INSIGHTS
Uncovering business travel technology trends
Ask any business traveller what makes their business trip pleasant. They’ll probably tell you that any trip with no friction is the best. Add personalisation, experience and convenience to the mix and you’ve nailed the business trip.
This is exactly what corporate travel managers and bookers are aiming to deliver: a fluid end-to-end customer experience. In this mission, technology has been their ally. Right from first to the final leg of the trip, travel managers rely heavily on technology to book air, hotels, and cars at best prices. They also onboard tech-first TMCs that offer tools to send real-time updates, personalise travel and report budget leakages.
At FCM Corporate Travel Summit, our panel deliberated on what corporates are demanding, how TMCs are evolving, and what lies ahead. Our panel were:
- Renaud Nicolle, Senior VP, Travel Sellers - North Asia, Pacific and Global TMCs, Amadeus
- Pramod Shetty, Head Global Travel, LTI Mindtree
- Gaurav Nagwekar, Group Head - Corporate Travel, Reliance Industries
- Naomi Dias, Account Manager Leader, FCM Travel India
Corporates seek data analytics, OBT with AI
Nagwekar outlined some of the key areas that travel managers would like to see from technology. “Online booking tools (OBTs) integrated with our internal ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system is the most critical part for any TMC and corporate. Also, analysing the data where the system is able to provide solutions and give us foresight that can be executed. These are two key innovations we seek,” he said.
With so many different features to consider, Shetty added that keeping it simple is crucial. “From a corporate world, it should be an end-to-end product where all requirements are bundled in one product. We should keep enhancing the technology that helps us in simplified ways of doing bookings and reporting,” he said.
Outside of what TMCs can offer, there is also pressure on the wider travel industry, as Nicolle explained. “There are a lot of exciting technologies coming our way, like AI and biometric. It is also important to realise we need to upgrade as an industry such as the transition to NDC for distribution for airlines, to enable retailing techniques in the sector. If we want to ever streamline UX and give them differentiation, we should transition to NDC,” he said.
Delivering tech-first solutions: TMCs are meeting expectations of business travellers
Technology became a must-have years ago. Now, travel managers and bookers look for enhancement, new products, quality content and customisation from their TMC. Generative AI will be a key development here, such as chatbots and being able to book tickets through online conversations. “Recently we rolled out our beta version of a product where a traveller can actually just book tickets through voice,” said Dias, who also moderated the business travel summit.
During the discussions, experts also delved into facial recognition during boarding and arrival. “We have to get technology in place to drive the entire travel programme more efficiently and transparently. There is facial recognition like DigiYatra which is being implemented across airports. In the corporate world, travel is the second largest spend for many organisations, so you need to fast-forward yourself and have stakeholder’s acceptance to make any technology transition successful,” said Shetty.
Final key takeaways: ongoing enhancements in business travel
In modern business travel, data is of course the way of life. One of the biggest use cases for this data is to improve reporting, save costs, and offer personalisation. Many of the panel members also stressed the importance of collaboration.
“I would say the industry must be traveller-first always. We look for holistic tech, consolidated travel services and the ability to quickly produce MIS reports. For India, we must understand what themarket needs and build around it,” said Nagwekar.
“Technology can deliver a lot of improvements. No company in this industry can do everything on its own, so it is important to build technology that is open and that can integrate and deliver unique benefits,” said Nicolle.
Undeniably, tech enhancements will drive the business travel industry forward and TMCs such as FCM are taking tech-first approach to meet unique business needs.
You might also like...
