Buzzwords in travel management in 2012 included Google,
Concur Open Booking, fragmentation, direct booking and manifesto. All of these
words, and the concepts behind them, contributed to an overall identity crisis
across travel management that had travel agencies, travel buyers, travel associations
and pretty much everyone on the defensive.
What was the value of travel management?
Even a Global Business Travel Association survey of more than
1,700 travelers published
in May found that unmanaged travelers were spending less and having a
better experience than managed travelers. Those results were so dire that the association
decided by the end of the year to try
for a re-do as doubt about the role of managed programs proliferated.
Indeed, BTN had its own role in firing the flames around the
debate. It could be argued that our editorial award recognizing Google’s
Michael Tangney at the end of 2010 as European Travel Manager of the Year planted
the seeds of doubt.
In a nutshell, the award pointed to Google’s ‘open booking’ strategy
and unorthodox, spending cap-oriented policy that allowed travelers to book
where they wanted and with their personally preferred supplier as long as the
travel met the spending caps. If the traveler did better than the spending cap,
they were able to donate the difference to the charity of their choice.
By 2012, BTN editorials were highlighting the similarities
of Google’s program to those considered more traditional: “Google still uses
many of the core tools of a legacy travel program. It negotiates with
suppliers. It uses a travel management company, Carlson Wagonlit Travel. It has
a corporate card, though its use is not mandated,” noted an article by then lodging
editor Michael B. Baker (now executive editor).
The industry fixation on this program, however, combined
with a number of other watershed moments in the industry.
The first, perhaps, was the ongoing legal battle between
American Airlines and Sabre, which hinged on—among other issues—the airline’s
initiatives to establish direct connects with travel management companies and
technologies as it bridled against the limitations traditional global
distribution technologies were putting on its ability to build offers for and
connect more closely with the client through its product offering and ancillary
services. It was impossible for AA to adequately display its full content
offerings through the GDS, but the GDS was insisting on content parity in all
channels or it would bias displays against AA, or drop that content altogether
as it had temporarily done in late 2010
and into the first quarter of 2011. The deal finally was worked out in October
with a sudden denouement reached outside of court and finalized by the court on
Oct 31.
The content disruption associated with that fight by 2012
had turned travel buyers wise to the fact—as if they had not been already—that content
provided via the GDS would be subject in some parts to the whims of the GDSs and
would never be complete. Travelers were booking out of policy and out of
channel, and the next question travel buyers would need to answer from their
executives was “what are you doing about it?” And no response seemed adequate.
At the same time, technology companies had moved to capture
offline bookings and wrap those bookings back into travel management reporting
via itinerary management apps and other strategies.
In what eventually became the ultimate flex on this strategy,
Concur began to leverage its 2011 acquisition of mobile itinerary management app
TripIt to capture off-channel bookings (flaw: they needed to be forwarded by
the traveler), which the technology could parse and integrate into both the
booking but also into Concur reporting. The process was the technology
foundation for what Concur would call its “Open Booking Initiative.”
In its infancy, Concur Open Booking was supported by none
other than the BTN award-winning Michael Tangney at Google and a handful of
other travel buyers forging what sounded like a “lighter touch” style of travel
management that put travelers at the center of decision-making in terms of the
tools they wanted to use to book travel and the suppliers they wanted to use at
the prices that met budget requirements—or spending caps, if those were in place.
Concur wasn’t the only company looking to facilitate a book-where-you-want
style of travel management. French travel and expense technology company KDS
was looking to roll out Maverick as an off-channel data capture option. KDS
rolled out quickly via a partnership with browser plug-in provider ProcureApp. Texas-based
GDSX was going down the same road of off-channel data capture, with a product
called TripLink. (Concur within a year would acquire GDSX and TRX simultaneously—and
would take over the TripLink moniker for its own solution that we still know and
use in the industry today.)
What could be wrong with providing that additional visibility
into off-channel bookings?
Travel management companies and GDSs felt there was plenty
wrong with it, and not least the prospect of reduced volume and revenue coming
through the indirect channel. They railed at Concur for side-stepping the
service and duty of care that TMCs afforded their clients. Concur’s response was
that the company was looking to provide visibility into what was already
happening, not to push travelers out of the channel.
TMC executives—in both BTN interviews and opinion pieces—decried
the approach or dismissed it, saying it sounded nice but their clients weren’t
fixated on a Google-style strategy. They, instead, were fixated on delivering on
the objectives of the travel program to their companies.
