The business travel industry urgently needs a "common set of technology standards."
The appeal came from Bill Brindle, director of business technology and distribution for Hogg Robinson Group (HRG).
Speaking at the travel management company's first "New Opportunities" seminar, Mr Brindle such standards would benefit the whole industry.
He added: "To date, all those involved in solutions development have tended to work independently, often creating connectivity and integration issues.
"Existing industry guidelines are extremely broad and lead to different interpretations, with the risk that systems developed by one company are often not compatible with those developed by partners or clients."
He said that "robust, common standards" would end this risk and let companies work more effectively together.
This would "pave the way for a new generation of integrated systems that add real value for the corporate travel industry."
He told the 100 delegates, including air, hotel, car, rail and GDS executives, that the cost of duplication and the time involved in integration could be "significant."
This was inevitably passed on to the end user.
"This is simply not acceptable. The need to find a common solution is more important than ever as our industry becomes increasingly complex and works hard to contain costs and increase value for our clients," he said.
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Stanley Slaughter