Superagent 011, CONTROL against KAOS

By FERNANDO SAGASETA

¿Do you remember Super Agent 86, that American series so popular in the 60's that parodied the spy stories? I don't, to tell you the truth. I had barely been born. But in some dandruffy rerun of some network around here, I do remember that short guy, with the face of Alfredo Landa playing the fool, whose name was Maxwell Smart. This guy, who wore phones under his tie and used a remote predecessor of the cell phone, the shoe, worked for a secret government organization called CONTROL. I do not know if it was an acronym forced to the ridiculous, the fact is that this agency, a crazy version of the CIA, was fighting against a kind of evil empire called KAOS, an entity as funny as the previous one.

Looking back a little (not as far back as the series), with all that has happened and is happening since that fateful date of 9/11, these almost ten years of wars, revolts, uprisings, and the like, the CIA has been fighting against a kind of evil empire called KAOS, an entity as bizarre as the previous one;years of wars, riots, cyclones, earthquakes, attacks, eruptions, wildcat strikes or nuclear alarms, it is inevitable to think that, in some way, living with chaos has become an everyday occurrence and that in order for this not to be traumatic, it is necessary to act and manage it more than ever with due control. If we apply this to the world of travel, and specifically to corporate travel, which is not always directed to the hottest sun, nor to the most crystalline waters, nor to the juiciest destinations, as happens in the holiday industry, but wherever there is a business opportunity, the figure of the specialized travel agent emerges with force. Super agent, I would say in these times.

Please, no one should be offended. I'm not comparing the clumsy Max with the professional I'm trying to vindicate in these lines. We journalists have the bad or good habit of resorting to any artifice to attract the attention of readers (you know, that “don't let reality spoil a good headline”). Forgive the subterfuge, but the Super Agent came to mind when I heard Óscar García, founding partner and partner of Forum Business Travel, say that today's corporate travel manager has to be like a Robocop, given the number of functions and the efficiency required of him.

Both Super Agent and Robocop, hand in hand, face an environment that is changing at breakneck speed in a turbulent world that requires instant answers and solutions. To face this mission, the specialized agent has to know that the travel manager he/she serves is improving his/her preparation (from Forum Business Travel's continuous training platform we also contribute to this) and that he/she is gradually gaining status in the companies' organization chart. In addition, since the outbreak of the economic-financial crisis has the word control (of expenses) engraved on the forehead and does not seem to be erased in a long time, but neither renounces the quality of service nor the security of a good supplier or a good intermediary.

That travel manager has training, but also information, because thanks to technology, he receives it on a platter and at the minute even in the bathroom, so the Super Agent can't give it to him with cheese. Because Robocop knows how to negotiate, or is learning, by the way, to meet savings targets. Because yield management no longer sounds like Chinese to him and he schedules his trips more in advance. Because when you are charged the corporate rate, you demand availability up to the last room. Because you have discovered that a premium economy offers a similar service to business at a much more reasonable price. Because it is incorporating tools to control extra expenses. Because the ecological or socially responsible plus is beginning to weigh in their purchasing decisions. Because it moves in both local and global market environments, with the peculiarities of each one. Because they are getting used to measuring the return on investment, the famous ROI...

This learning process has accelerated with the crisis, which is pushing Spanish companies to look for sustenance abroad. Last year, business traffic increased by 8% to the Americas and by 16% to Asia. The current outlook is for a slight upturn in business travel, which, while not reaching pre-2008 levels, is undoubtedly more encouraging. According to the Society of Incentives & Travel Executive (SITE), incentives are on the road to recovery: 62% of companies surveyed worldwide expect to expand motivational travel in the next three years. FCm/Travelstore anticipates that a third of Spanish companies will increase their travel budgets this year. It is true that in the previous year they spent less, but the number of trips was even higher than in 2009, only cheaper, according to Gebta Spain. There is also an increase in the demand for "noble" classes and the advance of the AVE (high-speed train) is bringing new destinations to life. Let's not talk about buds (green, red or yellow), but let's admit that the signs give rise to some optimism.

That does not mean that the mission of our beloved Super Agent and Robocop is going to be easy. The multiplicity of sales channels complicates the choice. The fragmentation of air and, predictably, hotel rates introduces new expense concepts to account for. In an environment of growing demand, the evolution of prices will follow an upward trend. The introduction of self-booking tools will be profitable in the long run, but in the short term it will require major adaptation efforts. Trading margins will shrink in the face of increasing supplier concentration and the effort already made to adjust the quality/price ratio. Want more? Social networks, reconverted into professional networks, will facilitate communication and the exchange of recommendations, but will possibly provide clues and excuses for non-compliance with travel policies. And the simplification of booking processes will encourage a “do it yourself” difficult to inspect.


In short, KAOS vs. CONTROL. CONTROL vs. KAOS. Just have a big bowl of popcorn and a nice cola. If both forces are balanced, which is the interesting thing to keep the action going, we have a series for a while.