Data – effective interpretation is essential
WHILE data collection
is not new to TMCs,
it is becoming
increasingly evident that
TMCs may need to up their
game in terms of how they
collect and interpret their
clients’ data.
A major challenge
currently facing travel
managers when entering
supplier negotiations is the
successful consolidation
of data. Travel managers
turn to their TMC to provide
them with the right tools
and the right data for
these negotiations but
unfortunately the TMC is
often found lacking in this
respect.
Travel managers want TMCs
to focus on data analysis
and reporting in the next five
years, according to a recent
GBTA study, TMCs Today
and Tomorrow, A Survey
of Business Travellers and
Corporate Travel Managers. In
the US, more than half of the
travel managers surveyed
mentioned data analysis,
performance measurement
and reporting as the top
three priority areas where
they want their primary TMC
to improve. Moreover, when
it comes to TMC services,
US-based travel managers
are currently least often
satisfied with reporting, big
data, data aggregation and
insights, and global data
consolidation, according to
the study.
“Many TMCs struggle to
consolidate data holistically,
because they are obliged
to use non-GDS carriers
to transport clients to
remote locations. This is
a manual process and not
as transparent as TMCs
would like. This situation
sometimes frustrates
TMCs when gathering data
to evolve and improve
their travel programmes,”
says Kim Parker, head
of business development
corporate, Sub-Saharan
Africa for Wings Travel
Management.
What’s more, many TMCs
fall flat when it comes to
service delivery in Africa,
according to Kim, because
they operate from franchised
outlets and are not wholly
owned entities with a single
database. She says it is
important to have a unified
platform so that any client
from anywhere in the world
can phone any office and
get information from the
centralised database.
“If two clients are in Angola
and one flew in from London
and the other from Rio de
Janeiro, the service they
receive should be identical,”
she says, adding that this
is essential from a security
and safety point of view.
“Companies need to know
where their employees are
at all times, and employees
need to be able to call for
any emergency service at
any given time, no matter
the constraints in terms
of road infrastructure,
telecommunications
infrastructure, or availability
of fuel.”
Consolidating data
in stages
TMCs should take the lead
in consolidating the client’s
travel data in stages, says
Scott Gillespie, co-founder
of TClara. In the first stage,
the TMC needs to produce
good data from the back
office and ensure it is free
from errors, missing values
and poor logic such as trip
breaks. In the second stage,
the TMC needs to add
context to the data, which
could include peer group
benchmarks. Lastly, the
TMC will need to educate
the client on how to use
the data. “Don’t assume
that the TMC’s job is done
upon delivery of a report,”
he says.
Ben Langner, md of
Carlson Wagonlit Travel,
agrees and adds that travel
managers want access to
near real-time data, along
with benchmarking, insights
and recommendations, so
that they can manage their
entire travel programme
end-to-end. “It’s up to
companies like CWT to
provide that support to
travellers on the road, while
taking our clients from
a world of facts, figures
and reports, to a world of
connections, insights and
possibilities,” he says.
It is important not to
look at data reporting in
isolation, adds Mladen
Lukic, gm of Travel
Counsellors in South Africa.
He says the demand for
effective data reporting
stems from a requirement
for complete transparency.
“Customers want to be
totally aware of their
supplier’s business and
pricing models; they don’t
want to be just a passive
recipient of that reporting.
They want to be an active
participant in the pricing
model.
“To be able to do that,
you need to have a truly
personalised offer, adjusting
the offering as they consult
with the client.”
Cost savings reliant
on accuracy
The main
focus for travel
managers
continues to be
cost savings.
“Accurate travel
data is the key
ingredient to
providing the
main areas
in which cost
reduction can
take place, as
well as traveller behaviour
improvements. It is up to
the TMC to ensure that
the client understands the
data and how to act on the
provided data,” says Wings’
Kim Parker. To realise
cost-saving objectives,
harnessing big data is
important for the TMC and
the client, she adds. “We
use the data to learn more
about the behaviour of our
travellers and to measure
supplier effectiveness, which
lets us put plans in place to
address future needs with
increasing efficiency. TMCs
that do not use deeper
dives into big data to unlock
cost-saving opportunities
for their clients will become
irrelevant. The
value that a
TMC can unlock
for its clients
will determine
whether it keeps
them or not.”
“Having
access and
being able to
interpret and
apply relevant
intelligence
about your customer and
staff’s travel habits (with
their consent) could make a
massive difference to your
business,” says Jannine
Adams, senior manager
marketing at Amadeus
Southern Africa.
“At the moment we are
more comfortable with
the concept of typical
Business Intelligence
which is structured for
easy consumption,” says
Amadeus Travel Intelligence
coo, Nicolas Borel. He says
in future this will look more
like a data lake, a hub of
unlimited amounts of data
of any format and type that
is relatively inexpensive and
massively scalable.
