The rise in the adoption of online booking shows a growing trend among many business travellers to book flights, accommodations, transfers and other travel services through an easy-to-use online portal, with online booking tools (OBTs), phone and email as the most widely used methods.
While 92% of travel managers have adopted OBTs, they say it is important that all channels be integrated into a single OBT platform with a similar user experience to those offered by popular consumer facing platforms.
There is thus a growing need among businesses to create a more efficient and streamlined booking process, according to a recent study by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE).
The research, Booking Tools and Technologies: One Size Does Not Fit All, produced in collaboration with American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT), reveals that 80% of the 202 travel managers surveyed stresses the importance that all channels are integrated into a single OBT platform.
About 81% of the respondents say they have a mandate in place requiring travellers to book travel through company tools and platforms. However, 5% admit adoption of OBT is currently lower than 10% (one in 10 employees using the tool).
This indicates that, despite corporate policies, there are still real challenges and a need for ongoing education when it comes to user adoption, finds the report.
Here is a brief roundup of some key observations and suggestions from the study:
Education to drive adoption
A lack of internal education on how to use the tools may be behind the low rates of employee adoption. Less than 47% of respondents communicate regularly with employees about their booking tools, while 8% of surveyed travel managers say their organisation has never relay information on booking tools to their employees – not even during the onboarding process.
Correcting misinformation among employees
Employees may not understand the true value of using OBTs to book corporate travel, resulting in lower rates of compliance. 39% of travel managers say the primary reason employees are not booking through a company’s OBT is that travellers believe they can get a better price at a different channel and save money.
Shifting expectations
Consumers are increasingly using highly integrated platforms and technologies for online and mobile shopping, which furthers the expectation that OBTs should have the same user-friendly functionality. Only 11% of respondents state they use chat and instant messaging (IM) channels to book travel, but 35% plan to add them as options for travellers in the future.
(Image credit: Weedezign/Getty Images)
The study also disclosed that less than 14% of companies do not offer an OBT for their business travellers, opting instead to book directly with suppliers and their travel management company (TMC). Of these 72% plans to add an OBT in the future. The majority of these companies (65%) have a total travel spend of less than US$10 million annually — indicating the lower volume programmes may be challenged to find tools that work for their travellers.
“More than half of the companies that do not have an OBT report they would be likely to consider a technology platform that provides trip recommendations based on corporate and traveller preferences, accessible through all channels,” adds the report.
Commenting on the findings, Fitzgerald Draper, director of research with ACTE, said: “Travel managers should be wary of evolving traveller expectations. The booking experience needs to be highly flexible and should look and feel like it does when they book personal travel.
“While customisation and finding the right fit are important facets of a company’s OBT selection, users must also understand the platform’s value and functionality. Travel managers should look for ways to market the selected tool to their travellers, including all the benefits that come with it.”
Evan Konwiser, Amex GBT vice president of marketing and product strategy, added that booking through OBTs is a critical part of the travel experience. “For a travel programme to work, companies need to implement tools that are intuitive and delightful to use, while deploying a marketing toolkit to reinforce why the programme is good for them and the business.”
• Download the infographic and full study here.
• Featured image credit: junce/Getty Images
