CBTG HourglassAugust, 2013

Is managed travel at a crossroads…..

...and are TMCs in the crosshairs?

CWT Issues A Study:

Scott Gillespie Responds:CWT Misleads on Managed Travel 2.0

Unfortunately, the study misleads readers into equating Managed Travel 2.0 with unmanaged travel. Either CWT doesn't understand the difference, or it

doesn't want its audience to.

Reading the Signposts……….

Definitions of Unmanaged TravelUnmanaged Travel:

Lack of company sponsored program and/or rogue behavior

Managed Travel 2.0:Strictly speaking, the next generation of travel management solutions. No one wants to opt out of managed travel and start again, but everyone is looking for ways to innovate.

Sample tools:• KDS Maverick (Big Brother is watching)• Short’s Travel Bookit (Shop where you want but book it with Short’s)

Open Booking:An approach designed to give travelers, especially “Gen Y” employees, the freedom to book without many of the constraints of typical travel programs. As long as travelers spend reasonably, travel safely and keep their companies informed of their plans, they can do whatever they like.

What’s at stake?

Are web fares cheaper?CWT: No. Program fares continue to outperform

web fares by a significant margin.

• A Topaz International study commissioned by software giant Autodesk compared October 2012 airfares booked through the corporate travel program with fares booked through alternative channels. While some Internet bookings were cheaper than corporate rates, most of the airfares booked through the corporate program were an average of 24% cheaper than non-program fares.

• Consulting company Sapient looked at its data over six months in 2009. Travelers who booked outside the TMC spent 15% to 20% more than travelers who booked through TMC channels.

• CWT analyzed spending by an international client’s employees on the company’s top 25 routes from February through October, 2012. Economy fares booked through the TMC were an average of 9% lower than fares on the same routes booked through non-TMC channels.

What’s at stake?Do travelers really prefer a less controlled booking environment?CWT: It would appear not. Traveler satisfaction with on- and offline corporate bookings is already high, and rising, and appears unrelated to their company’s culture of control.

Does open booking offer travelers more flexibility?CWT: Not overall. A wider choice of booking channels and suppliers comes at the cost of less flexibility for changes or cancellations, less efficiency and a lower level of service.

What’s at stake?

Does open booking reduce supply chain costs?CWT: No. Booking outside TMC channels comes with a variety of hidden costs.

Can new booking solutions reduce leakage and increase control?CWT: This depends on the solution. New technology can capture data on bookings outside TMC channels but may increase leakage if it implicitly or explicitly authorizes out-of-policy behavior.

Meanwhile, the talk continues….Managed Travel 2.0 Latest Discussions

Why Concur Open Booking makes sense:

TravelSolutions by Campbell may be the first agency in the world to sync Concur Open Booking data that was captured outside the GDS. The ...

The drumbeat gets louder. Listen up, TMCs. #biztravel

Will TMCs soon be obsolete? galiantconsulting.wordpress.com

So, do we……

…..or is it time to

Gen Y Travelers

2002: Captura, a Kirkland, WA-based competitor2006: Outask and its Cliqbook online booking tool2007: Gelco Expense Management2009: Etap-Online, Paris-based travel/expense mgt.2011: Global Expense, U.K.-based expense mgt. firm2012: TripIt, online and mobile itinerary organizerMarch: conTgo, cloud-based mobile messaging

“They have said so time and time again, but Concur’s executives finally may have convinced skeptical travel management companies that they have no intention of competing with them.”

Jay Campbell, The Beat, Concur Cozies Up To TMCs With Latest Acquitisions

“These acquisitions are about something broader than Open Booking. They’re about how you take the core technology infrastructure of the TMC and make it a part of a broader, open platform to allow the TMCs to connect to the rest of the travel ecosystem.”

Rajeev Singh, Concur president and COO

“This was an Open Booking play if I ever saw it! GDSX has a different Open Booking angle than Concur’s initial thrust. This gives them two routes (or maybe just one: GDSX’s). It also give them enhanced reporting for duty of care and all the stuff that TMCs do, without ticket fulfillment. That’s 100 percent the opposite of cozying up!”

Unidentified TMC Executive quoted in The Beat

“It’s an opportunity. It’s a threat. It’s a TMC-friendly initiative. It’s about supporting Open Booking. I think you’ll get every opinion under the sun given the interests that are out there.”

Paul Spencer, head of sales at Statesman Travel Group

“If Concur uses this to strengthen its data footprint and invest more in an API/Web Service to expose this data to the community of Corporations, TMCs and third-party developers, it could be a win-win for everyone.”

Erik Mueller, President and Owner of Grasp Technologies

“VERY BIG GROAN………………………………”Dorrie Green, otherwise known as CBTG’s main power source

Salesforce.com Explores Subscription-Based TMC Pricing(excerpted from The Beat, June 25, 2013, written by Jay Campbell)

BCD Travel and client Salesforce.com are "very close" to finalizing a subscription-based pricing model that accommodates the latter's "open booking" approach to travel management..........per Dorian Stonie, Salesforce.com."When our client, Salesforce.com, approached us several months ago asking if we'd be willing to consider offering a new global subscription pricing model, we said, 'sure,' " according to BCD’s Jorge Cruz. "The new pricing model is still in development. It's not yet in use. But in concept, Salesforce will pay us a set fee, per user, per period for a defined scope of services and underlying enabling technologies....Stonie said the concept involves paying BCD Travel based not on transactions, but rather by the number of employees supported. "It's very similar to a Software-as-a-Service model," said Stonie. "If we're compensating the agency based on the number of employees, that frees them up to support travelers no matter how they booked. No more, 'I can't help you, you booked with the airline.' "Salesforce has been a proponent of open booking policies that would allow travelers to use booking channels of choice rather than restrict them to designated self-service tools or travel agencies, and then consolidate data from those bookings on the back end. Salesforce is piloting Concur’s Open Booking program. "It's still in its infancy, but we're seeing it gain momentum and we're working with a lot of key suppliers out there on how they would integrate Open Booking into the structure,” Stonie said.Stonie said his company questions whether transaction-based pricing continues to demonstrate the "true value of the TMC," and that under the proposed new model, the agency's primary role is closer to that of a concierge than a travel arranger or transaction processor...... All those years, the management fee was based off 10 percent commissions, and ultimately we moved to transaction-based pricing, which has been the major industry model now for the last 15-plus years.......'Where does the TMC fit?' " Stonie continued. "TMCs are an integral part of the model with Open Booking, and we're hoping to unlock that. In Open Booking, there is the perception that travelers will scramble to other booking sources. The counter is that if we're providing superior service through the global travel program, and if we're doing our job right, they'll want to book through the TMC and online booking tool."