Those TMCs didn’t speak for everyone, though. A group of a
dozen buyers were intrigued—not only with the Concur Open Booking idea and
technology foundation, but also with how TMCs could open up their services and
support. With the support of alternative distribution channel Farelogix and the
under the guidance of then-Kessel Run consultant Tom Wilkinson the travel
buyers penned what they called the Corporate
Travel Manifesto (paid link to The Beat), which called for seven points of change
in the industry. Here’s what they were then—how would you change them for
today? And, have we solved any?
The authors argue that there is a “shift in
traveler buying expectations driven by technological innovation and a growing
comfort with self-servicing.” They note that “adapting to this change
is critical,” even if companies adapt in different ways, contingent on
their size, culture and industry.”Constant innovation in booking tools and
interfaces make inflexible platforms unrealistic.” To cope, companies
either can modernize their tools or “extend access to new channels and
content,” while devising ways to keep the latter within a managed travel
framework.The relationship between the corporate client
and the travel management company “must change to meet the unique needs of
individual corporations.” The authors argue that TMCs not only need to
sell things like ancillaries and provide access to content, but also “to
service travelers no matter where bookings are made,” even if it’s outside
of the channels they provide.Companies need transparency, and that means the
ability to comparison shop “regardless of channel, including
ancillaries.” Complete access to content “to all supplier products
and services” is also key, the authors argue. Increasingly important is
the “support personalization based on traveler/loyalty status and
corporate relationship.”“A corporate-driven ‘Big Data’ repository is
essential.” That means aggregated data “from all sources related to
all corporate trips and travelers,” including booking, card, expense and
vendor data. They also want better analytics, data mining and “real-time
access for QC, reporting, and analysis.”The authors claim that “relating all the
data elements of individual trips is a best practice.” They want to
understand the full per-trip cost across their organizations. “Supplier post-booking/reservation
processes (exchange, refund, discount, etc.) need to be decoupled from booking
channels, simplified and reallocated back to the corporation/traveler.”
That, the authors argue, would allow “companies to calculate and manage
the overall spend across multiple channels.” Similarly, “corporate
rates should apply regardless of source.”
Thanks to BTN portfolio mate The Beat for supplying those salient points. The original manifesto is no longer on the BTN website, but if anyone has a copy, you know where to send it. I’d love to post as a resource for this archive series. (ewest@thebtngroup.com). Enjoy the 2012 timeline.
JANUARY
Bob Crandall and Gordon Bethune are the first
inductees into The BTN Group Hall of Fame.
EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme prompts fare hike among North
American and European carriers: Delta, Air Canada, Air France-KLM, Alitalia,
American Airlines, British Airways, Luftansa, United and US Airways. OAG
predicts more incremental price increases and IATA estimates the 2021 cost of
ETS at €900 million.
Active Network acquires StarCite and makes
plans to integrate technology. The transaction is valued at $57.7 million.
British Airways Heathrow presence projected to swell
as parent IAG buys BMI from Lufthansa for about £172.5
million.
MARCH
BTN research reports about half of companies provide
travelers with mobile expense reporting capabilities, but policies that touch
on mobile booking or other mobile app use are not common. Travelers are most
interested in mobile disruption alerts and mobile itinerary management
capabilities.
Booking tool providers continue to improve mobile
capabilities, and particularly focus on better mobile flight bookings. Concur,
GetThere and KDS all say they are increasing usage on existing
capabilities. Concur and GetThere tout TripIt and TripCase, respectively, for
usage.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection makes permanent the
Global Entry program.
Some members of European Parliament object to U.S.-EU
deal on transferring passenger name records. A proposal to refer the deal
to the European Court of Justice was voted down in April, when the deal
ultimately passed.
A dozen buyers encourage innovation with a “corporate
travel manifesto;” the document is the outcome of a buyer conference hosted
by Farelogix, but participants deny any industry agenda driven by the
alternative distribution provider.
Travel management benchmarking firm Runzheimer plans gamification system that rewards clients’ employees for booking lowest-cost travel.
U.K. TMC Portman Travel announces corporate carbon
emissions data initiative for clients.
HRG unveils a “single view of all forecast and
committed travel spend” and allows users to locate personnel and recognize
high-risk situations.
APRIL
American Airlines and Travelport extend
full-content deal amid legal wrangling. This is the second short-term extension
forged in the past year by AA and Travelport amid ongoing legal battles.
IHG announces the development of an upscale hotel
brand specifically targeting Chinese travelers, Hualuxe Hotels and Resorts,
with plans for properties in more than 100 cities.
IATA calls out the rising demand for business
travel—and its premium spend in particular—in an optimistic outlook that notes
an uptick in confidence across some of the world’s largest economies. It also,
however, points to the specter of rising oil and jet fuel prices that was
likely to shrink margins for airlines.
BTN expense survey notes increased scrutiny of expense
reporting, including reviewing and tightening policies; increased auditing; and
upgraded expense reporting tools and reimbursement systems.
