"Artificial intelligence and machine learning are key to the travel experience."
The crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic is making us forget almost everything else. And yet, life goes on. We have recovered this interview, conducted shortly before the March confinement, due to the interest of the reflections of Christian Boutin, general manager of Amadeus Spain and Portugal. His vision of technology and its transformative power in the management of corporate travel has not lost any of its topicality.
Christian Boutin.
"To what extent are we reaching a scenario of technological saturation?
Today, understanding the travel industry without technology is practically impossible. Specifically, artificial intelligence and machine learning, are key to improving the travel experience and eliminating customer friction points when traveling.
Despite the great advances experienced in recent years, I do not believe that we are reaching a scenario of technological saturation, in fact, these advances will be small compared to the revolution that is already knocking on our doors.
What are the most useful solutions for business travelers?
As Forum Business Travel readers know, effective business travel management plays an essential role in the success of any organization. One of the solutions we offer for our corporate travelers is Amadeus cytric Travel & Expense. This tool allows you to manage your entire travel program on a single platform: from travel planning to booking, expense management and reimbursement. In addition, it allows the digitization of paper receipts through a simple application. Travelers no longer need to save and file their receipts in paper format. Another of the most useful solutions for travelers is Amadeus Mobile Messenger, thanks to which travel managers can monitor, locate and communicate with their travelers in real time whenever they need to, wherever they are in the world.
How has the adoption of self-booking tools evolved in Spain in recent years?
The digital transformation that companies have undergone in recent years has led many of them to have self-booking tools. This digitization incorporates end-to-end tools, with which travelers themselves organize their trips from start to finish, including the management of expenses associated with business travel. For companies of a certain size, the use of these tools has become completely natural and fully integrated into their own internal processes, which obviously facilitates a high adoption rate.
I would like to highlight two factors that are undoubtedly also contributing very positively to a better adoption of these end-to-end tools. First, the mobility and multi-device factor, which allows users to carry out their transactions from any device, anywhere and at any time. On the other hand, there is the user experience factor to make the management of corporate travel similar to that of personal travel.
What innovations have changed the traveler experience at airports?
For a business traveler, the airport experience is key. For this reason, many airports are already implementing new solutions to improve it. Ljubljana airport, together with Amadeus, Adria Airways and LOT Polish Airlines, has designed a pilot system based on biomedical technology to deal with the long queues caused by the increase in passengers in recent years. The use of this technology allows boarding time to be reduced by 75% and its success has opened the door to the development of biomedical solutions in other fields such as check-in or security controls.
Travel managers are demanding more platforms that integrate different applications in the same environment. What is the foreseeable market evolution in this regard?
Today's travel managers have less and less time to carry out more tasks, so they need a technology partner to help them anticipate trends, evolve with changes and keep travelers connected and safe.
One of the biggest trends is the rise of the "s“súper app"-a single app that reúnates multiple applications. There is no doubt that the integration of different apps and providers, simplicity and automation will be the keys to the travel of the future.
?What are the entrepreneurial lines that startups in the Tourism sector are working on the most?
The travel and tourism industry has undergone a major transformation in recent years with the emergence of startups, which, thanks to their technology and innovation, provide great value. In the airline world, there are companies such as AirPortr, which, through its airline partners, allows baggage to be picked up at home and checked in at the airport of departure. Others like GeoSure, through big data and artificial intelligence, offer real-time assessments of the personal security of travelers around the world.
And others like GeoSure, through big data and artificial intelligence, offer real-time assessments of the personal security of travelers around the world.