need to embrace big data and identify how it can be made relevant,” he says. “It’s clearer on the B2C [business-to- consumer] side. But the B2B side still doesn’t have full visibility of the data it already generates. There is still a lot of work to do before getting to big data.” Kriedt says TMCs must lead the analyses of big data by investing in data science and business intelligence processes. “Only then will we be able to identify the interesting nuggets, such as why do travellers choose certain hotels or flight times over others,” he says. The biggest challenge facing TMCs, according to one TMC boss, will be how to bring the unstructured data from social media platforms together with the structured data already at the fingertips of intermediaries. Barry Whittaker, managing director of Tzell Travel UK, says aggregated data from preferred suppliers, credit card providers
and online booking tools should be easy to manage, as it sits within traditional IT structures. “It’s combining that information with the huge unstructured data sets out there that will give us the edge,” he says. “That’s big data.”
NDC
Another topic flagged by corporates as one to watch in 2014 is the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) New Distribution Capability (NDC). It has been debated at conferences and written about
a power play from the airline industry to challenge the GDSs [global distribution systems]. I hope not, because I think there is potential for new players in the TMC segment that could force the big TMCs to rethink their role.” Ken McLeod, director corporate of The Advantage Travel Partnership, is one of a small number of senior executives from the intermediary segment to have been involved in NDC discussions with IATA since its inception.
“Organisations will have to compete on the same turf as travellers’ families and friends, using the same social media”
in this magazine for more than a year now, but great swathes of the industry still claim to be in the dark about how the initiative will impact each segment of the industry. ATPI director Peter Bost recently said NDC was one of the most important developments in the business travel industry for 30 years, but accused IATA of not properly engaging with all relevant stakeholders. “I think it’s something everyone, whether you are a corporate or an airline, should be aware of and communication from IATA needs to improve,” he says. Sony’s Haxne believes NDC definitely could be a paradigm shift in the industry, but he warns: “There is a risk this is just
He says: “NDC, in whatever format, is going to change the way we work. If the GDSs get their acts together, it may still be through their platform, but it will be different. Airlines, for example, will issue the e-ticket rather than the agent. However, it is likely to be a hybrid [system] and airlines will come on at different times. Complications are likely for some time to come. However, it will not go away.”
CONCLUSIONS
A new buzzword may be absent from conference programmes this year but the evolution of topics we already know will continue to disrupt business travel processes. But Amadeus’s Tinnus believes the disruption
can be positive if travel managers keep an open mind and, like his contemporary, Fergus Kelly from Travelport, believes collaboration and partnership are central to keeping travellers happy. He also predicts the travel policy will soon evolve into a traveller technology policy, with guidelines on using your own device, downloading apps, data privacy and confidentiality, and roaming costs for smartphones. “Over time, organisations will
have to compete on the same turf as travellers’ families and friends, using the same social media tools. The classic travel manager will transform into a travel moderator, using big data and mobile technology to manage a travel programme for the millennial generation.” And how will all this impact the traveller and their experience on the road? “On one hand, travellers will continue to have pull and push information at their fingertips,” says Tinnus. “It improves the whole travel experience, from comfort, to effective meeting management, to security. “On the other hand, as
the boundaries between business and consumer behaviour converge, the business traveller of the future has an increasing responsibility to know how to share data and still comply with the corporate travel programme.”
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www.buyingbusinesstravel.com
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