Relevance is key
Although lots of information
is helpful, the key will be the
relevance for the consumer,
says Nicolas. For example,
he explains, as a corporate
procurement manager or TMC,
you might need to reduce
the number of flight changes
made by your travellers to
bookings done through your
corporate booking tool. By
collecting Travel Intelligence
and interpreting it, you would
be able to determine who are
the ‘prima donnas’ (those who
change their flights regularly)
or the ‘sheep’ (those who stick
with their plans).
“Your business could choose
to take necessary actions
to reduce flight changes by
knowing the extent of the
problem and changing the
behaviour of those causing it,”
continues Nicolas. “Take it a
step further, overlay salesforce
as a data source so you can
see if the serial offender
is someone from whom
flight changes are entirely
acceptable. You’re hardly going
to stop your top sales person
from making loads of flight
changes if their behaviour
actually contributes to your
company’s success.”
Increasingly complex algorithms
As technology improves, TMCs
will use increasingly complex
algorithms to address clients’
needs, leading to increased
automation of services,
comments Kim. “Traditionally,
the model for servicing the
energy industry is a hightouch
model. This involves
the traditional offline model
of the client e-mailing the
consultants and using their
skills sets and knowledge
about a particular industry
in terms of offshore fares,
geographical knowledge and
the best ways to get in and
out of a country. With the
evolving technology, much
of that knowledge can be
transferred into online booking
tools to empower the booker
to reach the destination in the
optimum manner.”
Kim warns that TMCs that
have not already migrated
from a manual to an electronic
platform will find it hard to
remain competitive. The online
procurement space, with
integrated end-to-end, total
cost-of-ownership solutions
is the way of the future for
TMCs. “These systems, such
as corporate reporting, take
a lot of time to overhaul in
favour of new technology, and
corporate clients do not have
the time to wait for their TMC
to catch up with technology.
They want to save money
now.”
However, TClara’s Scott
Gillespie argues that
supercomputers are not
needed for the collection and
analysis of relevant travel
data. “All you need is good
old fashioned data collection
and integration efforts, with
a strong dose of analytical
smarts thrown in.”
“The good news is that we’re
all in the same place when
it comes to the journey of
mastering travel intelligence
and that happens to be right
at the start,” says Nicolas.
He says the TMC’s first step
must be to start collecting
data so that when he is ready
to interpret it, he will have
some history against which
to compare current travel
intelligence. “As overwhelming
as the sound of a data lake
may be, you have to start
somewhere and there’s no
time like the present.”
Make sure you’re
up to date with POPI
ALTHOUGH the Protection
of Personal Information
Act (POPI) has not been
implemented yet (a date is yet
to be set), it will likely have
a significant impact on the
travel industry when it comes
to use of big data. The POPI
Act guarantees consumers
control of their own data. If
the consumer requests an
update or deletion of personal
information when the data
is no longer relevant, the
company has to comply with
this wish.
The time when TMCs could
make do with an informal
approach to information
security, governance and
compliance is long gone, says
Pine Nel, senior manager
integrated solutions for
Carlson Wagonlit. “It is
important to realise that, at
its foundation, information
assurance starts with a
security framework such
as ISO 27001. Awareness,
training and ongoing review
provides the live support and
sustainability,” he says.
At its heart, POPI calls on
TMCs to respect the personal
information of its clients. It
asks for transparency, duty
of care and professionalism,
says Pine. He says if these
values are already among
the core of your business,
POPI’s impact is largely
administrative.
TMCs that hold a lot of very
sensitive information will not
only have to invest in the best
possible security systems and
processes, they also need
to ensure that the IT staff
members they employ have
the necessary skills sets to
work with these systems, says
Wings’ Kim Parker. “TMCs
should note that the POPI Act
makes a distinction between
personal information and
special personal information.”
The latter includes more
sensitive information such as
race, religion, criminal records,
and medical history. These
are subject to higher security
standards. TMCs therefore
need to ensure that different
tiers of data are subject to
different tiers of security.
With hackers keen to get to
this information, TMCs have to
prove that the firewalls of their
databases employ the latest
technology, she says. “If a
breach occurs and it emerges
that outdated technology was
the root cause, it could lead to
massive reputational damage
as well as legal proceedings
from the affected parties.”
The nature of data
management will likely
undergo substantial changes,
due to POPI, says Kim.
“Although the aspects of the
Act that apply to companies
are not yet in effect, the
envisaged 12-month period
between enactment and
compliance is relatively
short, and TMCs should
have started their journeys
towards compliance as early
as possible. While the Act
will give consumers peace
of mind, the obligations on
business are quite weighty.
