GUEST BLOG: It’s time for OBTs to put the traveller first

Do you remember when online travel agents (OTAs) became a ‘thing’? You didn’t have to scour through brochures any more, or go into town and sit down with someone face to face, or wait on hold for ages to book over the phone. It was bliss, right? You could just open the web page, search, book, pay, job done.

That must have been, what, 15 years ago? But even back then, before sites became so much slicker and quicker, there was no user guide, no manual, no one-to-one training session needed to help you navigate the site. Even 15 years ago, booking trips online was pretty self-explanatory, obvious and straight forward.

And then, with the explosion of the Internet and mobile technology, things just got easier and easier. We now use technology for everything, not just for booking flights, hotels and train tickets. We buy groceries and clothes online, order flowers, watch TV, play games… and that’s before we’ve even mentioned the screen time our eyes burn through on social media.

What this means is that we’re incredibly savvy and demanding technology consumers. We want the technology we use to deliver a seamless, frictionless and omni-channel experience. And we want the simplicity, convenience and immediacy we enjoy from lifestyle sites to be replicated in the tools we use for work.

So, why then, are some online booking tools still so ugly, clunky and off-putting to use? Surely, in this era of travellercentricity, there really is no excuse for not delivering an OBT that’s been built with travellers in mind. After all, a happy traveller is also a more productive, empowered and loyal employee.

There are benefits for travel managers and bookers from having access to a good OBT, too. Encouraging online adoption among travellers can drive compliance; if the technology you/your TMC provides is as easy to use as a leisure travel booking tool, it goes without saying that travellers are more likely to use it. Load it with your travel policy and supplier preferences, and it will also tempt them away from going rogue.

When travellers use your OBT to book online, you can track your team, which leads to enhanced traveller safety and improved duty of care. It also means, should anything happen, you can change a traveller’s itinerary quickly and easy and then communicate those changes with them one on one or to the whole group.

At Traveldoo, we are part of the Expedia Group, which means we have an army of experience delivering consumer-focused travel technology solutions and our online booking tool is designed to mimic the Expedia booking experience. Simplicity is at its heart and our mantra is ‘three clicks to book’. Now, you can’t get much easier than that, can you?

This blog post was written by Sam Cande, Traveldoo UK country manager. Traveldoo is exhibiting at the Business Travel Show, which takes place at London Olympia from 20-21 February. You can register for a free visitor pass at https://www.businesstravelshow.com/register

GUEST BLOG: Duty of Care in an Off-Channel Booking World

Travel risk management has become an exponentially more complex task over the past several years, as more corporate travel activity is booked outside of a company’s official booking channels.  With the growth of easy-to-use mobile apps from suppliers and online travel agencies (OTAs), the proliferation of travel supplier incentives to book direct, and the sheer lack of critical travel inventory via corporate booking tools (CBTs), many corporate travellers simply find it most convenient to book outside their travel management company (TMC) or CBT.

A recent GBTA survey of European companies shows that roughly seven out of 10 travellers booked travel outside their company’s booking tool in the past year, with well over 25% anticipating using supplier and online travel agencies more often in the future (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Off-channel booking activity trends
Source:  GBTA Foundation, How Traveller Booking Behaviour Impacts Safety, Nov. 2017

The lack of consistent data integration for these off-channel bookings compromises a company’s ability to meet duty of care requirements -- but it doesn’t have to be that way.

As more stakeholders in the corporate travel ecosystem come to terms with the fact that these off-channel bookings aren’t going away anytime soon, leading duty of care service providers are finding ways to solve the challenge of data integration, making it easier and more efficient for them to provide risk management services to their clients.  In turn, this makes life much simpler for the corporate travel managers who are on the front lines of duty of care management.

Additionally, many companies are taking the matter into their own hands, taking advantage of new technology and tools like Traxo CONNECT that help them directly aggregate itinerary data for bookings their employees make directly with suppliers or online travel agencies.  As a complement to (not replacement for) a company’s existing risk management service, these tools enable corporate travel managers to have critical employee location information handy at their fingertips -- which can make a tremendous difference in an emergency, when every second is precious.

Beyond technology, developing a robust, flexible, and easy-to-understand corporate travel policy is paramount.  Heavy-handed policies with complex rules and severe penalties only serve to alienate employees and build a culture of distrust.  To the contrary, engaging employees in policy development gives them agency in their own safety and security, and ensures higher compliance with policy -- even when they book outside official channels. With over half of respondents to a recent Business Travel News survey indicating their companies either didn’t offer risk training, or weren’t certain if they do, there is ample opportunity to improve duty of care coverage through basic policy education.

Taking a multi-pronged approach to risk management offers the most efficient solution for addressing the challenge of off-channel booking data integration.  Corporate travel managers should push their TMCs and duty of care vendors to leverage existing technology to capture this data, as well as explore new services for direct data aggregation they can deploy internally.  Rounding out technology with a cohesive, traveller-friendly policy ties everything together, ensuring your employees are true participants in their own traveller safety.

This blog was posted by Matt Griffin, SVP of Product for Traxo, who are exhibiting at the Business Travel Show next month. Please register for your free visitor pass at http://www.businesstravelshow.com/