A number of start-ups, such as Freebird,
are already working in this area. Passengers pay an insurance-like fee to the US-based company, which then rebooks them on alternative flights in the event of a disruption. This is an area that airlines and the
global distribution giants are already working on. For example, Swiss has adopted automated rebooking technology with IT partner Amadeus. And, as systems become more integrated and data is shared, airport transport and hotel elements will also receive the disruption information and be able to react accordingly. Jim Peters, chief technology officer for
airline and airport technology specialist SITA, also emphasises mobile. He believes mobile will become a platform with many providers and integrated content using API technology and expanded apps. A benefit of this, according to Peters, might be TMCs, and the industry generally,
seeking more collaboration in order to integrate more products and services. Mobile services can improve the traveller experience, and some might argue that developments such as chatbots already do that in terms of seamless interaction with the airline or hotel. They can also fulfil other functions, such as customer service, and could be addressing travel disruption in the future. But the more widely held belief is that
they are a bit of a craze and still far from reaching their real potential. McDonagh says: “Everybody needs to show technology leadership and the big thing recently was the chatbot, but it won’t be in wide use for some years.” He adds that one of the downsides of the messaging services is their inability to pick up on the tone of a conversation. Eurostar chief technology officer Neil
Roberts sees chatbots reaching their potential sooner rather than later. “Chatbots will continue to build momentum. It’s still
“As natural language processing and AI improve we will find an increasing number of low-level interactions being fully automated”
early days, but as natural language processing and AI improve we will find an increasing number of low-level interactions being fully automated.” Roberts adds that there is an opportunity
for “early adopters” here, to free-up teams who can then focus on adding value to the customer through excellent service.
CHINESE ‘SUPER APPS’ One thing that might help advance chatbots is the strength of services such as WeChat in China. At the recent SITA Summit in Brussels, Finnair’s chief commercial officer Juha Jarvinen said it was “scary” how little the Chinese platforms are talked about. He went on to describe those platforms
as “super apps” and more advanced than anything in Europe or the US. Voice bots are also worth a mention as they
won’t be far behind the current text services, especially with developments such as Google Assistant and Home, Alexa, Siri and Cortana. SITA’s Peters says a lot of people are already
looking at voice bots. However, he doesn’t see them catching on until consumers begin to use their voices for more activities. “Once that’s natural and there’s lots of interaction, people will expect to be able to interact with travel in that way. I think it will happen in that way rather than travel doing voice bots on its own.” While chatbots, and mobile more
generally, begin to address different elements of a trip, there are other technology developments which will also make for a smoother journey.
BIOMETRIC TECH There is a trend towards biometric technology, and this has been seen with facial recognition and fingerprint scanning. Airlines KLM and Finnair are among the first to test such technology with their partner airports for check-in and boarding. Peters describes the trend “as a snowball
that’s coming”, and says SITA is working on an initiative with a government and an airline. “Confidence is growing that the technology is good enough,” he says, adding that he believes in five years’ time the use of biometrics in travel will be widespread, while in ten years’ time it will be “the way most things work.” McDonagh is a little more cautious and says there’s a balance that needs to be
52 BBT July/August 2017
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104