Business Travel News Europe Business Travel News Europe
Business Travel News
  • NEWS & FEATURES
    • Accommodation
    • Air Travel
    • Ground Transport
    • Management
    • Meetings
    • On the Move
    • Payment & Expense
    • Technology
    • TMC & Distribution
    • Travel Procurement
    • Recent Issues
  • CONVERSATIONS
    • Expert Q&A
    • Columnists
    • Podcasts
    • VIEW ALL CONVERSATIONS
  • IN DEPTH
    • Global Insights: India in motion
    • A class of its own
    • Cracking the data puzzle
    • Culture club: How to engage global stakeholders
    • Artificial intelligence: Don't believe the hype
    • Artificial Intelligence
  • DATA & INSIGHTS
    • Reading the cards
    • Come together
    • Experience is everything
    • Stay for a while
    • Data disturbance
    • VIEW ALL
  • EVENTS
    • Webinars
    • Business Travel Show
    • Business Travel Accommodation Summit
    • Business Travel Tech Talk
    • Global Travel Risk Summit
    • Strategic Meetings Summit
    • VIEW ALL EVENTS
  • RESOURCES
    • Leading 50 TMCs
    • Corporate cards & payments 2020
    • Podcasts
    • Recent Issues
    • Business Travel Buyer's Handbook
    • Business Travel Buyer's Techbook
    • Taking On Travel Risk Management
    • The Distribution Issue
    • Data Sources: The Reference Guide
  • NEWS & FEATURES
    • Accommodation
    • Air Travel
    • Ground Transport
    • Management
    • Meetings
    • On the Move
    • Payment & Expense
    • Technology
    • TMC & Distribution
    • Travel Procurement
    • Recent Issues
  • CONVERSATIONS
    • Expert Q&A
    • Columnists
    • Podcasts
    • VIEW ALL CONVERSATIONS
  • IN DEPTH
    • Global Insights: India in motion
    • A class of its own
    • Cracking the data puzzle
    • Culture club: How to engage global stakeholders
    • Artificial intelligence: Don't believe the hype
    • Artificial Intelligence
  • DATA & INSIGHTS
    • Reading the cards
    • Come together
    • Experience is everything
    • Stay for a while
    • Data disturbance
    • VIEW ALL
  • EVENTS
    • Webinars
    • Business Travel Show
    • Business Travel Accommodation Summit
    • Business Travel Tech Talk
    • Global Travel Risk Summit
    • Strategic Meetings Summit
    • VIEW ALL EVENTS
  • RESOURCES
    • Leading 50 TMCs
    • Corporate cards & payments 2020
    • Podcasts
    • Recent Issues
    • Business Travel Buyer's Handbook
    • Business Travel Buyer's Techbook
    • Taking On Travel Risk Management
    • The Distribution Issue
    • Data Sources: The Reference Guide
Business Travel News
  • NEWS & FEATURES
    • Accommodation
    • Air Travel
    • Ground Transport
    • Management
    • Meetings
    • On the Move
    • Payment & Expense
    • Technology
    • TMC & Distribution
    • Travel Procurement
    • Recent Issues
    SubscribeBTN Europe NewsletterBTN Europe Magazine
  • CONVERSATIONS
    • Expert Q&A
    • Columnists
    • Podcasts
    • VIEW ALL CONVERSATIONS
    David McNeill Enterprise NationalBusiness travel hasn’t stopped – it’s just gone ‘grey'
    Paul Tilstone Festive Road2021: the advent of ‘purposeful travel’?
    Digital health passports integral to travel in 2021Digital health passports integral to travel in 2021
  • IN DEPTH
    • Global Insights: India in motion
    • A class of its own
    • Cracking the data puzzle
    • Culture club: How to engage global stakeholders
    • Artificial intelligence: Don't believe the hype
    • Artificial Intelligence

  • DATA & INSIGHTS
    • Reading the cards
    • Come together
    • Experience is everything
    • Stay for a while
    • Data disturbance
    • VIEW ALL
    Reading the cardsReading the cards

    BTN Europe presents an overview of business travel and MICE predictions for this year

  • EVENTS
    • Webinars
    • Business Travel Show
    • Business Travel Accommodation Summit
    • Business Travel Tech Talk
    • Global Travel Risk Summit
    • Strategic Meetings Summit
    • VIEW ALL EVENTS
    Business Travel Show Europe Kick Off

