BBT Forums London and Dublin
Debating the digital revolution – travel buyers need to be ‘cognitive technologists’
ENIOR BUYERS AND TRAVEL EXPERTS gathered for BBT Forums in London and Dublin to discuss the ‘digital revolution’ and its challenges and opportunities for managed travel. “Exponential” progress in technology
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means successful travel managers need to be “cognitive technologists” to enhance their travel programmes and their careers. Data Exchange CEO Susan Hopley told
BBT Forum delegates that as artificial intelligence (AI) advances, travel buyers need to be aware of how these capabili- ties can serve their roles and their travel programmes. AI – also known as cognitive computing – utilises technologies includ- ing machine learning, natural language processing and object recognition to tackle a range of tasks, including anticipating problems and modelling solutions. AI can do some of the “leg work” in a
travel programme, said Hopley, freeing up travel buyers to focus on more strategic and holistic aspects of their role. And its data analysis capabilities can help predict behaviours and patterns, and act on those predictions to change outcomes.
CREATIVE USES OF TECHNOLOGY One travel buyer spoke about their busi- ness and how it has embraced all sorts of new technology and implemented it into their travel programme. “One example was an app we downloaded that lets travellers take photos of their receipts on the road and just send them straight to finance.” He also spoke about how the company
had implemented robotics into the pro- gramme. “We had an event in the US and found that 65 to 70 per cent of travellers were booking their travel and accommoda- tion in the last week resulting in higher
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rates, so we implemented a flight-chasing model from our GDS team, so our team were chasing travellers to book earlier in advance – from this we estimated savings of more than US$350,000. We’ve evolved that process, so we now use ‘Robotics Process Automation’ software – instead of having people chase the travellers, the software fires out those reminders to the travellers by emails… also robotics are great as they never have sick days, cigarette breaks and always work weekends.” Another buyer talked about moving
away from ‘grey fleet’ to shared smart pool cars, which resulted in massive cost savings. This move was met with some resistance because staff saw using their own vehicles as a financial benefit, with some getting up to 65p per mile or annual lump sums. He said as well as significant savings in the first year, “we also saw a boost in productivity with a 30 per cent reduction in trips taken”.
CHALLENGES OF CHATBOTS One of the sessions looked at mobile and ‘seamless’ travel. Part of the discussion focused on the rise of chatbots and their future role in travel. Consultant Chris Pouney said there were many challenges around them and they did have a part to play but “there’s still a lot of work to be done in this area”. BCD sales director Tony McGetrick said:
“The traveller and buyer community will decide whether they add value or not but I can see it coming into our business, given there is a large proportion of our travel today that is straightforward A to B.” Pouney disputed the argument that millennials want less interaction, which is leading to the rise of bots. “It’s not less
interaction millennials want, it’s less of the futile and pointless interaction across all areas of the industry,” he said.
TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PIPELINE Other technology developments discussed included: how telematics in pool and rental cars can help eliminate expense fraud and risky behaviour in company car travel; how beacon technology can transform traveller experience and enable seamless secure payments; and how platforms, such as online auction website
Plusgrade.com, can challenge programmes by encourag- ing out-of-policy behaviour – but also offer potential savings. Enterprise’s Oliver Moore cited Chinese
platform Wechat, which now has more than half a billion users. This single app consolidates a wide range of functions from instant messaging and social net- working to mobile banking and payments, and ‘city services’ – including doctor ap- pointments and booking transport. The forums discussed how the adoption of these platforms in everyday life impact behaviours and expectations when it comes to managed travel programmes. One buyer asked: if we go digital for everything who guarantees safety and security? One idea is having accredited standards built into your programme for certain suppliers. Another said it is still the buyer’s role to ensure that accommodation is vetted, there is effective ground transport in dangerous cities and every company has a preferred list of airline suppliers.
For information about attending BBT Forums, contact events manager Emma Gordon at
egordon@panaceamedia.com or visit
bbtforum.com
Event location sponsor:
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
BBT July/August 2017
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