Photocap:Useful business intelligence for agents
Agents can access the same data set used by airlines,
thanks to Discover the World’s Airline Metrics
platform. The cloud-based Business Intelligence
platform has been designed to provide travel agents
with ticket issues, BSP Hot File, airline metrics data
management and client access details. The data is
sourced directly from Iata and is ready to use with
no data management. Pictured here (from left) are
Yvonne Skerritt, sales director of Discover the World
SA and Sabrina Allcock, director of Discover the
World SA.
Six new technologies in the travel space
1. Websites with automated sales tools
Six new technologies in the
travel space ”Plum Accommodation has
launched a new website
incorporating automated
sales tools to make travel
agents’ lives easier.
“Passengers can book
anything online, so travel
agents need to up the
service game if they want
to keep impressing their
customers,” says Brian
Van Tonder, solutionist at
Plum Accommodation. “This
is why our website now
includes automated aftersales
tools. They are emailbased
communications
that are scheduled when
making a booking on the
Plum Accommodation
website and include a
10-day weather forecast,
sent to the passenger one
day before first check in; a
list of the top restaurants at
the passenger’s destination;
some places of interest at
the destination; a courtesy
check-in message – making
sure the passenger is warm
and cosy – and, finally, a
courtesy thank you and
check-out message.
“Our website also makes
it very easy for travel agents
to create branded quotes
on multiple hotel, transfer
and tour options and once
such items are booked,
the travel vouchers issued
are also branded with the
agency’s logo. Our website
and in-house services are
designed to utilise the
latest technology to save
the travel agent time, while
at the same time assisting
agents in providing the allimportant
personal touch.”
Brian says these aftersales
tools allow travel
agents to add a personal
touch and since they are
all scheduled by the agent
to be automatically sent
to the passengers at the
appropriate times, the travel
agent schedules them once
and forgets about them. If
the passenger does reply
to any of these emails, they
will actually email the travel
agent.
2. New reportting tools
Wings has recently
launched a new reporting
tool, goData, which helps
clients identify areas for
improvement in their travel
programmes. “It drills down
into individual booking
behaviours and fare choices
and the impact of costs
associated with travel
choice. This type of detail
helps travel managers
educate travellers for future
trips and ensures a savings
trend,” says Kim Parker.
GoData is an intuitive, selfservice
and mobile-enabled
business intelligence tool
that helps travel managers
and TMCs measure and
improve the performance
of their travel programme.
By providing direct access
to data, travel managers
can perform comprehensive
analytics, transforming their
data into valuable insights
for more informed, confident
decision making. GoData
helps travel managers
identify factors that impact
their programme, including
highlighting traveller
behaviour that could affect
cost and safety – key
elements of corporate travel
management.
3.Mobile selling platforms.
Amadeus will migrate all
consultants over the next
two years to Amadeus’s
selling platform connect.
“It’s an online selling
platform that allows
travel agents, whether
ITC or TMC, to use
Amadeus on any device,”
Jannine Adams explains.
4.Productivity tracking
Amadeus will roll out its
new ‘productivity tracker’ in
the South African market
in the next year, according
to Jannine. This tool, she
says, tracks the activity
of the entire agency,
giving the agency owner
valuable information on the
productivity in the office.
Travel agencies will
be able to analyse their
operations using realtime,
24/7 Amadeus
reservation data. They’ll
have easy access to
a wide range of daily
performance measures
with numerous reports
related to bookings,
PNRs, segments, tickets,
etc, organised according
to individual consultant,
account or corporation.
They’ll be able to identify
and correct inefficiencies
in key processes and get
on top of the situation
with powerful dashboards,
visualisations and reports.
5.Travelintelligence suites
Amadeus recently launched
a travel intelligence suite
for agents worldwide to
help them connect to a
vast source of data that
could help them with
business growth and
strategic decision-making.
Amadeus Agency Insight
will help agents, both
online and offline, leverage
big data technologies by
transforming market and
traveller data into unique
and actionable insights
around, for example, new
routes and markets to
address, travellers’ search
behaviour, and performance
against competitors.
Agents can access
Search Analysis as well
as Booking Analysis.
Search Analysis gives
agencies instant insight
into their customers’ travel
intentions by analysing
search data. This allows
agencies to identify the
most popular destinations,
travel dates, and trip
duration, in turn helping
them tailor offers based on
expected demand. Booking
Analysis enables agencies
to benchmark their market
position and evaluate the
competition, and also
reveals trends on growing
routes and airlines, which
are invaluable insights
when planning entry into
new markets. Agencies can
use the data to enhance
sales monitoring, inform
marketing strategies
and improve supplier
management.
6.Duty-of-care apps
In this age when terrorism
remains a constant threat,
duty of care should be a
top priority for all travel
managers and TMCs says
Jannine. Amadeus Mobile
Messenger provides
professional assistance
for handling disruptive
events such as weather
events, political unrest
or natural disasters,
and allows two-way
communication with
travellers at any time.
This ensures the agent/
travel manager is always
in complete control of the
situation and provides
peace of mind for
travellers.
