GUEST BLOG: SHOULD BUSINESS TRAVEL MANAGERS TAKE “PERMANXIETY” SERIOUSLY?

“Permanxiety” is the latest buzzword in the global travel sector. It describes the near-constant state of anxiety felt by travellers; about everything from terrorism to racial tension, Trumpism to technology, and culture wars to climate change. And, according to global travel intelligence platform Skift (who coined the term) there’s a burgeoning belief that it could soon become the world’s new shared social experience.

Traveller anxiety: the new normal?

According to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) more than half of business travellers feel that, nowadays, any destination could be high-risk, almost half are worried about terrorist attacks abroad, and over 20% classify North American and Western European countries as only “somewhat safe”.

Meanwhile, the Association of Corporate Travel Executives reports that a third of travel managers are seeing a rise in enquiries about business traveller safety.

Despite these worries, the global travel industry is booming: the GBTA anticipates a rise of more than 6% in corporate travel spend this year and the World Tourism Organisation predicts that, by 2030, five million people will be crossing international borders for leisure, business or other purposes - every single day.

In short, travellers are travelling more. But they are also worrying more about their travels.

Managing worries

Business travel risk management isn’t just about planning for emergencies, it’s also about reducing anxiety, or even 'permanxiety', for travellers. It’s about identifying and mitigating risks associated with every stage of a trip overseas, and helping travellers feel informed about, and supported during, real-time threats.

From pre-travel reports, training and intelligence gathering, to in-country travel tracking and real-time risk alerts, there’s no end of risk management products available to help prepare, inform and locate travellers overseas, and to reduce anxiety.

It’s all about providing access to these products in the most efficient way.  

Meeting expectations

In a recent GBTA survey, 44% of business travellers said they expected their employers to use tools like GPS to locate them in an emergency overseas. And at least two-thirds would expect their company to proactively contact them within two hours of an adverse event abroad.

There is an increasing hunger in the corporate travel sector for joined-up risk mitigation products that provide services like these, in the context of comprehensive risk management programmes; tailored to support travelling employees and meet duty of care obligations. All accessible in one place.

Employers should be able to harness integrated technology that enables them to anticipate employees’ medical and security threats abroad; to know exactly where employees are in relation to threats; and to counteract the dangers. They should be able to prepare staff for every eventuality, giving them access to one-source medical and security advice and emergency assistance, whenever they need it. And they should be able to reduce the anxieties and risks of not having these measures in place.

This post was written by Chris Knight, head of corporate assistance services at CEGA, a Charles Taylor Company and provider of global assistance, travel risk and claims management services.

CEGA and Solace Global Risk are exhibiting their one-source medical and security assistance service INtrinsic at the Business Travel Show on February 20^th and 21^st 2019, Stand B340.  Travel bookers, buyers and managers can register for a free pass here: https://www.businesstravelshow.com/register

www.cegagroup.com       www.solaceglobal.com

GUEST INTERVIEW: Technology should be top of your list when choosing a TMC

For today's post we have interviewed Francesco Deluca, Director, Sales and Client Services EMEA, Omega about technology and TMCs. Omega is the official TMC of Business Travel Show's hosted buyer programme. Don't forget to register for your free pass at www.businesstravelshow.com/register

After price, technology is the second most important reason why organisations choose a TMC. Why is this?
In my experience price is not always the most important reason, particularly when an organisation is reviewing their travel contract after a disappointing experience. Companies with an effective procurement methodology tend to factor in TMC’S experience and integrity. Technology is certainly top of any organisation's wish list as, if well deployed, will reduce transaction fee costs and optimise user booking experience.

Has this changed over the years?
It certainly has. Organisations demand intuitive travel technology which internal stakeholders are comfortable using as part of their day to day job. High on-line adoption rates and the ability to deploy effective employee tracking technology have become critical key performance indicators while evaluating the success of a TMC travel programme.  

What can TMCs offer companies when it comes to technology - what added value can they offer through this technology?
Whether deploying proprietary or third-party technology, TMC’s act as impartial consultants assisting clients in choosing the best technology solution in line with specific needs and strategic goals.  TMC’s are subject matter experts whose knowledge of the intricacies of deploying fit for purpose travel solutions is key for the success of any programme. In these instances, the TMC’s own IT Implementation team provides unmeasurable added value to all stakeholders.

How is the technology TMCs offer changing?In the past 10 years TMC’s have been continuously investing in ensuring their technology is aligned with B2C consumer technology, yet providing organisations with control over internal policy and vendor management programmes. The phase of change and ‘evolution’ have dramatically increased in our market space over the past 18 months with game changers such NDC and artificial intelligence to mention a few. TMC’s have a duty to ensure all new developments and entries to the travel technology arena are positively influencing client’s travel management programmes.   

How will it continue to change over the next year or two?
With clients pro-actively demanding ways in which they can incorporate the ‘best and newest’ tech in their programmes it will continue to change very rapidly. Predictive data analytics & what if scenarios are already an integral part of our own management reporting kit. As an example, Omega World Travel is ready to launch Duty of Care products to assist travel managers accessing traveller location information via chatbot for smartphones and an Alexa-based voice chat. Such tools will go live once Amazon approves the Alexa functionality, which we expect to occur this month.

