THE KNOWLEDGE 4 Supplier perspective
Anthony Rissbrook, Managing Director, Hillgate Travel
LOOKING BACK TO THE FUTURE
What’s all the fuss about? TMCs have been matching offline with online service, working outside the GDS, and the components of a trip remain the same, argues Anthony Rissbrook of Hillgate Travel
travel is rapidly changing. This is true, but in reality it is just a process of diversification. If you take a step back and look at what
G
constitutes a ‘trip’, essentially the core components remain the same now as they were when I first started working in travel 20 years ago: flights, rail, accommodation, car hire, transfers, etc. The requirement for TMCs to offer flexibility when it comes to content choice and access to the best fares and rates has always been a necessity. However, a key area
Anthony Rissbrook, Managing Director, Hillgate Travel
Anthony has overall
responsibility for the company’s general management, sales development, operations and
commercial decisions. Anthony joined
Hillgate in September 2011 after six
successful years as Managing Director of Co-operative Travel Management.
Anthony has 15 years’ experience in the business travel industry. He is a Chartered
Accountant and a
family man with two teenage daughters and a life in
Shropshire when he is not in London. An avid squash player
who believes in trying to keep fi t! He is also a director of the
Executive Board of the Guild of Travel Management
Companies (GTMC).
where TMCs have seen a significant change is at an operational level. While the GDS is still the main tool of most travel consultants, TMCs do now have to work with an increasingly diverse range of suppliers who offer an ever more diverse range of products and services. Almost all suppliers are
now looking to leverage as wide a range of distri- bution channels as possible to ensure success in what has become a highly competitive market. This adds complexity to
what we do and opera- tional inefficiency can potentially be created by having to work ‘outside’ of the GDS. The advent of online booking tools (OBTs) has also has also had a fundamental effect on TMCs at an operational level. Online booking has
eneration Y, Travel Management 2.0, mobile and NDC… the messages out there all indicate that the landscape of managing
changed the workflow dynamic for TMCs. The OBTs also have a very clear strategy of working with suppliers who utilise non-GDS distribution channels to provide as great a range of content and choice as possible. The OBTs are also actively investing in bringing innovative solutions to the market. For example, for the last two years KDS has been busy promoting Neo to the market and preaching the ‘door-to-door’ agenda. Door-to-door is now viewed as the ultimate booking utopia by the various OBT providers. However, we shouldn’t forget that it is not actually a new concept. In fact ‘full service’, as it is traditionally known, has always been a key component of any quality offline service proposition. With the renewed interest in ‘full service’
and the increasing ability of OBTs to offer this, it is only natural that buyers want access to the complete solution in both the online and offline space. We are facing this challenge head on and
actively investing in technology innovation. Our new agent-facing tool ensures that we have the right technology in place to be able
“The best TMCs to partner with are those that can deliver full content in online and offl ine scenarios in equal measure”
to offer online and offline content parity. Our system combines GDS and non-GDS content together and gives our consultants the ability to book the content in a quick and efficient manner. The speed of this process is what makes it possible to offer a truly full offline service at a competitive price. I do question the ability and commitment
of all TMCs to be able to invest in developing their technology in this way. This is therefore very much a cautionary tale of 'buyer beware’! I urge buyers to make sure that their travel management company is searching for both non-GDS and GDS content offline in an efficient way, otherwise high offline trans- action fees or offline searches that “cut corners” are inevitable. The best TMCs to partner with are those
that can deliver full content in online and offline scenarios in equal measure.
THE JARGON BUSTER
ACRONYMS: sadly you just can't get away from them in the dynamic world of business travel. So to help you out we've listed some of the most commonly used ones below, just so you don't get your Best Available Rates confused with the British Association of Removers.
ACTE ADR APIS
Association of Corporate Travel Executives average daily room rate
Advanced Passenger Information System
ATOC Association of Train Operating Companies BAR BTC
best available rate business travel centre
CDW collision damage waiver CRM CRO CRS CSR DDR ETES FFP GDS
hotel booking agent
customer relationship management central reservation office central reservation system corporate social responsibility daily delegate rate end-to-end solution
frequent flyer programme global distribution system
GTMC Guild of Travel Management Companies HBA IATA ITM KPI
LRA MI
MIA MPI
NDC OBT OTM PNR P2P RFP ROI SBT SLA SME
International Air Transport Association Institute of Travel & Meetings key performance indicators last room availability
management information Meetings Industry Association
Meetings Professionals International New Distribution Capability online booking tool
online travel management passenger name records purchase to pay
request for proposal return on investment self-booking tools
service level agreement small and/or medium-sized business/es
SMMP strategic meetings management programme T&E TMC
travel and expenses travel management company
12 THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE
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