What are some of the common requests around online booking tools (OBTs) and are buyers doing enough to manage them? As our DeepDive into technology continues BTiQ speaks to Shelley Mathews, VP sales and client services — Europe at Corporate Travel Management
explains what OBTs should be able to handle now and what lies ahead for business travel booking tools.
What are some of the basic functions/specs that every online booking tool should now include?
They should offer the ability to:
- Book all products in one place: air, accommodation, car hire, rail, etc
- Book for guest travellers, more than one passenger simultaneously and for, and on behalf of, travellers
- Have your travel policy built in to help increase compliance
- Identify lost savings
- Capture data for reporting, for example — trip reasons, lost savings, out of policy bookings
OBTs are still primarily focused on bookings but what has evolved over the years is the breadth and depth of content choice. It's not just about booking flights and hotels any more, it's about bringing in additional content to allow you to book the entire
trip end-to-end — from taxis or car parking, to lounge access, and, of course, flights and hotels. They are expected to be more like a full-service concierge.
Are there any trends or common requests you've noticed recently?
From a buyer's point of view, they want an OBT that's easy to use and that's clean - they do not want something that's complicated and hard for travellers to use because, when that happens, travellers will stop using it and end up booking out of policy.
When travellers are using an OBT, they are using it mainly for point to point bookings so they, too, want something that's super intuitive to use. Neither buyers nor travellers want to have to plough through a 75-page manual before they get started. You
don't need a manual to use a leisure booking tool, so why should you need one for corporate booking tool? We've really taken that on board with our own tool and that's why not only do we not print a manual but we do hardly any buyer training. We offer
it but users just don't need it.
In addition to being easy to use, the content on an OBT is also incredibly important to both buyers and travellers, because if you don't have the right content, bookers will go outside programme and that's when you start getting leakage, which isn't good.
We often hear complaints that business tools aren't like leisure ones but can they ever get there?
Yes they can, for sure. I agree with the OBT users who are complaining - there is no reason why OBTs these days shouldn't have the look and feel of a leisure tool. That's what we're used to using; technology that's easy, intuitive and enjoyable to use.
The plan is to close the gap between leisure and corporate to streamline the user experience — the last thing travel booking should be is a chore! We have four local tech hubs at CTM and a lot of our developers come from a leisure background so we understand
what consumers want and always have that front of mind.
What about mobile, has CTM seen increased activity?
Like the rest of the corporate travel industry we do have an app but the uptake is actually very low — around 3%. This is partly because people may say they want an app, but when they see the limitations of current apps, ie they often require bookers
to use personal cards and are not linked to the corporate booking tool, for example, buyers prefer travellers to not use them because they are not compliant and encourage out of policy bookings.
We are, however, currently developing a complete booking tool, concierge and itinerary management tool in one app.
Do buyers look at the back-end of OBTs enough?
In my experience, I don't think buyers do look at the back end enough; the TMC does. And that's fine but it's really important that TMCs help buyers to understand how the back end works, what they can and can't do and how to make sure the tool functions
for them and that it's fit for purpose.
At the end of the day, it's the TMC's job to make sure buyers know how to use it to manage their travel policy and how to capture reference fields for management information, for example.
What could NDC bring to OBT users?
NDC's rich content will bring a whole new experience to both buyers and travellers pulling together imagery and additional data about everything from meals to the actual planes themselves. It will also offer airlines an opportunity to differentiate their
offerings from that of their competitors, highlighting the key benefits they bring, whether this be punctuality, customer satisfaction, or even how your inflight meal is prepared.
Buyers and travellers will have every opportunity to review, pre-purchase the whole package being offered and post purchase to add content along the way to further enhance their in-trip experience.
The potential for NDC is endless and to the benefit of everybody in the distribution and buying chain.
What do you think the industry can expect from OBTs in the future?
We'll see them being integrated with some fantastic technology whether AI, chatbots, face recognition. It will be like WeChat in China; I think we'll see them heading in that direction and I think the uptake will rocket.