Last week CWT released its Travel Management Priorities report.
Its survey of travel managers around the world revealed that 63% believed the highest priority to be "Leveraging travel data to build predictive analyses and benchmarks". In the EMEA region 58% identified it as a priority, following closely only "Promoting mobile app to increase traveller efficiency on the go" (60%) and "Deploying fare tracking and re-booking solution" (59%).
Managers have always believed data to be essential. Should we be surprised?
It is no surprise that the use of predictive data is starting to take centre stage among travel managers and travel management companies. Indeed both BCD's Jeroen Hurkmans and HRG's Matthew Pancaldi provide valuable insights into the value of predictive data in travel management.
We should probably only be surprised that in Europe it trailed, albeit only marginally, two other initiatives. The essential role of data in travel manager is probably so taken for granted that some believe it is not a priority for action because a strategy for it exists.
But there are strategies and there are strategies. Data has traditionally been gathered from a small pool of sources – MI from the TMC, supplier data either direct or from third parties aggregators such as Prism, cards, expense management, etc. But this is all data relating to the past. Decisions have been taken, money spent.
No one doubted the value of transactional data because it was industry best practice and the past was generally considered the best predictor of future behaviour.
But times change. To use an analogy from education, it's the difference between an achievement test which demonstrates knowledge of the past and an aptitude test which identifies likely future potential.
Share analysts have moved from past graphs to algorithms to predict future prices. So has the travel industry as the rise of airline and hotel revenue management teams demonstrates.
Data can now be used to more accurately predict future travel patterns and volumes which can not only help policy creation but is essential to sourcing strategy. Suppliers' strategy and inventory is as likely to change as buyers' demand. Big data has invaded our worlds and some clever people have found ways of using data to predict future behaviour rather than merely reporting past behaviour.
Travel managers relying only on past transactional data will shortly be looking remiss.
Predictive data is shortly moving from a nice to have to a must have.
• Carlson Wagonlit Travel's "The Value of Business Travel" is available in Business Travel iQ's Knowledge Databank