    Business Travel Show Europe Kick Off, proudly

    Business Travel Show

    ExCeL London - 22-23 June 2021

  • RESOURCES
    • Leading 50 TMCs
    • Corporate cards & payments 2020
    • Podcasts
    • Recent Issues
    • Business Travel Buyer's Handbook
    • Business Travel Buyer's Techbook
    • Taking On Travel Risk Management
    • The Distribution Issue
    • Data Sources: The Reference Guide

Technology

Interview: Guy Snelgar, Barndello Consulting

By Matthew Parsons / 31 October 2019 / Contact Reporter
Share

After a career spanning 30 years in the travel industry, including roles at all three GDSs, Guy Snelgar talks about his new venture, Barndello Consulting, and why he loves the complexity that comes with technology

Tell us about your background I used to work in the implementation and planning team at Travicom [which later became Galileo, then Travelport] and then the telesales team, then found myself years later in the sales and account management team. That was the latter half of the 1990s. When I left there, I went to Portman Travel, then Amadeus and Sabre before joining Diners Club.

You then returned to Travelport – why was that? Having said I’m done with GDSs, and technology, I found that I missed it. The opportunity came up at Travelport, which was a chance to get back to what I know. To some extent, you can't change who you are. I actually missed the complexity of it. In a perverse way, I liked the fact that, to have a proper discussion with a customer about all the aspects of the technology in the business, can be a two-day discussion. I did three years there, and this summer decided it was time for me to move on and do something different. 

What do you hope to achieve with your new business? The primary focus is to work with corporates and TMCs. There’s a technology part, but also a sales part – I’ve spent most of my career in sales. There are a lot of people out there, at the moment, who are facing challenges that haven’t been there before. And I think I’ve come from quite a good place in terms of my experience, having worked with technology companies. In the past 10 years, I’ve probably spoken at some point with every single agency in the UK! So you hear about situations, what works, what doesn’t work what they’re going through, what they’re hearing from their customers. 

How do you plan to work with travel buyers? I’ll help them understand what they want out of a TMC. I’ve seen enough RFPs in my time. I’ve seen good ones and bad ones! I’ve seen ones where you read them, and you can clearly see what they want to get out of their travel programme. The programme has a purpose, goals and objectives. With others, they’ve just gone out to the first TMCs they’ve found in a list, and sent them a document. So I’ll be helping buyers understand the value they can get out of it, asking the right questions.


NDC gets seen as a goal in itself. It isn’t. It is one type of connectivity between the customer, TMC and supplier


Do corporates fully understand the value a TMC brings? People don’t generally see what the TMC does behind the scenes. The question I found myself asking when I talked to TMCs was that the corporate buyer they deal with probably knows why they use the TMC, but could they articulate it? If the buyer’s finance director asked them: “Why are we using a TMC, and why are we using that particular TMC?”–  could the buyer respond in language they understand? And if they can’t, how do expect to keep that business when they get challenged about going to another TMC, or asked why the company doesn’t book the travel itself?

So it's about communication as well? Put it into language they understand, as in this industry we tend to talk in our own language. We talk about codeshares, NDC, wait lists, classes, but we’re not good at talking in our customer’s language, language that makes sense to them. I’ll consult during the RFP phase, renegotiation, right through to implementation. But it’s not just about the delivery, it’s also about communicating to corporate bookers. There’s a hearts and minds thing, it can be an elongated process. 


I’ll help travel buyers understand what they want out of a TMC. I’ve seen enough RFPs in my time. I’ve seen good ones and bad ones!


What else would you like to see fixed? There is a revolution coming in the [transaction fee] commercial model. We have an industry that is based around the one bit that doesn’t add any value. And we don’t charge for all the stuff that adds value. It is unusual to charge for managing the programme, providing guidance and advice, duty of care. All those things, the reasons people use TMCs, we don’t charge for. We slap it all on the transaction fee, and wonder why we get people saying “why do I need to pay for that?” I’ve spoken to some TMCs who are looking to break that model and change it, but is the market, and the industry, ready for it? It feels like stepping off a precipice. But it’s coming. The first people who do it will be seen as crazy. When four or five people do it, it will be seen as maverick. When 20 people are doing it, it will seem like a really good idea. 

