GUEST BLOG: How the travel industry can benefit from advancements in taxi-booking technology

Online taxi-booking has been somewhat late to the party compared with other products and services, but is now well and truly established, with the market for online taxi-booking services currently booming. In fact, at no point in history has investment in the taxi industry been at levels even close to what it is now; the taxi economy is worth £10bn in the UK alone. This clearly presents a valuable opportunity for technology companies, as no one company has the lion’s share of the market.

With over 230 million people flying into and around the UK every year, the market for ground transportation may well be one of the biggest untapped revenue streams for the travel industry. The trouble is there has never before been an elegant solution; options are typically limited to high cost chauffeur services which are no cheaper than the hugely expensive black cab. Travellers are often left to find their own way from the airport to the hotel at considerable cost. A black cab from London Heathrow will typically be well over £100 for this type of 15 mile journey while a minicab may charge as little as £40.

By using online taxi-booking tools, travel agents are able to take advantage of the minicab options available to them, ensuring their customers have their travel pre-arranged from two points, such as from the airport to the hotel, while also adding an additional revenue stream with relatively minimal effort. We have developed new tools for travel agents and travel management companies as part of their online taxi-booking service, including API’s which allow integration into agents own travel booking websites and systems, and travel portals which provide easy online access to booking minicabs online. For travel agents, booking travel through an online system is nothing new, but ideas like this for ground transportation are set to revolutionise the industry.

While the public are using online taxi-booking tools to an increasing degree, private and retail sectors have been slow to make use of the opportunities available to them. Online taxi-booking offers a range of benefits over traditional travel options for businesses, and an increased uptake by travel agents would improve not only the services they are able to offer to the customer, but also the taxi industry as a whole, encouraging uptake and creating a fair and self-regulating market, which will, by nature, bring about better and more reasonable taxi pricing for all – this can only be a win/win for everyone involved, from the customer to the travel agent to the taxi companies themselves.

Taxicode, the UK’s only nationwide online taxi-booking service, will be unveiling two new API solutions for travel agents and travel management companies at the Business Travel Show in February – drop by stand B842 to find out more, and check out www.taxicode.com in the meantime.

This blog was written by Jonathan Kettle, Director and Co-Founder of Taxicode.

www.taxicode.com @taxicode

CURB THE TAXIS, CUT THE COSTS

Freelance journalist and editor of Public Sector Travel Betty Low wrote a great feature for Buying Business Travel recently called ‘The Art of Persuasion’.  She argued that it’s time for travel managers to start managing travellers rather than suppliers.

Why? Because it’s travellers who are responsible for racking up a multitude of hidden expenses and, by controlling those, you may end up making bigger cost savings than constantly trying to squeeze already-squeezed suppliers.

Hidden, or unmanaged, spend is also the subject of a recent report by BCD Travel, which revealed that it accounts for a massive 26% of all travel budgets, supporting Betty Low’s opinion that it is this that holds the key to cost savings.

The BCD report claims hidden spend can be broken down into three areas:

•           Dining and entertaining – accounting for 16%
•           Ground transportation – accounting for 6%
•           Mobile – accounting for 4%

If we look at ground transportation first, it quickly becomes obvious how managing the traveller can make a massive difference. This area of hidden spend may account for just 6% now, but if taxi fares continue to rise as they have been over the last five years, it’s about to hijack an even larger share of the pot and become an even bigger problem.

Thanks to rising fuel prices, the cost of London black cabs, for example, have risen on average 18% in the last five years and by 42% over a four-mile journey. The fixed rate fare from Heathrow to London is now £65, up £10 from 2008. Buying Business Travel recently highlighted the world’s most expensive airport transfers. Travelling into Tokyo from Narita is close to £200. 

And faced with indisputable facts like this it’s hard to question the importance of traveller management and the only question to remain is how do we manage the traveller once they have left the office and are out of the travel manager’s reach?

According to the BCD Travel report, this can be partially tackled psychologically as many travellers choose options based on ‘the bandwagon effect’.

“Social norms are massively powerful because we ultimately seek the approval of others. In fact, travellers, like everyone else, are often quick to abandon their own best judgment if they feel out of step with others. Use this lever to steer travellers toward public transportation, by, for example, sending out an email: From: Travel Manager Subject: Get on the Bandwagon 80% of your co-workers have switched to using public transportation in New York City. When are you going to join them?”

And of course, increasingly the answer to traveller management is through mobile technology and the introduction of apps that are designed to encourage travellers to make cost-efficient and compliant choices once they arrive at a destination and not just during the booking process and before they leave.

Whichever method travel managers opt for, it’s clear that, if cost savings are ever to be maximised, then the end of rogue travellers must be nigh.

David Chapple is event director for the Business Travel Show. www.businesstravelshow.com