Full travel poll results: Favourite hotels | Favourite airlines
THE BUSINESS TRAVEL industry is struggling to break free from an assumption that it has adopted a reactionary, defensive posture because of recent, frustrating developments. There are signs of this in every corner of an industry that is notoriously slow to adapt; measures being put into place show that a true effort is being made to change for the better.
There are multiple sides to this industry, but none with so much power as the corporations managing and initiating travel programmes. The procurement officers and purchasing managers are the ones who select the travel suppliers and benefits that are available to the customer. Travellers themselves can help shape these services through their own demands. More and more these demands lean towards options designed to enhance their productivity while shaving budgets for their companies.
This may seem an intuitive task for the airline and hospitality industry, but increasing options while reducing costs is no small feat. Indeed, it signals a shift away from such trends as no-frills airlines competing on cost alone: despite the savings to the traveller’s company, a higher level of service is necessary.
The European Travel Commission has recognized this need and is making efforts to improve accountability on the part of all airlines. It recently introduced legislation to force no-frills carriers to take responsibility for service lapses. The raising of these standards may foreshadow an eventual levelling of the playing field.
There was speculation that no-frills airlines would kill off full-price carriers. This has not happened, but the availability of rock-bottom fares has resulted in price wars that tested the creativity and resourcefulness of all airlines.
It is the first-hand experience of the business traveller – together with their cost-wary travel management departments – that drives the service elements of airlines and hotels. Again, while slow to evolve, the industry does take its patrons’ needs seriously. This is especially true for hotels, where reasonably priced internet access, 24-hour room service and room safes for larger objects have been identified as common requests.
Constant eye
More serious is the traveller’s now constant eye on security. While there have been vast efforts to adapt to a post-September 11 environment, the effects of that tragedy are still prominent. For frequent travellers, security measures are of the utmost importance. Despite the risk of delays, there is a universal demand that the industry take all steps necessary.
Part and parcel with security, the management of information has become prominent for corporate travel providers in the past two years. Apart from delivering such standard information as flight times and delays, there is now an expectation that travel management companies offer comprehensive country details. The internet helps make this possible, as a wealth of information is available, including details on cross-border security, individual country health concerns, and country-specific market activity.
Because of their direct link to travellers, corporate travel management companies have taken up the responsibility of providing this background. Through agents, website links and email, travellers can be furnished with up-to-date status reports.
While tangible demands such as security and modern conveniences are driven by the traveller, the back-office demands of speed, reliability and cost-controlled booking processes are driven by the corporate purchasing or procurement officers. They deal with the procedures for controlling and monitoring the travel of entire companies. Through the needs of these officers, efficient and effective online booking tools have emerged as the top priority.
Comprehensive travel management portals such as Gray Dawes’s gdbookonline, for example, go beyond just booking capabilities. The tool acts as an in-house travel procurement system through which managers obtain pre-trip authorization, monitor policy compliance, and access fares, among other features.
Resources such as these combat the misperception that there is significant friction between established travel management companies and online booking agents. While online agents do offer low rates, tools are being developed to enable management companies to be constantly updated on these prices. This will result in universal access to the lowest airline fares and hotel rates, rendering exclusively online agents obsolete for business travel departments: low fares are critical, but high quality, direct service and guidance from experts is indispensable.
During the past two years travel providers were hit with a string of catastrophes – the September 11 tragedy, disruptions caused by the war in Iraq and effects of the Sars epidemic. While these have had a big impact, it would be reasonable to describe them as valleys in a historically challenging and demanding marketplace. Airlines, hotels, and travel management companies catering to the business traveller are under constant pressure to weather such storms and simultaneously keep pace with consumer demands.
