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Travolution’s Lee Hayhurst (left) with, from left: Andrew Auden, Ixaris; Carl Morgan, Tigerbay; and Colin Brimson, d-flo


Travel companies urged to invest in tech to stand out


Experts debate exclusive research on travel technology spend by Travolution at this year’s Travel Technology Europe show in London. Ben Ireland reports


Company culture will drive technological innovation but travel firms must continue to increase investment if they are to stand out or keep up with change.


That was the message from industry experts at a debate hosted by Travel Weekly sister title Travolution at the Travel Technology Europe show in London last week. They discussed the findings


of the Travolution Innovation Report 2018, which revealed that


£1.59 billion was spent on IT in travel in 2017, up 5% on 2016. Spend on IT per employee was


80 travelweekly.co.uk 1 March 2018


highest among travel agents, at an average of £8,765, ahead of tour operators at £7,636. Hotels, which typically employ


more people, spent £835 per staff member, bringing down the industry average to £4,671. Colin Brimson, chief executive of communications technology provider d-flo, said: “The key thing for travel brands is to differentiate from the pack. “Historically, we’ve seen a lot of


success in the tour operator space, but now we’re seeing travel agents starting to see they have to stand out and do things more efficiently.”


He said tried-and-tested


technologies such as SMS are being used now in “different ways” to enable customers to interact with agencies in the most consumer-friendly way. Andrew Auden, product director


at payments technology specialist Ixaris, said developments in the travel retailing and tour operating sectors would drive innovation in payment technology. “There’s this perfect storm


of disruption that’s developed over the last few years,” he said, referring to challenges such as the rise of blockchain and regulations like PSD2 that outlawed card surcharging. Carl Morgan, managing director of travel technology provider


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