What challenges do buyers face when selecting an online booking tool? When I used to run Sabre GetThere for EMEA, I worked with a lot of blue chip clients, rolling out online booking tool globally. It’s a minefield. What infuriated me was that you’re implementing something, and as often happens, it’s not gone as expected, or it wasn’t successful. You find out afterwards it’s because there was something you didn’t know about. The response from the salesperson is: well, you didn’t ask for that! But it’s not the buyer’s job to know what to ask for – they’re not the experts. So I’ll help customers ask the right questions, and prompt the suppliers to ask the right questions, and work through the minefield. You can always tell the difference between people who are going through their second or third round of booking tool choice.

What’s your take on NDC? NDC gets seen as a goal in itself. It isn’t. It is one type of connectivity between the customer, TMC and supplier. It’s slightly ironic, no one talks about the various forms of XML and Edifact [Electronic Data Interchange For Administration, Commerce and Transport] messaging that have been used to communicate with airlines in the past. No one cared, it didn’t matter. People ask: can I get what I need to get to book this flight? 

So who has the answer? In terms of coming up with the solution that makes NDC work, the GDSs are best placed to do it. They’ve got the people, the expertise, the customer base, the footprint… and the technology and know-how to make it work. If they get it right, they are the best people to do it; if they get it wrong, new entrants are coming in who will overtake them. 

What else are you looking forward to as an independent consultant?It’s nice not having an agenda, other than what you genuinely believe and feel is the right thing to say, as opposed to having to frame the conversation so you can talk about certain things.

Snelgar is confirmed as a speaker at the BBT Forum on 7 November, where he will take part in a session entitled "How to harness the power of your travel bookers". There are a limited number of free buyer places left for the event. To register, click here

More Technology
Related
TripActions adds expense management to Liquid platformTripActions Liquid adds ERP integrations
Deloitte launches cross-border traveller-compliance app with SAP ConcurDeloitte launches cross-border traveller-compliance app with SAP Concur
Neo helps corporates build green hotel programmesNeo helps corporates build green hotel programmes

More Technology

TripActions Liquid adds ERP integrations
Deloitte launches cross-border traveller-compliance app with SAP Concur
Neo helps corporates build green hotel programmes
SAP projects no recovery for corporate travel in 2020

VIEW ALL
Subscribe to the

BTN Europe Newsletter

pixel2

Click Here for our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

  • Most Read
  • Most Shared
  1. UPDATED: The BTA issues new guidance on TMC pricing models
  2. Germany to demand two Covid tests from arrivals
  3. Analysis: Vaccination alone unlikely to prove green light for travel
  4. Further uncertainty for business travel as England enters new lockdown
  5. IATA criticises Canada’s test on arrival rules
  1. After Brexit major restrictions hit EU-UK business travel
  2. Analysis: Vaccination alone unlikely to prove green light for travel
  3. Germany to demand two Covid tests from arrivals
  4. UPDATED: The BTA issues new guidance on TMC pricing models
  5. Norwegian to ground long-haul services permanently
Business Travel News Europe Business Travel News Europe
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • EDITORIAL CALENDAR
BUSINESS TRAVEL NEWS
NORTHSTAR TRAVEL GROUP
Business Travel News
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe to BTN Europe Newsletter
  • Subscribe to BTN U.S.
  • Subscribe to Travel Procurement
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • BTN Europe 2021 editorial calendar
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
Business Travel News Europe
Business Travel News Travel Procurement The Beat
Northstar Travel Group
  • Retail Travel
  • Travel Weekly
  • Travel Weekly Asia
  • Travel Weekly China
  • TravelAge West
  • TravelPulse
  • TravelPulse Canada
  • TravelPulse Quebec

  • Hotel Investment
  • Burba Hotel Network

  • Travel Technology
  • Inntopia
  • Phocuswire
  • Phocuswright
  • Web In Travel
  • Meetings & Incentives
  • Northstar Meetings Group
  • Meetings & Conventions
  • Meetings & Conventions China
  • Meetings & Conventions Asia
  • Meeting News
  • Successful Meetings
  • Incentive
  • SportsTravel

  • Data Products
  • Agent Studio
  • AXUS Travel App
  • Intelliguide
  • travel42
Northstar Travel Group
Copyright ©2020 Northstar Travel Media, LLC. All rights reserved.    100 Lighting Way Secaucus, NJ 07094-3626 USA | Telephone: (201) 902-2000
RRManagement rrtestprocurement