Download Has online travel management come of age?

Has online travel management come of age?
Almost exactly one year ago we published an article saying that corporate meetings were on the rise again – and that
it was good news for meetings and travel management companies. (‘Outsourcing is in again’, Inntel, July 2015). But if
you scan the (industry) news headlines over the last 12 months, you might wonder whether management companies
will eventually be sidelined in favour of an online alternative.
In, out, in out…
There has always been a cyclical trend in outsourcing versus in-house management of corporate meetings and travel.
From the client’s perspective, the third online option may be seen as a best of both worlds solution, giving them
access to sophisticated booking technology that they have not had to invest in themselves and with no additional cost
to the business.
In April 2015, the world’s leading online accommodation provider (Booking.com) launched an accommodation-only
booking service for small businesses that do not have a managed travel programme. Business managers or
administrators can open a business account free of charge and either book accommodation directly for employees or
send invitations to employees to book their own. They can then view reports on the bookings made for different
departments, teams or individuals. The site builds on the strengths of the original Booking.com service and promises
additional business efficiency for its new corporate clients.
According to Ripsy Bandourian, the product lead for Booking.com for Business, the company has no plans to include
flights with the service offering as their research indicates that small businesses book flights first and accommodation
later. (“Exclusive: Booking.com Finally Enters the Corporate Travel Business”, Dennis Schaal, Skift, 29 April 2015). The
Booking.com for Business offering will therefore concentrate on finding accommodation for business travellers in
hotels (chains and independents), apartment hotels and holiday rentals at affordable prices.
Shake it all about
The rising use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is also fuelling interest in online travel services. For example, WayBlazer has
developed a suite of tools for third parties such as hotel chains and airlines to incorporate into their own travel
planning apps. The WayBlazer platform uses AI driven travel-planning processes (based on IBM Watson’s Natural
Language Processing ability) to personalise the recommendations offered to travellers. (“Checking in: How artificial
intelligence will transform the travel industry”, WayBlazer White Paper, Issue 1, 2016).
Then there’s Lola. As we touched on in a previous article (“Brave new world travellers will have their bookings made
by robots: Discuss”, Inntel, June 2016), Lola is an experimental “concierge-style” mobile chat application that provides
users with an on-demand, personal travel service. The app combines machine learning AI technology with voice input
capabilities and (most importantly) hands-on attention from a few real agents to give Lola the power to handle more
trips per hour than a ‘standard human’ agent can. Lola is currently a free service for invited members in the USA only,
but the developers have plans to broaden its reach while also introducing a membership fee and opening a call
centre staffed by around 100 consultants in Europe, possibly in Berlin. (For more information on the latest state of
development visit www.lolatravel.com).
According to an article by Matt Zito (“Why mobile travel chat will revolutionize online travel bookings”, 1 February
2016), online travel agencies have suffered from the lack of personalised customer interaction: answering questions,
tailoring solutions, alleviating concerns. But the new breed of AI-fuelled, mobile-based services are theoretically able
to plug the personalisation gap because the combination of machine learning and natural language recognition offers
a more “free flowing” experience for users. Touching on the potential drawbacks of such services, Zito agrees that
human interaction will be necessary to deal with complex queries, and that users will need to be careful how they
phrase or articulate their requests to avoid misunderstandings. But on balance he believes that we are looking at a
massive shake-up for the travel industry.
So, where exactly does all of this leave Travel Management Companies?
Doing all that AND MORE!
Far from being afraid of what the future holds for travel management companies in general (and ourselves in
particular), Inntel sees the abundance of new technology and development of online services as a very good thing
indeed.
To start with, many of the services seem to be targeting small businesses that do not have the turnover to justify
working with a Travel Management Company. These businesses are sure to benefit from taking a more formal
approach to their own travel plans, and from the cost savings that being organised can bring. As the small businesses
grow they may decide to take the next step and outsource their requirements to people like us: a company that uses
technology to improve processes and deliver savings but also offers dynamic and tailored services that are a 100%
match with the client’s particular requirements. These clients will then be in a position to compare the two service
levels and appreciate the added value of working with an expert team.
Our second reason to be cheerful lies in the simple truth that no matter how sophisticated or comprehensive the
online services and apps become they will never be as good as a team of living, breathing industry specialists at
finding genuinely innovative solutions. Human beings are supremely flexible. We may provide a core service of
meetings and travel management, but it’s surprising how many other things we have had to do for clients along the
way. We’ve run team-building exercises (involving huge jigsaw puzzles!) at an induction event for new graduate
recruits, for example. And we’ve helped to organise an award-winning garden entry while managing a hospitality
event at the Chelsea Flower Show. Now try and code a robot to do that!
As a final point, we are always quick to investigate IT advances and adopt anything that we believe will improve or
enhance our own service offering. With such new and exciting technologies coming down the pipeline, who can tell
what new tools and techniques we will be offering in years to come!