Event report ADVANTAGE CONFERENCE
INTO THE LION'S DEN
A rare appearance from Ryanair was one of the highlights of this year’s Advantage Conference programme. Andy Hoskins rounds up the news from Dubai
The Advantage Travel Partnership’s corporate director, Ken McLeod, admitted he was “surprised and delighted” to secure Ryanair’s first public appearance in over ten years at its annual conference in May. The airline’s newly appointed corporate
sales manager, Lesley Kane (pictured right, with McLeod), addressed delegates at the Conrad Hotel, Dubai, and even managed to win over some of the audience as she argued the case for Ryanair’s move into the corporate market. Asked before Kane’s speech if the carrier currently offers enough to work with the travel trade, around ten per cent of the audience said yes, but that figure rose to around 35 per cent following her time on stage. “There is no getting away from the fact
we have a significant amount of work to do,” Kane told delegates, adding that the airline’s outspoken CEO, Michael O’Leary, would be taking more of a back seat as the face of Ryanair. It has made its inventory available on
the Travelport GDS, introduced allocated seating earlier this year and will launch a business product in September. “We hope to have a relationship with
Advantage and the GTMC by the end of the year and show we’re serious about working with the corporate community,” said Kane (see p.30-34 for more from Kane in our feature on low-cost carriers). Opening the conference, Advantage managing director Julia Lo Bue-Said said the organisation had changed dramatically in the last 12 months, likening it to a jigsaw whose pieces are coming together. “We’ve made pretty significant changes
to the business,” she said. The organisation has been re-positioned as Advantage Travel Partnership and there has been internal restructuring. She emphasised Advantage’s values –
passion, integrity, performance, innovation, leadership and partnerships – but added that “words aren’t good enough. If we’re going to do something it needs to be the best. We must walk the talk,” she said. Advantage members make more than £3billion sales per annum. Looking into the future, Amadeus’ new head of sales and consulting for UK &
“Travel is going to get more personal. It’s about understanding what travellers want instead of just saying here are your choices and this is your budget. Recommendations will be more personal to the traveller”
Ireland, Guy Snelgar, said that the personalisation of business travel is the way forward. “It’s going to get more personal. It’s about understanding what travellers want instead of just saying here are your choices and this is your budget – choices will be more relevant. Recommendations will be more personal to the traveller.” He added that travellers will expect a smoother, more joined-up door-to-door travel experience and that sustainability will be well and truly back on the agenda. “The travel industry will need to focus on
growth that is economically, socially and environmentally sustainable and responsible,” said Snelgar. Neil Armorgie, CEO at Worldwide Independent Travel Network, examined changes in hotel distribution, stating that GDS bookings in 2013 exceeded the previous peak, pre-recession, in 2007, but said that the landscape is changing. The big hotel groups are getting bigger
and launching new brands targeting millennial travellers, but hotels are increasingly uncomfortable with online travel agents and the likes of TripBAM, which can track rates in a defined cluster of hotels and re-book guests if rates fall. “Hotels want customers for their own,” said Armorgie. “What does that mean for travel management companies?” The Guild of Travel Management
Companies’ chief executive, Paul Wait, said the performance of UK plc worsened during the recession because businesses cut back on travelling, claiming that “if you don’t travel, you don’t trade”. Wait also had words of warning for business travel agents who are feeling the impact of the internet, arguing that they must add value and be adaptable in order to prosper and thrive. “I don’t buy all the doom and gloom
surrounding the impact of the internet,” he said, “but businesses need to make sure they add value for the customer”. Wait scorned consumers who turn to
Tripadvisor for reviews and advice and asked why they wouldn’t seek the advice of an expert agent. He also drove home the point that not all buying decisions are based on price alone. “Don’t believe all the price propaganda
and look for where you can add value,” said Wait.
50 THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE
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