Travel veteran and Tzell’s UK boss Barry Whittaker says the timeless values of good relationships and efficient service are still essential in the modern world
IN THE EARLY 1990s, the travel trade press carried a remarkable story about a travel agent who went above and beyond the call of duty to help a business travel customer. Flash floods overnight in a rural part of the Midlands meant roads leading to the agency office were impassable.
The traveller was due to take a long-haul flight that afternoon to an important meeting. These were the days before e-ticketing and email, and the traveller’s documentation and visa lay stranded at the shop.
It was important for the agent to make sure his customer was able to make his trip, and he was prepared to do anything to make it happen. After long discussions with neighbours, he saddled a horse and waded the best part of a mile to the office to salvage the paperwork. The agent had worked for his customer for a number of years and the relationship was so profound he was literally prepared to risk injury, or worse, to make sure the traveller made it to his meeting. It was personal.
In the digital age there would be no need for such heroics – and, in any case, health-and-safety regulations or a corporate social responsibility policy would likely prevent such bravery from taking place. I never forget this story because it serves as a perpetual reminder that the travel industry has always been built on relationships. And whether you’re a travel manager, a TMC or a supplier, the traveller experience should always remain central to our collective endeavours.
There are two key reasons why this message is as timely now as it ever has been. First, the personalisation of travel has been predicted and discussed at industry conferences for the best part of three years. In the pages of this magazine, writers have been evaluating the proliferation of smartphone devices, tablets and consumer apps.
“The power is now in the hands of the traveller” is what we’re constantly hearing and, to a certain extent, it has happened. It’s our new reality. Business travellers have become far more demanding about what they expect from their organisations, their TMCs and the suppliers with whom they engage.
In my experience, they are by no means off the corporate leash in terms of policy compliance, but we are dealing with a new breed of traveller. As an industry we have a collective duty to adapt and be sure their needs are being met as well as those of the organisations for whom they work. In order for us to do this we have to develop and maintain relationships with our peers, partners and travellers.
Big data, to take one contemporary example, is an area in which there should be more collaboration across the supply chain. The technical intricacies of this modern phenomenon would be best discussed elsewhere in this publication, but there is scope for dialogue and debate between corporations, intermediaries and suppliers about how data mined from our collective structured and unstructured sources could be brought together to improve the travel experience and business process efficacy. And the need is pressing; because technology evolves so quickly nowadays it’s easy to miss the boat if you’re not engaged.
The second reason is that there are signs that the UK economy could see a return to real growth next year. The rate of unemployment fell in the second quarter and analysts seemed confident it would continue to fall in the third. The government’s Help to Buy scheme should stimulate the housing market in the short- to medium-term, while the Bank of England’s commitment to keep the interest rate at 0.5 per cent should encourage consumer spending.
There have also been moves by the government to ease visa and trade regulations with China. All these are positive indicators that the economy is returning to an upwards trajectory, which is always good news for the business travel sector.
The knock-on effect to the global economy of the recent partial US government shutdown is not yet clear but, that aside, there’s no time like the present to reach out to customers and industry associates to make sure you and your business are engaged and prepared for an upturn in 2014.
In some quarters the travel business may be a low-touch, online business, but the success of these technological advancements will always be underpinned by the relationships and people that make this industry the best in which to work.
CV
With more than four decades’ experience in the travel sector, Barry Whittaker is one of the industry’s elder statesmen. He held senior positions at Wakefield Fortune, Milbanke Travel, Abercrombie and Kent, and Atlas International
Rescue before joining Tzell UK as managing director in 2007. A large part of his success and longevity in the business is down his ability to build and maintain strong relationships with industry peers. He has taken Tzell UK from being a start-up to one of BBT’s leading 50 TMCs.
tzell.co.uk