Maritz acquires Experient from private equity
firm and majority stakeholder Riverside Co. Plans to keep it as a distinct
meetings entity that targets associations and tradeshows as opposed to
corporate client accounts handled within Maritz Travel.
MAY
With the onset of mobile technologies and personalization,
the concept of traveler centricity enters the managed travel vernacular. BTN
profiles IT consulting firm Cognizant as one company pursuing “associate
delight” as the best lever for compliance to its new travel program.
GBTA introduces a suite of centralized services to
benefit local chapters, but they come at a cost of $70 per member and 20
percent of gross revenues. At least 31 local chapters were not on board, particularly with the 20
percent revenue requirement. By June, the plan is scrapped, but the fallout isn’t
over.
CWT develops traveler scorecard based on a “stress
index” that aims to aggregate individual traveler data to benchmark nights away
and miles flown and what suppliers they’ve used. The move is a precursor to
“adaptive travel policies” to replace the one-size-fits-all approach and
introduces the concept of “the hidden cost of travel,” on employee productivity
and mental stress.
BCD Travel details CSR efforts in rport to UN
Global Compact policy initiatives for businesses that are committed to
aligning operations and strategy against 10 principles for human rights, labor,
environment and anti-corruption.
KDS, NuTravel and Serko launched a global online
booking alliance wherein they shared sales leads and offered mutual
multinational clients integrated data, broader content and consolidated
contracts.
SAP releases cloud-based Travel OnDemand,
which provides mobile and desktop access to expense reporting and travel
bookings via SAP’s GetThere partnership. The cloud version is part of a larger BusinessbyDesign rollout.
CWT plans a new cost estimator called Meetings
Optimizer and a small meetings booking tool for groups of fewer than 25
attendees.
Sabre readies virtual meetings booking tech with
partners Tata Communications, Cisco, Regus and Glowpoint and other
virtual meetings providers.
Amadeus One and Travelport Universal Desktop “mutli-GDS” agency technologies which would allow agencies to book on multiple
GDSs through single desktop interface face criticism from the industry on
slipping timelines and not-quite-baked functionality. Sabre calls the concept
“overblown.”
JUNE
Concur scores E-gov Travel Service $1.4 billion
contract for online booking, expense management and related services. The
choice of an approved TMC, however, is up to the individual agency. Carlson
Wagonlit Travel, the incumbent on the contract, requested a “formal
debriefing” from the GSA.
Texas court grants extension in American Airlines state antitrust suit against Sabre.
Spirit Airlines sees to apply revenue management to
baggage fees, according to high-demand and low-demand times.
Association of Corporate Travel Executives executive
director Ron Dileo leaves ACTE to join AirPlus International as CEO.
Barcelona-based Accelya comes under fire for
potentially—and unwittingly—disclosing corporate air volume data in a report
called eSmash that can identify air spend transacted through a single agency;
and therefore air volume and routes for companies with implant or corporate
travel department program structure could be exposed.
Global Business Travel Association report determines
that stricter travel programs mean less happy, less ‘successful’ travelers.
White House Office of Management and Budget instruct
federal agencies to cut fiscal year 2013 travel expenses by 30 percent and
introduce new meetings policies.
HRG looks to change its services to integrate travel,
expense and serve data—in an attempt to compete with platform providers like Concur and KDS.
Concur by June 2012 lays the groundwork for what it
eventually would call TripLink (after acquiring GDSX and TRX in July
2013)) by leveraging TripIt Pro to push off-channel travel bookings into Concur
Travel and Expense. The company also says it is initiating conversations with
airlines to enable “open bookings” that would give corporate clients the
ability to enforce policy and apply discounts to direct bookings. Some TMCs see
the move as trying to cut them out of the managed travel picture.
South American carriers Lan and Tam merge.
JULY
American Express plans to issue chip-based cards in
the United States as part of a ‘roadmap to advance EMV chip-based contact,
contactless and mobile payment.’ This follows similar Mastercard, Visa and
Discover announcements.
Air France plans to cut more than 5,100 jobs and
restructure certain operations as part of an effort to rapidly regain break-even
financial results. The carrier announces an investment plan in premium seating.
Swiss and Austrian Airlines plan to join Luftansa-ANA
joint venture; regulatory approval and official onboarding date is April 2013.
Egencia reports average air and lodging prices rise 6
percent in North America.
GE’s famously consolidated global travel program
makes exceptions to policy to contend with local content; it also reveals that
it uses a collection of local TMCs and GDSs in certain regions to ensure access
to regional suppliers and services.