Why is data so important for corporates/buyers?
Data underpins corporate buyer’s procurement methodology when going to market. It allows them to engage effectively with TMC’s, who in turn will be able to scope and deliver a mutually rewarding travel management solution.

What can they do/should they do with it? At entry level, data in the form of travel spend and travellers’ behaviour are vitally important for corporate buyers, whether optimising preferred vendor programmes or scoping dedicated service configurations and IT infrastructure with TMC’s.

What are the benefits to collating and analysing data well?As an example, Omega World Travel’s proprietary management information tool, ‘Omegalytics’, increases productivity by providing Microsoft office integration within the tool.  Most importantly, it’s executive dashboard benefits its clients with the use of predictive technology enabling clients to intuitively benchmark, forecast and plan. 

How can TMCs help? TMC’s can help organisations navigate a fragmented and complex supply chain with its customer focused approach, best practise and expertise.

PROVIDING A GREAT EXPERIENCE FOR TRAVELLERS IS NO LONGER A NICE-TO-HAVE

In conversation with ... 

Tim Besselink, senior product owner. Booking.com for Business

Tell us about your session in one sentence?

The aim of our session is to inspire businesses to apply a more data-driven, test-and-learn approach that delivers deeper insights into traveller behaviour and enhanced traveller satisfaction, all while staying on budget and within company policy.

What is the single most important piece of advice/information buyers will take away from your talk?

Providing a great experience for travellers isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s actually the key indication of the overall health of your travel programme. As technology continues to evolve, so are traveller expectations—and in order to keep up, understanding what contributes to the best end-to-end experience for your travellers will give you the advantage. Stay nimble, don’t be afraid to experiment, and most importantly use traveller satisfaction as your guide.

What’s the biggest challenge facing buyers now and why?

Business travellers now expect the same level of flexibility, ease of use and freedom of choice that they are accustomed to when they book a holiday. For buyers, budgets, oversight and duty of care are some key concerns. The great news is that these interests don’t have to compete with one another. From our perspective, with the right approach, inventory and tooling, you can deliver an incredible experience for your travellers and stay within policy.

What’s the biggest opportunity they should be taking advantage of and why?

Learn from your travellers. The more you understand about their expectations and challenges, the better insights you’ll gain into why and how they book their trips. Data is your best friend in this regard and can help you to pivot accordingly, maximising value both for your travellers and your business.

Why is it important to have a summit dedicated to buyers in the Nordics and Benelux?

Every market has its own unique characteristics and challenges. This summit gives us a great opportunity to connect with our contacts and really hone in on the specific needs of our customers in the region. For buyers, it’s also a great opportunity to network with their peers from throughout the region and share ideas, best practices and their common challenges.

What does being traveller-centric mean to you? How does it benefit buyers?

Everything we do at Booking.com is based on what works best for travellers. We don’t believe in our own gut instincts or opinions. We believe in data and use it to make even the tiniest of decisions, whether it’s optimising the colour of a button or optimising how we display property photos. In fact, at any given time we’re running over a 1,000 of these tiny experiments on our website and mobile apps in order to make sure that we’re constantly doing what’s best for travellers. If it doesn’t help people find what they’re looking for faster and with more confidence, it’s not on Booking.com. To that end, this enables us to remain incredibly flexible and adaptive to the ever-evolving demands of our customers. Our fanatical devotion to data and traveller centricity is a huge asset to buyers. They can trust that we’re always optimising and improving our product in measurable ways to make their travellers happier.

Why are you looking forward to BT Summit Amsterdam? 

We love being able to speak face-to-face with travel buyers. We always learn so much and come away with a mountain of ideas to continue testing and adapting our product to even better meet their and their travellers’ needs.

Tim will be presenting a keynote presentation called Powering Business Travel Through Customer Driven Technology:  09:30 - 10:00, 27 September at  Business Travel Summit Amsterdam. Book your free place now at amsterdam.businesstravel-summit.com 

The session synopsis is: Listening to, responding to and building for customers -  a look at how Booking.com is shaping the future of business travel through relentless customer-focused innovation and constant product evolution to meet business traveller needs and support corporate travel change.

About Tim:

Tim is Senior Product Owner at Booking.com where he is responsible for leading product development for the business’s Booking.com for Business division. Bringing over 10 years’ experience in online product development, Tim oversees development teams focused on rapid innovation.

Prior to joining Booking.com, Tim served as Product Manager for Hyves.nl / Telegraaf Media Group for over two years, where he was responsible for defining product strategy and specifications as well as analysing results for smarter solutions and products tailored for maximum customer impact.

Earlier in his career, Tim was a Consultant at Jungle Minds where we worked to actively help clients optimise for improved business and communication outcomes leveraging digital strategies and user experience projects.

Tim studied Business Communication at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.