Technology in business travel is geared towards travelers_Session FBT Barcelona
Technology has changed the way business travel is conceived and the transformation is accelerating rapidly. From being basically oriented towards management, its current challenge is to serve travelers on the move. Forum Business Travel has analyzed the latest market trends in a special session for travel agencies held at the Casino Barcelona.
The conference, held on May 14, kicked off with a speech by Óscar García, founding partner of Forum Business Travel, to break down the conclusions of the Observatory on Technology and Innovation applied to Business Travel, prepared by FBT and Amadeus with the results of a survey conducted among more than 120 travelers from more than 120 travel agencies;a e Innovación aplicadas a los Viajes de Empresa, elaborated by FBT and Amadeus with the results of a survey conducted among more than 120 travel managers representing an estimated buying power of 374 million euros.
The progressive arrival of the Millenium generation to management positions is changing the business culture of many of them. To analyze this transformation, the Observatory aims to give a vision of the map of technology applied to business travel in Spain and find out what travel managers think of the technology available in our country and how it is applied.
The most relevant data of the study reflect that one out of three companies works with self-booking tools (SBT), with which they claim to obtain savings of 14.5% in annual rates. In agency cost, the reduction is less. However, the control of travel expenses is still very manual. In fact, more than 55% of respondents acknowledge that this management is not automated.
With regard to data processing, 66% of the companies surveyed have data analysis tools. The information to feed it comes mainly from the travel agency and to a lesser extent from the payment system. One of the most striking aspects of the study is the scarce implementation of corporate social networks, although it is beginning to be an effective tool for travelers on the move.
After a presentation of the SAP Cloud for Travel and Expenses, a end-to-end solution based on hosting information in the cloud and integrated with the SAP Cloud for Travel and Expenses;The session reviewed the trends that Forum Business Travel travel managers have identified for this year.
After the presentation by Esperanza Martínez, travel Manager of T-Systems Iberia, the travel agents present at the session learned about the perceptions of their partners. According to Martín Martínez, “añías airlines are trying to recover more profit margins with their fares, especially in certain markets that are currently very dynamic, such as Brazil”. He also pointed out that the trend is to negotiate prices at a global level, taking advantage of the consolidation of alliances, although he acknowledged that, at present, it is very difficult to reach agreements of this type.
The travel agents were pleased with the recent incorporation of the Renfe offering in the Amadeus self-booking tool. However, they pointed out that the integration could be improved. Either way, it is a big step forward that will strongly boost train ticket sales, where a reduction in fares is also expected due to the introduction of competition in Renfe's monopoly. Specialized agents and travel managers expect complementary transport services to be included in the reservation systems.
As for the relationship with travel agencies, no new economic models are contemplated. According to Esperanza Martínez, “transaction fee zero offers are dangerous and not very transparent, since the agency must have a profit to maintain a sustainable relationship of trust”. “no new management models are appearing, but new practices such as shared savings programs”are included in the agreements,” the speaker noted.
In the analysis of the hotel sector, travel managers also expect a move, as in the year, to recover lost profitability. In 2014 there will be more real net pricing and more regional or global contracts, as well as a continuation of the discord between suppliers and buyers over rate parity. In the rent-a-car sector, neither increases nor availability problems in the fleets are foreseen.
The FBT session in Barcelona concluded with the working tables of the attending travel agents, in which they analyzed the challenges of implementing a self-booking tool. Basically, the recommendations include studying the advantages of its adoption, involving the management and all the staff in the project and establishing a progressive process in which incentives play a more important role than imposition.