Industry announcements are thin before Christmas. Most are now focused purely on present wrapping and the food and drink ahead.
But two that were made this week point to what 2019 holds in store for travel managers and travellers.
Carlson Wagonlit Travel is publicising its ability to incorporate predictive data analytics into its software with a white paper, followed by announcements and blogs to highlight the value of using predictive data.
This emphasises the trend to identify fare savings in relation to what is likely to be happening in the future rather than what happened in the past.
The technique is not new and organisations such as PredictX have been focused on this strategy for some time but initiatives like that of Carlson Wagonlit and Hopper-Travelport are signalling that this is going from something being used by a handful of forward looking, big-budget travel programmes to the mainstream.
Hopper is an app that savvy travellers have been using for some time to find the best flight deal and, most importantly, the best time to purchase that ticket to obtain the best fare. It caught our attention two years ago with the announcement of a partnership with Travelport. Their relationship marries two big industry trends — that for business travellers to manage their own bookings but in a cost-effective way and for travellers to do this with easy, leisure market-style tools.
This week, while the travel headlines are focused on the $4.4 bn sale which will take it back into private ownership, Travelport extended that deal with Hopper.
Investors have been wary of Travelport for some time because, unlike its competitors Amadeus and Sabre, it withdrew from the growing and lucrative airline technology to focus on the distribution piece. Hopper, and companies like it, will be an important part of that future.
As Jim Lungo, data scientist, CWT Solutions Group, says in a blog "when it comes to data management [we] created a powerful crystal ball to improve travel management and find new ways of saving [by] integrating traditional travel data with public information on commodity prices, macroeconomic indicators, weather and even holidays. All of these are then analyzed to identify patterns and correlations, generating robust predictions for a company's future spend, specifically the number of trips and cost per trip."
Making use of tools such as Hopper and CWT's data management platform enables business travel managers and travellers to be able to take account of changing market conditions within company travel policy.
And that means maximum value for both companies and travellers.
The future is bright.