Attention was on the role of new technologies and innovations in corporate travel as industry experts came together for CTC Sydney Corporate Travel Summit last week.

Joining the CTC Think Tank: Meet the Minds panel discussion, Flight Centre Corporate MD for ANZ/FCM Global COO Melissa Elf said the discussion came at an important time, as the corporate travel industry faced a new and complex landscape, and the appetite for AI and new technology adoption was at an all-time high.

“As corporations make a return to travel, there is an increased emphasis and health and safety, sustainability and the traveller experience, and we have a huge opportunity as an industry to answer to this demand,” Ms Elf said.

“Globally, mobile workforce numbers have increased astronomically, and with that comes new measures for duty of care, the customer experience and reporting, and in our organisation, we continue to place a strong emphasis and how new technologies respond to this need.”

According to a Mastercard’s white paper, Navigating Global Business Travel, 58 per cent of travel decision makers say leveraging AI to make personalised travel recommendations to employees is a challenge today.

As a result, the white paper reports 91 per cent are planning on investing in AI and machine learning to provide employees with a more personalised experience in the next five years, believing this will improve travel and expense processes.

“We know this is an area of investment for organisations, so the travel industry’s need to lead and model in adoption and investment is critical,” Ms Elf said.

“As AI becomes more pervasive across customers, travel management companies and suppliers, the ability to integrate parts of the end-to-end travel eco-system will become an increasing reality.

“Successful investment in AI will lie in early established and clear end-goals and outcomes; there should be a view to enhance the traveller experience, improve program effectiveness and efficiencies, and create sustainable and safe outcomes.”

Ms Elf detailed how Flight Centre Travel Group is approaching the new corporate travel experience and how technology investment is driving this approach.

“Integrated eco-systems will play a multi-pronged approach in enhancing the customer experiencing, adding efficiencies to the travel management process, and reducing the risk of issues occurring throughout the process,” she said.

“As AI expands and predictive analytics becomes more advanced, so too will the ability for a customer to self-serve those things that enhance their experience.

“At an organisational level, AI will be used to automate expense and payment processes, create dynamic policies, apply smarter spend controls, report on ESG and accelerate personalisation.”