TECH GAME-CHANGERS


new world Brave


Amid the noise around new technology, what will make a difference to managed travel?


By LINDA FOX I


T’S EASY TO GET CAUGHT UP in the buzz around start-ups grabbing attention in the corporate travel segment for their disruptive nature. And it’s easy to think, ‘what if?’ about all


the technology trends and their potential to improve the traveller experience and make processes more efficient – whether that’s biometrics, blockchain, artificial intelligence or virtual reality. But it is harder to sort out what is hype


and what might actually stick. An Egencia- Phocuswright white paper, published earlier this year, took a near, medium and longer- term view of emerging technologies, such as AI (artificial intelligence), natural language processing and chatbots. The Emerging Tech-Driven Corporate


Travel Revolution paper forecasts that in three years’ time AI will be part of the corporate travel landscape in terms of data used smartly to increase efficiency. At a recent airline conference, Willie


Walsh, chief executive of BA-parent IAG Group, said data had contributed €170 million to the business last year. He went on to say this amounted to 1 per cent of passenger revenue, and added


50 BBT July/August 2017


that the group sees enormous potential in exploiting data and is beginning to “get value out of it and do something really smart with it”. Looking a little further into the future –


five to seven years’ time – and the Egencia report suggests that voice and intelligent chatbots will have taken hold in corporate travel. They will be offering a mix of human and computer interaction to travellers based on preferences. The five-to-seven-years view also predicts


a significant reduction in travel policy compliance issues as technology not only learns preferences, but also automatically highlights out-of-policy spend.


SHINY THINGS And, looking ten years down the road, the paper predicts travellers’ needs will be fully anticipated with zero friction in the journey. The trick now is not to get too carried


away with what might be. Pat McDonagh, chief executive of Clarity, describes much of what is out there as “shiny things”. He’s referring to developments such as chatbots and devices including Amazon Alexa and Google Home. “They may get into wider use and become part of everyday, but in


the here and now there are more practical applications for travel.” Of Alexa and the Google Home device,


McDonagh says they are in their infancy and points out the privacy concerns around what the devices learn about you and how intrusive they might be. A more interesting trend for him is


mobile and how some AI is seemingly already creeping in. Navigation apps are a good example and often seem to predict correctly where you want to drive. Another example McDonagh cites is


when your phone suggests who a caller may be – “maybe Bob” – when that person is not in your list of contacts. “It’s applying data, so there are some quite clever things going on there,” he says. “What’s going to be interesting is the evolution of the mobile device in a travel context and what it’s going to be able to do for us in the next few years. “It’s still largely untapped but it’s going to


become essential and very few TMCs have nailed mobile.”


MOBILE TOOLS Beyond booking travel, another area to watch is tools that help the traveller during the trip, particularly if there is a disruption.


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