Glasgow Business . 33
www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com
FIVE TECHNOLOGY TRENDS IN TRAVEL
Discover the technology trends that are currently transforming business travel... T
he travel industry is evolving. And it’s thanks to new (and market disrupting) technology
trends which are seeing more control placed in the hands of the traveller, new companies launched into the air and the travel experience geting more interesting.
MORE MOBILE
It’s perhaps of no great surprise that travellers are turning more and more to their smartphones as an essential travelling companion, and businesses are continuing to respond with a growing list of apps and web services. Mobile usage among travellers
is on the rise, according to TripAdvisor’s TripBarometer survey. Among its findings are that a third (34 per cent) of “connected travellers” want accommodation providers to offer mobile check in. Some worldwide hotel chains
are already on the front foot in offering this facility, but have gone a step further. For example, members of the loyalty
programmes for Hilton and Starwood hotels can check in with a mobile app and even use their devices as a key for their rooms. And as technology is
increasingly used when you are away, geting connected via wi-fi at your lodgings (so you are not stung by potentially crippling data roaming charges) becomes more important. According to a recent survey by business travel company Egencia, business travellers view free wi-fi as twice as important (67 per cent) than free breakfast (32 per cent). Tapping into a potential rising wi-fi-inadequancy anxiety among road warriors,
Hotelwifitest.com provides assessments of hotel performance and have launched a browser extension that displays information on hotel wi-fi speed and quality in the travel websites
Hotel.com, Expedia and TripAdvisor.
CROWDFUNDING BRINGS BUSINESS-ONLY BACK
Te demise of business-only airlines when the financial crisis
hit – such as Maxjet and Silverjet – has not been the nail in the coffin for the concept. In fact, crowdfunding is helping to launch one new provider into the skies. Odyssey Airlines is expected to offer its first flights from London City Airport in 2016, thanks to raising more than £1 million through online funding platform
Crowdcube, as well as more traditional sources. Also, French airline La Compagnie has been running business-only flights between Paris and New York (Newark) since 2014, and launched its London (Luton) to New York service in April.
Continued on next page> >
Crowdfunding is helping launch a business airline
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