Phat Data is a concept that really resides in two worlds: The real world – where we are today – and the dream world. This month we begin to take a look at the future state of data, and start asking ourselves the “what if we could…” questions. The answers may surprise you.
Today’s world of travel data is easy to describe – disparate and siloed. We rely on multiple strategic sources to feed us relevant information and then it’s up to us to sort it all out silo by silo.
But we are seeing great progress on this front. The world of Phat Data has been exploring new entrants in the marketplace that are ready to solve the problems posed by this disparate data. We have more data aggregators and platforms serving managed travel than ever before, and that is promising.
What excites us so much at Business Travel Executive and Phat Data is what we see in the future. So we present to you the Dream World of Data.
Close your eyes and imagine a beautiful cloud that is just for your travel program. Data from all travel-related sources drifts ever upward, populating your cloud in real time. Data is normalized and categorized, and as a buyer I can just pluck out of my cloud anything I want related to my program. Sounds heavenly, doesn’t it? But there is more – so much more!
Talking with travel buyers, they all agree that having one solid source for data is the key to the future and that will be critical to take the data strategy that you design and execute on it from one reliable source. The real meat and potatoes is how this Phat Data allows you to better power your travel program. There are some major areas where our dream cloud can deliver, including The Traveler Experience, Risk Management and Supplier Relations.
The Traveler ExperienceTake the traveler for example. In our future dream state, we know everything about our travelers – their buying behaviors, their satisfaction levels, their policy compliance, all their travel preferences and how they align with our supplier mix. We can then access a world of data that enhances how and when we interact with our travelers. What we can do with this information is certainly Phat!
Access to this dynamic data will allow buyers – in partnership with their preferred suppliers and especially their TMC – to reduce or almost eliminate the steps of the booking process. Simple things like calendar integrations will allow artificial intelligence and machine learning to book the best trip for the traveler. No need to call the TMC, just book your meeting, and allow the data to drive the rest of the process. We wouldn’t even really need an online booking tool anymore – Yay!
The TMC would serve much more as a platform for services and technologies, with not so much focus on the fulfillment aspect. With this capability a buyer would be able to plug and play any related technology into the booking platform and collect that data into their dream cloud.
It’s not just about the booking process, it is also about the ways in which the data about our travelers provides us insight into our program design. Do you have the right supplier mix? Is the travel policy effective? You would have the ability to present services and offerings to your travelers while they are traveling, because you know what they want, like and need.
Our dream world also creates interactions between the travelers and the program unlike anything available today. Travelers don’t want to be required to rethink every trip – log in here and then go there, use this system and then that one.
How many travelers say “Why is this tool so clunky? It’s easier to go to dot-com sites.” They want an end-to-end seamless experience that allows them to get business done. So wouldn’t they love it if there was no ‘site’ at all – just data connected and delivered to the traveler’s fingertips? In the future we can deliver this.
Risk ManagementWe know we can gain a deeper understanding of our travelers through the data in our dream world. But it can also support our risk management plans and duty of care. Using all the tools and technologies that are interacting with travelers on our platforms and in our cloud, the ability to locate and communicate with our travelers becomes much more dynamic.
By plugging in our third party providers in the security and risk space, we also give them access to data that enhances the services they render to our travelers in times of emergency.
In addition it allows us to provide real time information to our travelers; whether it is destination alerts, situational updates or other information pertinent to the trip, we can provide it at the time the traveler needs it based on data we can extrapolate from our cloud.
Supplier RelationsWhile our travelers are our most important asset, our supplier base is a critical component in the success of our travel program. Suppliers are there to deliver services and experiences for our travelers, but they also make up a huge data resource. Our ideal data cloud will allow us to see our spend holistically and give the corporation the power to negotiate travel costs from a better vantage point.
It also creates even more opportunities than suppliers have today to engage the traveler, plus giving the travel manager a bigger voice in those marketing activities. In this dream world, buyers will have the ability to share data with suppliers to create dynamic conversations that will enhance the overall relationship.
Buyers may even be able to manage their programs with more dynamic pricing because they will be able to see market changes as they happen, not months or years later. Suppliers will have more personal relationships with the traveler without diluting the value of the managed travel program.
The managed travel program of the future looks more like a travel program of ONE – a custom program designed for each traveler, possibly even a one-to-one travel policy, along with a supplier mix that meets the needs of all travelers and not just the majority. It may seem crazy, but we are starting to see baby steps toward this futuristic utopia.
For example more data aggregators are entering the market. This is not exactly the dream cloud, but close. Artificial intellgence and chat bot technology is increasingly being deployed – not completely baked but certainly parts of a great recipe. Some companies are ditching the traditional travel policy and empowering travelers to use their best judgment to get their business done.
So while this may seem like something out of the travel twilight zone, buyers and suppliers and travelers are all yearning for ways to use Phat Data to make the system work better. Travelers want better engagement on every trip, travel managers want better support for their programs, and suppliers want to strengthen their partnerships with companies and individual travelers.
Data is the driver of this dream world, so let’s see where the next five years takes us!
Jennifer Steinke is manager, corporate travel for Dycom Industries, and an industry thought leader with over 27 years experience managing corporate travel. She holds an MBA plus Certified Corporate Travel Executive (CCTE) and Global Travel Professional (GTP) certifications from GBTA. Jennifer strives to deliver innovative and thought provoking ideas to the corporate travel industry.