How Analytics Can Transform the Corporate Travel Industry
Learn how data-driven insights can help travel managers optimize costs, enhance traveler experience, and drive business outcomes.
Introduction
The corporate travel industry is undergoing a major shift in the last few years. Travel managers are facing new challenges and opportunities to adapt to the changing needs and preferences of their travelers, as well as the evolving business goals and priorities of their organizations. In this context, analytics can play a crucial role in helping travel managers make informed decisions, optimize travel spend, enhance traveler satisfaction, and drive business outcomes.
In this blog post, we will explore how analytics can transform the corporate travel industry in five key areas: cost optimization, traveler experience, duty of care, business impact, and data quality. We will also share some best practices and tips on how to leverage analytics effectively in your travel program.
Cost Optimization
One of the main objectives of travel managers is to optimize the travel spend of their organizations, while ensuring compliance with travel policies and delivering value to their travelers. Analytics can help travel managers achieve this goal by providing them with visibility into their travel data, identifying patterns and trends, and uncovering opportunities for savings and efficiency.
Some of the ways analytics can help with cost optimization are:
Monitoring and benchmarking travel spend across different categories, such as air, hotel, car, and rail, as well as different regions, business units, and traveler segments.
Identifying and reducing leakage, which is the difference between the travel spend that is booked through the preferred channels and suppliers, and the actual travel spend that is incurred by the travelers.
Optimizing supplier contracts and negotiations, by analyzing the performance and utilization of preferred suppliers, and identifying gaps and opportunities for improvement.
Enhancing policy compliance and traveler behavior, by tracking and measuring the adherence to travel policies, and providing feedback and incentives to travelers to encourage them to book within policy and choose the best available rates.
Traveler Experience
Another key objective of travel managers is to enhance the traveler experience, which is the overall satisfaction and engagement of the travelers with the travel program and the travel services. Traveler experience can have a significant impact on the retention, productivity, and well-being of the travelers, as well as the reputation and brand image of the organization. Analytics can help travel managers improve the traveler experience by providing them with insights into the preferences, needs, and feedback of their travelers, and enabling them to personalize and tailor the travel services accordingly.
Some of the ways analytics can help with traveler experience are:
Segmenting and profiling travelers, by analyzing their booking and travel patterns, preferences, and behaviors, and creating traveler personas that can help customize the travel offerings and communications.
Improving traveler satisfaction and loyalty, by measuring and monitoring the traveler satisfaction and loyalty scores, and identifying the drivers and detractors of traveler experience.
Enhancing traveler engagement and communication, by using analytics to deliver relevant and timely messages and notifications to travelers, such as travel alerts, policy reminders, trip recommendations, and travel tips.
Duty of Care
A third key objective of travel managers is to ensure the duty of care, which is the legal and moral obligation of the organization to protect the health, safety, and security of its travelers. Duty of care has become even more important and challenging in the post-pandemic era, as travel managers have to deal with the uncertainties and risks associated with the changing travel restrictions, regulations, and protocols. Analytics can help travel managers fulfill their duty of care by providing them with real-time and actionable information and alerts on the travel risks and incidents, and enabling them to locate and communicate with their travelers in case of emergencies.
Some of the ways analytics can help with duty of care are:
Assessing and managing travel risks, by using analytics to monitor and evaluate the travel risk levels and ratings of different destinations, and providing travelers with pre-trip and on-trip risk assessments and advisories.
Locating and tracking travelers, by using analytics to track and map the location and movement of travelers, and providing travelers with geo-fencing and geo-tracking capabilities.
Communicating and assisting travelers, by using analytics to send and receive messages and alerts to and from travelers, and providing travelers with emergency contact and assistance services.
Reporting and auditing travel incidents, by using analytics to record and analyze the travel incidents and their impact, and providing travelers with incident reporting and feedback mechanisms.
Business Impact
A fourth key objective of travel managers is to demonstrate the business impact of their travel program, which is the contribution and value that the travel program delivers to the strategic and operational goals and objectives of the organization. Analytics can help travel managers measure and communicate the business impact of their travel program by providing them with metrics and indicators that link the travel performance and outcomes to the business performance and outcomes.
Some of the ways analytics can help with business impact are:
Aligning travel objectives and strategies with business objectives and strategies, by using analytics to understand and prioritize the business goals and priorities of the organization, and aligning the travel objectives and strategies accordingly.
Measuring and reporting travel outcomes and value, by using analytics to define and track the key performance indicators (KPIs) and return on investment (ROI) of the travel program, and reporting the travel outcomes and value to the stakeholders.
Optimizing and improving travel processes and operations, by using analytics to identify and eliminate the inefficiencies and bottlenecks in the travel processes and operations, and implementing the best practices and benchmarks.
Innovating and transforming travel services and solutions, by using analytics to identify and anticipate the emerging trends and opportunities in the travel industry, and innovating and transforming the travel services and solutions accordingly.
The Importance of Quality Data
Analytics can only be as good as the data that feeds it. Quality data is the foundation of any successful analytics and AI initiative, as it ensures the accuracy, reliability, and validity of the insights and recommendations that are derived from it. Quality data is also essential for building trust and confidence among the users and stakeholders of analytics and AI, as it reduces the risks of errors, biases, and misinterpretations that can undermine the value and impact of the analytics and AI solutions.
However, quality data is not a given, nor a static state. Quality data is a dynamic and continuous process that requires constant monitoring, evaluation, and improvement. Quality data also depends on the context and purpose of the analytics and AI use cases, as different use cases may have different data quality requirements and standards. Therefore, it is important for travel managers to understand if the data they have is quality data, and to be able to have KPIs around the data quality.
Some of the ways to ensure and improve the quality of data are:
Defining and documenting the data quality dimensions and criteria, such as accuracy, completeness, consistency, timeliness, relevance, and usability, and how they apply to the specific analytics and AI use cases.
Assessing and measuring the current state of data quality, by using data quality tools and techniques, such as data profiling, data cleansing, data validation, and data auditing, and reporting the data quality metrics and scores.
Identifying and resolving the data quality issues and gaps, by using data quality tools and techniques, such as data cleansing, data enrichment, data integration, and data governance, and implementing the data quality improvement actions and plans.
Conclusion
Analytics can transform the corporate travel industry by providing travel managers with data-driven insights and capabilities that can help them optimize costs, enhance traveler experience, ensure duty of care, and drive business impact. However, analytics is not a magic bullet that can solve all the challenges and problems of the travel industry. Analytics requires a strategic and holistic approach that involves the alignment of the people, processes, and technology involved in the travel program, as well as the collaboration and partnership of the travel managers, travelers, suppliers, and stakeholders. By adopting and implementing analytics effectively, travel managers can create a competitive advantage and a sustainable value proposition for their travel program and their organization. Moreover, by ensuring and improving the quality of data, travel managers can increase the value and trust of analytics and AI, and deliver more accurate, reliable, and valid insights and recommendations that can enhance the travel performance and outcomes.
