Travel management is moving towards smart data, the analysis of truly relevant data.
The management of business travel is moving from big data to smart data, that is, to the analysis of really relevant data, according to the conclusions of the conference on technology and innovation held by Forum Business Travel on May 26 in Barcelona, attended by representatives of major corporate travel agencies.
Connectivity and mobility. Business travelers want all the gadgets. The mobile phone does not replace the computer or tablet. They all coexist. But companies are more cautious. The terminals they give to their employees when they travel for work purposes usually have limitations, even though their use is becoming more widespread for making reservations or, more recently, making payments.
On the other hand, mobile devices are ready to carry out all kinds of travel arrangements, from reservations to payments at destination, but many companies limit the functions of the terminals they give to their employees to avoid security problems due to theft and loss.
Among the management that is gaining momentum are some relatively new services that are very useful for the business traveler, such as Mytaxi or Cabify, oriented towards urban transfers, with the possibility of settling the bill from the same mobile phone.
Other applications manage expenses such as parking, gasoline, restaurants or hotels by the hour. They even integrate with self-booking tools, whose desktop versions are widely deployed in business travel.
In this sense, “mobile phones are also becoming essential not only to control employee expenses, but also to keep track of them at all times, communicate with them in case of need and have a complete traceability of the trip in case of incidents” señala Óscar García, co-founding partner of FBT.
According to the latest Observatory of Technology and Innovation applied to Business Travel published by FBT, 86.2% of Spanish travel managers carry out a control and monitoring of travel expenses. As indicated by the expert in Travel Management, Verónica Ocaña, “we are moving from big data to smart data, that is, to the analysis of really relevant data for the most effective management of business travel”.
Another trend that can be imposed on business trips is the use of wallet cards so that the employee does not have to advance money when making expenses at the destination. The companies that provide them usually limit the payments to certain services, at certain times or with established limits of amount.
Whether cards, mobile phones or laptops, Fernando Puelles, head of Business Travel at Amadeus Spain, believes that the implementation of travel-oriented technology in companies involves defining concrete and realistic objectives, defining the best way to achieve them, and setting up the right technology for each company;defining concrete and realistic objectives, involving top management, choosing employees to act as ambassadors for the new tools, focusing on those who travel the most, and dedicating time to training, without giving up incentives.