Business Travel

By Jose Allan Tan

Booming economies mean a lot more people are traveling. Whether for enterprise or pleasure the entire industry is taking advantage of this.

Think about the upward spiral of hotel costs in Singapore, Hong Kong and Beijing. With costs up across the board, you’d think there is a conspiracy within the travel business to milk the cow for what its’ worth. Then once more blame it all on the law of supply and demand.

According to the Barclaycard Company Travel Survey 2005/06, practically 45 percent of enterprise travelers said they traveled a lot more for company in 2005/2006 than they did in 2004/2005. 1 third of these are due to business expansion overseas.

The report, “Traveler Tribes 2020″ (published by the Henley Centre HeadlightVision — a global strategic futures & advertising consultancy) notes that both cosmopolitan commuters (domestic travelers) and international commuters are on the rise. A personnelzone.com survey suggests that the growth in international commuting will be facilitated by a decline in fixed hour jobs.

Time efficiency and flexibility will turn out to be increasingly essential to commuters. These travelers will select to use suppliers who facilitate smooth and quick travel. “They will not want to waste unnecessary time traveling. For that reason the ease of booking, speed of check-in and security, along with the convenience of a travel hub location will influence their travel choices substantially,” says David Brett, president of Amadeus Asia-Pacific.

The second type of enterprise traveler is the Global Executive who travels in premium or company class. According to the report, by 2015, the number of enterprise travelers utilizing business class services will rise from 17 percent (in 2005/6) to around 33 percent in 2015, driven by the demand for improved service and far better working conditions. Travel providers will want to feel about technology and premium services that fit in with their needs.

Airline operators will also see an uptake in enterprise-class travel as Global Executives take to the sky in style and comfort. For these executives, it is not so much the perk of comfort and luxury, as it is the capability to work on board the aircraft and continue working uninterrupted after the executive has disembarked the plane and headed for the office.

The trouble with traveling

To be fair, there are troubles on the horizon. Security remains 1 of the biggest hurdles to frequent travel. Political and economic instability arising from insurgencies and bombings continue to escalate with no immediate resolution in the near-term. This may possibly lead to the need for additional security measures, visa regulations and entry controls, which could restrict travel. Fear of the spread of global pandemics (bird flu, SARS) may also impact international travel.

This also impacts the cost of fuel which remains uncertain in the mid-term. A paradox to this is the apparent resilience enterprise travelers have developed over the last 18 months.

Whilst new technologies do give an alternative approach of communication for meetings, it is still maintained that this channel will be no substitute for face-to-face interaction and personal contact will be preferable as long as it remains economically viable.

Awareness of environmental issues such as global warming may lead some businesses to restrict travel in an effort to do their part to reduce carbon emissions. Nonetheless, research right now reveals that consumers will continue to travel as required to meet work commitments and may only decide on other far more ethical alternatives when they are comparable in cost and top quality.

Technology not to the rescue

Advances in video conferencing and VoIP promise to reduce the need for company travel, this has not translated into a reduction in travel especially in Asia where businesses are frequently conducted face-to-face, permitting for executives to share insights into diverse cultures.

Airports and airline operators are not sitting idly in the stands. Working with business bodies such as IATA, many are looking at various technologies to see what would contribute to the continued positive enterprise atmosphere even in the face of threats beyond their control.

“Airports are also turning to technology to help solve the challenges associated with the changing security requirements while minimizing passenger inconvenience. One region where we are beginning to see convergence is between security and self-service. New applications and peripherals will enable this convergence to take place with out compromising security and transaction or processing time, keeping it straightforward for the passengers,” says Russ Lewis, Regional Vice President of Airport and Desktop Services, Asia Pacific at SITA.

Technology is not taking a backseat to development. Brett believes that “key trends in technology that will impact the profitability of the business are integrated info systems that offer more convenience for clients and new ways for travel providers to reach them. Over the next couple of years, we will see travel bought and sold as a commodity via non-standard retail outlets, and the offerings will be personalized according to customer profiles.”

Integrated sales systems will allow travel providers to cross-sell extra items and services, and the ability to sell to consumers via mobile telephony.

Coming method innovation

“Traveler Tribes 2020″ offers 1 caveat — it does not mandate nor predict with certainty what the future will be. “We see the report as supposed to start a conversation within the travel industry and stimulate debate about what the future of travel holds and the implications for travel service providers such as airlines,” notes Brett.

Executives are increasingly demanding more technologies to make their travel simpler and more efficient. In the future, humanization of technology will mean far more personalized services to meet the needs of company travelers, and data that is readily readily available to support their company activities.

This indicates that travel providers can deliver exceptional and engaging customer experience that makes travel hassle-totally free. For example, a organization traveler who is going to miss his flight would appreciate the ability to speedily and simply reschedule yet another flight.

The continuing evolution of processing power will support technological developments, and it is expected that mobile communication devices will grow to be even far more advanced. Open systems architecture and web-based applications will further allow travel providers to meet the requirements of clients.

The Traveler Tribe report outlines a number of technologies that are expected to be developed over the next couple of years. These include:

1. Digital personal identities (detailed customer info held digitally and consequently effortlessly and rapidly accessible), to enable a far much more personalized service.

2. Integrated Data systems that combine information from a selection of sources.

3. Real-time information delivered to individuals based on need and location.

4. Increased customer interaction by way of social computing.

5. Visual data technologies becoming cheaper and a lot more sophisticated.