data, then overlay hotel, entertainment and weather options. Yet, she argues, a TMC could develop an app that would really benefit the traveller overseas: “It is likely smart city data will be communicated using semantic data struc- tures. In this way, semantic data makes it much easier for applications to break down language barriers. Where this will make a difference for business travellers is when they are travelling in a country where they don’t speak the language. However, the application will be able to take the semantic data and display it in the native tongue of the traveller.”
ROOM FOR GROWTH Meanwhile, accommodation provid- ers could stand to gain the most from smart cities in the near future. Michael McCartan is regional managing director for hotel profit optimisation software firm Duetto. He says: “Understanding the demand for accommodation in a destination is a key data set that Duetto uses to determine pricing. If smart cities are able to provide this data – for example, by capturing search requests on the des- tination websites – then Duetto would be able to incorporate the information into its hotel pricing algorithms and could share information back.” Paul Richer, senior partner of consul-
tancy Genesys, adds: “The smart city could play a useful role as an accommodation aggregator, in a similar vein to what
PLUGGING IN
QUESTIONS SURROUNDING SMART CITIES include definition and standardisation. “Arguably, a smart city defies definition,” says MK:Smart’s Alan Fletcher. “There isn’t a model of technology- defined protocols. For example, for a city such as Delhi, getting more toilets would be smarter than more wifi. A smart city enhances the lives of its citizens.” He warns data will constantly change and evolve, and says smart cities need something
26 BBT JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016
that will recognise that, citing Hypercat – a UK government-funded consortium and standard driving the secure and interoperable Internet of Things for industry. Meanwhile, Data
Art’s Lamp Davies says free-flowing data is something that will only continue to grow. “Yes, from our customers’ standpoint, there are privacy, regulatory and competitive concerns when it comes to data sharing,” she says. “But look ahead ten to 20 years – the benefits of this
data will likely begin to outweigh the drawbacks. And none of this sharing will happen on a large scale without organisation and collaboration – there will be standardisation and governing bodies set up that will work through these concerns. Just like the advent of e-commerce saw working groups to create standardised Extensible Markup Language (XML) structures for hotel, air and car transactions, this will almost certainly happen in smart cities as well.”
“The smart city could play a useful role as an accommodation aggregator”
tourism authorities have been doing for quite a while.” Meanwhile, smart cities are better placed to address any “leaking” tax issues, potentially from users of Airbnb. Data Art’s Lamp Davies says: “A device may be tied into the smart city grid that can feed back data to the city that will help them monitor shared-economy businesses. It could give cities the ability to monitor, regulate and even tax these businesses.” Whatever the scenario, MK:Smart’s Fletcher says he believes there is a “sea change in terms of the digital revolution, of connectivity” that cannot be ignored: “A city that understands its infrastruc-
ture and pressures can really benefit a business traveller by putting forward the best way to travel, and times of travel, from start to finish. We’re half way through a three-year project. We have transport, water and energy and we’d be perfectly open to working with travel companies.”
IN BRIEF
EASYJET now offers real-time aircraft tracking on its mobile app. It allows passengers to view the exact location of the aircraft they are due to travel on up to three hours prior to departure. Family and friends can also track the status of the flight when it’s in the air. The app will show the aircraft’s route, speed, altitude, distance travelled, total distance to destination, aircraft type and estimated time of arrival.
ADDISON LEE has launched an in-app feature allowing travellers to ‘snooze’ journeys when plans change. Customers who have pre-booked journeys via the app will have the option to delay their cab for 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes, as many times as they want.
BRITISH AIRWAYS has signed a deal with Skyscanner to trial selling tickets on search engines using the New Distribution Capability (NDC) standard. The deal, an industry first, will enable travellers to browse elements such as cabin details, baggage allowance and upgrade options.
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
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