Where Does Corporate Travel Stand in 2015?

Look beyond the usual business travel concerns – delayed flights, increasing fares, and pocketbook-gouging ancillaries. The travel industry and all travelers also face global and technology-driven challenges in 2015. 

Challenges for the Travel Industry

It is not possible to separate tourism from corporate travel trends in terms of challenges. Both are facing the same or similar concerns.

·      Health and safety risks affect all travelers and service providers, including:

- The unknown long-term effects of highly-communicable diseases (e.g., Ebola) on travel restrictions.

- The global impact of terrorist acts on travel.

- Ongoing airline safety (6 major air disasters in 2014, alone). 

· Cybercrime appears to be increasing in all sectors, impacting the safety of credit card data, frequent flyer numbers, ID cards, passports, confidential business data, etc.

·      Service providers continue to search for more effective ways to integrate travel technology with customized client support.

Airline Corporate Travel

Various industry watchers indicate that air travel will increase quickly in 2015 as the economy stabilizes. 

• Asia Pacific is expected to be a driving influence, particularly in outbound travel. Sales in this sector are expected to double in 2015.
• SMEs typically don’t have the financial clout of big businesses. Industry leaders like TTS offer an SME-centric travel software booking solution, TTS Corporate, that caters to corporate travel for SMEs.
• Fares are increasing slightly in the U.S. whereas other regional airlines are cautious of damaging consumer confidence and business with sharp airfare increases.
• “Big data” is expected to revolutionize corporate travel in 2015. Increased use of smartphones and the expanding availability of free Wi-Fi mean greater access to bookings, data reviews, website tracking, and social media reviews.
• Corporations continue to use gamification to encourage employees to be mindful of cost savings policies.

Hotel and Travel Booking Channels

Hotel and travel bookings are growing, particularly through online channels. 

• Online travel agencies, hotel websites, and brand sites now account for almost half of leisure bookings while call- and walk-ins and agency bookings are fading.
• Airbnb rentals are increasingly popular, providing travelers with unique accommodations in over 190 countries.
• Travelers can now use Amazon for hotel booking and Google Flights for air travel bookings.

Where Is Technology Taking Us?

Travel technology trends continue to impact all industry sectors.

• Metasearch engines can aggregate results from multiple sites. One metasearch system can compare multiple hotel options; another metasearch can pull together data for all types of lodgings in a destination.
• Analytics enable travel agents to extrapolate data on their clients’ travel needs.
• Technology enables the agent or traveler to state preferences once in a booking software system and is seamlessly plugged in, as needed, for future bookings.
• Customers demand more self-service systems such as expedited airport screening, TSA PreCheck, assisted bag drop, and self-boarding kiosks.
• Smartphone apps are being used to book travel, receive status updates, connect with local services, check into and out of hotel rooms, and more. Booking by smartphone is expected to increase to 70 percent in 2015.

Happily, travel is rebounding. However, to capitalize on that rebounding, the travel industry must pay close attention to constantly evolving technology and use technology and social media to respond to consumer interests through all available channels.