Georgia BTA ends its exclusive affiliation with the Global
Business Travel Association; the decision was prompted by GBTA’s Chapter of
the Future project. GBTA responds by hiring lawyers for breach of contract.
US Airways launches bag-fee reports for corporate
clients; not to be outdone, Delta will begin broader ancillary fee reporting
for corporate clients called SkyPartner reports in August.
Tetra Laval is one of the first companies in the world
to develop a mobile app for its own travel program.
TRX buys native mobile expense app Nexspense to speed development of its own tool Truexpense.
Meetings management platform Cvent makes its
first-ever acquisitions of Seed Labs and CrowdCompass, both are
mobile apps.
Travel automation provider GDSX unveiled TripLink,
a new offering designed to capture data on purchases made outside traditional
corporate channels and pushing records into existing travel agency workflows.
KDS partners with ProcureApp, a browser
plug-in that, places pop-up messages on travel websites for travelers that try
to book directly. The messaging can direct the travelers back to the approved
channel or capture the booking. KDS uses it to launch its Maverick module.
AUGUST
Sabre’sPrism buy raises data privacy concerns
among travel buyers and airlines begin to question their position with the GDS
as Sabre becomes stronger, with a lock on airline data.
Concur’s open booking initiative attracts Google,
Salesforce and suppliers, according to Concur co-founder and COO Rajeev Singh.
Mastercard partners with Rearden’s Deem booking tool for SME travel booking and expense site.
SEPTEMBER
Judge let’s American Airlines antitrust suit against Sabre proceed.
TCG Consulting acquires Consulting Strategies as its principle Mark Walton moved to Orbitz for Business as a
strategy and account management vice president.
Mobile intinerary management supplier Worldmate upgrades
it hotel price-monitoring application
OCTOBER
Travel and Transport in October bought Ultramar
Travel in an all-cash transaction.
American Airlines and Sabre reach sudden settlement
to close the most tumultuous period in their intertwined history (AA once owned
Sabre). The settlement assures travel managers that AA content will be
available in Sabre “for multiple years,” calls for Sabre to “display American’s
content in an unbiased manner,” and enables AA to “continue to pursue its direct
connect initiative.”
Visa, along with 13 banks, forge a new partnership
for multinational T&E cards designed to provide global consistency and
data.
NOVEMBER
CWT buys Worldmate intinerary management mobile
app.
BTN publishes metrics from Amadeus, Travelport,
American Express and a number of airlines that predict a slowdown in business
travel for the coming year.
The Association of Corporate Travel Executives names Greeley
Koch as its next executive director.
Mobile technology spurs duty of care traveler tracking trend,
but companies look at how to limit privacy concerns as travelers become a dot
on a GPS map.
EU court upholds airline passenger compensation regulations that
a flight delay of more than three hours entitles passengers to the same
compensation as those whose flights were canceled.
CWT partners with Vinivi to roll out client-specific
hotel review technology within a secure, company-specific site.”
Travel Leaders acquires ProTravel with the
intention to merge it with New York-based Tzell Travel Group, focusing on
high-end unmanaged corporate travel.
Mobile messaging and traveler assistance tech provider ConTgo closes in on connecting two enterprise clients to its app via an API, rather
than using an off-the-shelf version.
The EU stops the clock on emissions scheme for flights
originating from or departing to countries outside the union.
DECEMBER
U.S. President Barack Obama orders U.S. airlines not
to participate in EU Emissions Trading Scheme, reserving emissions negotiations
with the EU as official government business.
HRG financial performance is impacted by clients’
declining travel activity. The company reported revenue down 10 percent for the
first six months of its fiscal year. The company referred to belt tightening as
a first line of margin recovery. Meanwhile, the company projected that its
technology business could surpass its travel services business within 5 years. That
did not happen. American Express Global Business Travel announced in January
2018 that it would acquire HRG.
Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic plan within
the next 12 months to launch a full integrated transatlantic joint venture through
which they would align schedules, share revenue, connect corporate sales, etc. The
JV would fill a significant gap for Delta at Heathrow. With a $49 million
investment in the London-based carrier, Delta picked up three seats on the
Virgin Atlantic board of directors.
Carlson Wagonlit announces it will use WorldMate to capture off-channel spending for corporate clients, with email parsing
technology that captures such bookings and integrates it into an itinerary.
_______________________________________________________________________
Elizabeth West is the editorial director of the
BTN Group. She has reported on the business travel and meetings industries for
24 years. Beth was editor-in-chief of Meeting News from 2006 to 2008 and
director of content solutions for ProMedia Travel from 2008 to 2011, when
ProMedia was acquired by Northstar Travel Media and merged with BTN. She became
editor-in-chief of BTN in 2015 and editorial director of the BTN Group in
2019.
_______________________________________________________________________
