AUTOMATED TRAVEL
“There is now an entire generation of people in business who’ve grown up with the idea of doing everything through their phone”
So, if a technology suite now supports
the travelling executive within an inch of their travelling lives, when does the travel manager need to step in, if at all? Having the option to call someone in a mad panic is still the most crucial need. Delays, cancellations and unforeseen issues require human brains. “Like anyone else, travellers sometimes
need and want to be alone on the road – travelling is stressful enough without the occasional frustration of dealing with other people. The key is offering those travellers the choice of whether to speak with another human being or not,” ex- plains Greeley Koch, executive director for the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE). “For example, some may want a mobile
app that allows them to pick the hotel room and upgrade if they want; others may prefer to speak with the front desk clerk. Either way, speed is non-negotiable. No one wants to spend 15 minutes figuring out how to get a room upgrade.”
A SPECTRUM OF ACTIVITY Certainly, there is a whole spectrum of activity in the travel marketplace between complete trust in technology and those that need the human support of, say, a TMC call centre available 24 hours a day. “The ideal situation is that technology
and personal support is fully integrated, and the customer has a choice of options for contact, be that online self-service, a phone call with an agent, email or chat- bots,” says Jill Palmer, CEO of Click Travel. But if total trip automation is the future,
if only to bring about efficiencies and savings, it will take more work and time to achieve, as well as investment. Travel management involves a whole ecosystem of providers across the globe, not all of which are aligned or automated. But first, managing travelling executives and their needs and expectations is crucial. “Engaging travellers to manage their
behaviour is the only option here,” states J. Michael Silvey, senior director of demand and behaviour management at Advito.
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM “This means that the company needs to
address the issues that travellers face and give solutions to those problems. We can also use behavioural economics to shift the choice of the traveller so it is aligned to the corporate choice.”
TECH TO ASSIST IN AUTOMATION There are now new technologies being developed globally that will drive change and further automation. One is universal profiling. The idea is that your executives have one customer record that holds all their details, payment billings, preferences and itineraries. “This will meet many barriers – one
being the GPDR – the EU General Data Protection Regulation coming out in May and other US regulations,” explains Silvey. “Corporate travellers want data portability and ease of transacting with any supplier. Take, for example, IATA’s One Order. It promises to simplify our industry and it will mean TMCs will need to rethink how they do business. This industry-led initi- ative will reorder how we all do business to match the Netflix and Amazon effect.”
Investments in technology, such as blockchain by hotels, the New Distribu- tion Capability and more money flowing into chatbots and artificial intelligence (AI), will also bring about further trip automation and customisation. This is ushering in a brave new era powered by an absolute faith in tech tools by the corporate traveller. “It’s not just about automation of the
trip, it’s about automation of the whole travel management process,” reiterates Palmer. “There is now an entire generation of people in business who’ve grown up with the idea of doing everything through their phone – and they totally trust in automated services for the most part.” Palmer points out that consistency is a
big issue. Travel suppliers are at different points in their automation journey. This also differs depending on which country you operate in as well. It is definitely a mixed bag. However, the Institute of Travel
The role of
Management’s annual Outlook Report, which polled UK travel managers last year, revealed that buyers now anticipate and expect greater integration of services from end-to-end, as well as integration with devices combined with full, rich and accessible content in the next few years. Times are changing. “Total trip automation does require
automation in a travel programme
• Define within your travel programme where automated services sit exactly
• Automation should support rather than interrupt or confuse
• Technology is best deployed when it’s complemented by a human resource
• Emails, texts, chatbots and AI can help minimise disruption to the traveller
• Realise that the path of travel is towards further automation
every supplier involved to offer full cus- tomisation and automation,” says Palmer. “Going forward there will definitely be more computerisation of the simple pro- cesses. For bookings where the agent is essentially just pressing a button for the customer, that can be easily automated which will bring down costs,” she explains. We can also expect further improve-
ments in streamlining payment function- ality and widening the range of ancillary content that is available. Two Four’s Hannaford-Janes stresses that the most human interaction she has when it comes to managing travel involves setting up new payments with suppliers. However, investments in fintech are likely to iron out these issues in the near future.
BBT March/April 2018 77
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