THE BUSINESS TRAVEL industry has made great strides in regaining the stability it enjoyed five years ago. This is largely due to the options that are now available in airline fares, to the ease of booking and policy control through web-based solutions, and to the renewed confidence of travellers in general.
Business travel customers are are specifically seeking a combination of high level, user-friendly technology and person-to-person client service. The online booking portal, once a welcome complement to phone contact, is now an expected and essential tool for any travel management company. By delivering a portal that not only identifies the most appropriate flight or hotel options but also aligns archival information with preferences of a traveller and corporate travel policies, companies can meet the needs of traveller, travel manager and reporting function with one resource.
Despite the clamour for front-end technology, live agents remain absolutely necessary and play an enormously important role in ensuring that clients extract the most from their travel budgets. A recent Gray Dawes survey revealed that 75% of respondents had switched management providers within the past five years – and 15% have switched twice. This is a reflection of clients’ top concern: questionable service from companies that don’t provide direct attention where it’s most needed, in support of new technology and specific travel concerns.
The burden falls on travel management companies to right that ship and maintain a focus on human interaction. Portals should not act as standalone solutions but should be supported by regular contact that guides clients through the booking process.
Beyond booking, there is also an opportunity to leverage technology options to build a better information management system. Capturing travel history through online portals creates a wealth of online information that must be used to the clients’ advantage. Categorizing and storing the information is a natural first step that is already available among industry providers; next down the line will be generating automatic email reports and enabling secure online access for qualified users.
Crisis management This same quality of information access and control also provides management companies with solutions to crisis issues. For example, the impact of last year’s British Airways strike was felt by some 80,000 passengers who were stranded when BA was forced to ground 400 flights. As the chaos unfolded, the corporate travel management industry found itself in the position of allaying concerns and seeking alternatives for clients with timely – and often business-critical – appointments. By acting as reliable sources of information and conveying updates by phone, internet and email, well-organized travel management companies were able to keep clients up to date on progress and their options. Through these conduits consultants were able to help clients keep their schedules by contacting them, advising them, and rearranging their flights where possible.
This work stoppage, while unfortunate, still stands as a compelling demonstration of the value brought to the table by corporate travel management companies. In an industry fighting a perception of poor service levels and fringed with internet booking portals offering low fares with equally low client support, dependable providers must continue to extend their expertise and solutions to better facilitate the needs of business travellers.
Challenges for the industry also extend to the competition raised by no-frills carriers easyJet and Ryanair, which elevated their profiles over the past year and met with both rousing success and difficult adjustments. They held the spotlight by addressing a significant desire of travellers, providing low online fares easily accessible to the business traveller. However, their very strength in that market has led to supply issues, as scheduled carriers work to match and even beat their fares with near-continuous promotional offers.
While this challenge might eventually force no-frills carriers to look to other outlets such as teaming with travel agents or tapping into global distribution services, their offerings can still be incorporated into business travel management tools. With online booking portals designed to capture any fare listed online, travel management companies can bring corporate clients the same low rates with the added benefit of policy-friendly booking and reporting systems.
The short-term success of travel management companies rests on a number of issues. With e-travel companies such as Expedia and Travelocity poised to make inroads into business travel, human interaction will be highlighted even further. Client service must improve across the board, or those providers that lag in the area will not only feel direct consequences themselves but will adversely affect the health of the entire industry.
Also at issue will be a continuing comparison between the age-old practices of volume buying against that of spot buying. The constant availability of promotional fares means that advanced internet engines can track and secure low-priced tickets on a one-off basis, making volume purchasing a less prominent approach, at least for the foreseeable future.
