We're seeing a step change in business travel, with technology powering a more personalised experience that is great for travellers and for their companies. It also offers huge opportunities for the business travel industry.
Introducing change into business travel can be like turning around a tanker, but the industry knows it needs to adapt and there is growing evidence that it is doing so. We are at a confluence, a point where three drivers meet:
- Travellers' demands for ease, convenience and familiar tools (such as Uber, Airbnb and Amazon-style tailored suggestions)
- New investment in technology generating exciting apps and Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities
- Corporates making a top priority of keeping their people safe to deliver their duty of care
In the decade since the first smartphone was launched, busy executives have become used to managing their flights, tickets, rail bookings, hotels and expenses through icons on their screens. A quick tap and they can check a city map, scan receipts or monitor delays. They want more choice, a more personal service and frictionless travel, customising their trip from A to Z.
One result is that airlines, hotel groups and car hire firms have started to open up their technology platforms so that they can speak to each other online. This is reducing knock-on disruption when something goes wrong and improving service in general: from helping travellers avoid check-in queues, to lessening their sense of disorientation when arriving in a new culture for the first time.
What's coming up
- When travellers open the hotel room door they will hear music downloaded from their playlist and the minibar is stocked with wholefood bars as they prefer, rather than crisps and whisky
- Travellers are more productive, thanks to satellite Wi-Fi on planes and cloud computing that lets them start a project on their mobile in a taxi, fine tune it on the iPad in the departure lounge and complete it on the laptop in the office
- Online and mobile bookings are embedded in your travel management programme. In Asia, 69% of business travellers already have the freedom to book their own flights and hotels
- Personalised and suggestion-based itineraries become the new normal, while a single app tells travellers that their hold luggage is on carrousel E and the Uber driver is waiting in Arrivals
- The work trip feels a bit less punishing when they FaceTime family back at home in VR and they aremore invigorated and ready to bounce into the next meeting
AI and travel personalisation
AI may come across counter-intuitive but automation can actually make travel a more personal experience. Take chatbots and voice search; powered by AI, they can drive a new wave of search and booking behaviour. Chat-powered customer service can blend human expertise with AI-powered technology to offer unprecedented convenience and relevant content. The traveller asks a question, the chatbot gives the FAQ-level answer and can call in human help when a more sophisticated response is needed.
AI's great value also comes in analysing massive amounts of data to determine patterns that prompt more personalised search results. This improves the process of booking and the experience of travel itself. According to a recent trends report, "We are still only scratching the surface of what AI can do."
Machine learning is the technology of identifying patterns to anticipate needs. An example of an application is where an executive makes the same monthly trip to a factory in Kiev, which her booking app learns to programme in advance. It can bring the luxury of having an executive assistant to travellers at all levels in an organisation.
The Internet of Things is also playing a bigger role in business travel. KLM Airlines has developed smart seats that collect live data about a passenger's tiredness, hydration levels and body temperature, for example, permitting cabin crew to offer eye masks, water or a blanket before the traveller even asks.
Care and convenience
Travellers are readier to accept the use of 'Big Data' if the corporate travel policy allows them to choose their favourite airlines, accommodation apps and taxis. Improving convenience is also the secret to increasing compliance; a travel management team that offers travellers a personalised experience through their mobiles can stop them booking off-piste and instead embed duty of care so that employer and employee both benefit.
Business travellers can look forward to a consumer-level experience that is customised to their preferences, easy and fast thanks to better user experience (UX), cloud computing and online tools.
In addition by managing data better, for example tracking flight and hotel bookings, card swipes, email and use of corporate social media accounts, companies can locate travellers and extract them from danger in the event of an emergency.
Why should organisations invest in getting this right? A recent survey by Booking.com identified personalised business travel as key to recruitment and retention, with nearly a third of employees saying the opportunities for travel played a crucial part in job satisfaction. Another survey by Egencia found a quarter of UK business travellers used a shared-economy accommodation service in the last 12 months and almost half are considering it.
New investment in technology
The growing globalised business travel market is prompting growing investment in problem-solving tech, while technology fuels an increase in travel. Whenever a problem is identified, there's a start-up ready to tackle it. Investors see this and are putting their money where they expect it to reap rich dividends.
There is also a demographic factor. Five years ago half of British business travellers were aged 45 or under — today three quarters of them are, and the proportion of those under 30 has almost doubled (GTMC). The millennials who, as a matter of course use hyper-personalised apps to run their home lives, expect nothing less when they travel for work. They are also the tech entrepreneurs who have spotted business travel as the next big opportunity.
So just when we all want new online travel tools, the money is there to be invested in innovative technology.
There are excellent business reasons for embracing the transformation that technology promises. Personalised, trouble-free travel means travellers can focus on the business objectives of their trip. Having instant access to information alleviates stress and helps streamline their journey. The connected experience we now take for granted in much of our lives offers a huge opportunity for the business travel market. Customised digital concierge services are combining smart itinerary management, on-the-day travel assistance and real-time changes in one app.
All this is moving in one direction: permitting business travellers to make the most of each trip while maintaining a work-life balance. They can use some of their free time to explore the area they are visiting thanks to tailored restaurant, leisure and sight-seeing suggestions. They know their employer has made their safety a top priority. And they are in the right frame of mind to be as productive as possible for their organisation while they are away.