At a recent major travel conference I was looking forward to the technology sessions and it was timely to hear about direct connect opportunities and other innovative solutions. However, I was disappointed that there were no sessions discussing the actual challenges that the industry and travel managers face when trying to apply technology to the business travel sector, particularly for the travellers themselves.
For example, one of the frequent questions asked in travel RFPs and presentations I attend is "does your app enable travel booking?". The answer to this is normally "yes, no and it depends".
- Yes, if you want a simple point-to-point booking tool with no policy control and no authorisation procedure, but an easy to use platform
- No, if you currently use one of the third-party booking tools such as Concur or E-travel (because you would use the corresponding app of that tool and not a TMC app)
- "It depends" if you want to use our app for only those people who are able to book with no policy control or authorisation procedure
The reason this question is asked, sometimes wrongly in my humble opinion, is that there is a perception that travellers want and need this medium to book their travel. Organisations know that their travellers use the latest travel technology in their personal lives and are keen to offer them the same options in their business lives.
The challenge for buyers, TMCs and the industry is that what works in a standalone leisure environment doesn't necessarily work in a business environment.
For example, you have no need for authorisation or policy control in a personal environment (other than obviously your own self-control!) but this is an important need in a business environment. Therefore the options for self-booking tools are naturally more complicated and less suited (at the moment) to a mobile environment. The result is that while the tools exist, the traveller might be frustrated in their attempts to book. The reaction from the organisation is often to worry that the TMC, or indeed the technology solution, is not keeping their travellers happy.
In my experience, most mobile solutions are at their most frequent and efficient for check-in, generating boarding passes and on-the-go updates. Where an actual booking is done through a mobile solution, it is currently often limited to simple itineraries on what would be traditionally called low-cost carriers. The reality is that if I want to compare multiple options on multi-sector routes I wouldn't be able to do this on a mobile app right now.
Therefore, by asking whether the app has a booking functionality misses the point. The emphasis is placed on whether a tool can do this, rather than how and where the tool can actually add value to the traveller experience. The right functionality can encourage more engagement with a managed travel programme.
Music to my ears: think about this another way
Previously I used Spotify as my music provider. For some reason I decided to convert to Apple Music. It might be that I just felt it was the sensible thing to do, or it may simply be the brainwashing I have come to accept by being an Apple household.
While I still enjoy the music I want at roughly the same prices, there has been an unintended consequence. I used Spotify through the dedicated app on my car and also on my smart TV. Now I can't do that because Apple only supports Apple products. So it works in my car but not quite as well as it did through the proper Spotify app which my car supported. Yes, I can use it through the TV, but then I have to buy further Apple hardware.
I have to make a choice and I will need to determine which solution works best (or least worst) for my own individual requirements.
I believe that the corporate travel industry is in real need of working out the 'least worst' solutions while technology capability develops, because there is a real conflict between what a corporate entity needs and what a traveller wants. It is simply not a solution to blame the industry, TMCs or technology providers for the conflict.
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Experience should be the focus credit drogatnev/iStockRemember, you can give your travellers exactly what they want but it comes with a compromise choice of reducing security and difficulty in managing policy via the expenses process. There is always a solution, but not one that necessarily satisfies your corporate goals.
To take another example — if you are travel manager booking a lot of domestic rail travel through your TMC, you will be offered one of two agency booking solutions. If you regard rail as outside your managed travel area you might let your travellers book on rail platforms directly and claim back through their expenses. Both rail platforms offer app-based booking solutions which work well. Your travellers might not like them as much as the dedicated site of a specific rail operating company but you don't mind because your overall traveller population needs to use more than one site and you don't allow travellers to book direct.
So far, so good - until you implement an online booking tool such as Concur and E-Travel. You thought you had dealt with the direct booking route on a control basis but now you have another booking platform to introduce to your travellers. The inevitable question to the TMC will then be "can we integrate the rail booking?". The answer would be "yes, no and it depends!"
It's okay that there are different apps
When you start with the basics you can often overcome many of the initial objections and issues you encounter with a lack of technical integration. With the rail example, you can integrate with your other booking tools but it won't be quite as intuitive and will cost you slightly more.
If we think about how we use mobile technology outside the travel space then it becomes a bit easier. I listen to Apple Music but I also listen to BBC podcasts and Amazon Audible books. Conceptually, I guess it would be nice if I could do all of these in one "place" but the whole point of mobile technology is you have it all in the palm of your hand. I don't need to do it in one app; I use three different apps quite happily. They are each seriously good at what they do and give me different choices. I don't expect one to do what the other does well, it isn't their specialism.
Why is there a perception that it should be so different with managed travel?
Ask your TMC what their mobile technology does and why. You should find they have thought about this and that by combining their solution with other apps, you might provide the perfect travel eco-system for your travellers. Depending on their age, you might suggest travellers get their kids to build them a 'travel box' on their phone and put all travel related apps in one place. You could even put a little aeroplane on the top. I write from experience.
Remember, this isn't a failing of TMCs, the industry or travel managers but is just a fact of life. I would start with what is the most important thing a traveller needs. For me that's my itinerary and booking references plus one profile tool. If you are a buyer that books rail, does hotel bill-backs (where the bill is settled centrally) and books air tickets, then you might end up using three different TMC booking channels. These will all have different mobile solutions.
Ask your travellers how often they are searching through their emails to find the travel agency itinerary when they need an important reference number, or why they didn't advise the TMC of their new card number. If they can put their new card number in a single (mobile) profile tool and find their booking references in one place, I know from experience that they would happily then have a number of supplier-specific apps in their 'travel box'. They can easily check-in and will be guaranteed that the new loyalty card number has synchronised across all platforms.
That's why the wrong question is "does your app enable booking?" and the right question is "how does your app add value to the traveller experience?". Your TMC can then show you how their app delivers functions that other travel booking apps do not, that are specifically useful to both the corporate travellers and your policy and reporting requirements.
Technology challenges in the business travel sector, like any other industry, breed ongoing innovation and evolution. But check and check again that these developments don't just address technology for technology's sake. Keeping travellers front of mind will always aid engagement and therefore help meet your goals.
