Bradley Seitz, President & CEO, Topaz International
Desktop applications are no longer good enough. 2016 will
see mobile business travel bookings and new mobile applications to manage
business travel overtake the desktop.
Already mainstream in Asia, the impact of startups like Uber
that rely heavily on mobile apps to drive their business models will reach
North America, Europe and the rest of the world. Air, hotel and other ground
transportation technology platforms will catch up to the leaders and the whole
lot will find more users.
In an unusual twist of responsibilities, however, changes
targeted to the business travel sector will not be driven by suppliers adapting
to meet corporate customer needs. Rather, it will be the corporates themselves,
citing traveler satisfaction, that will develop and launch apps internally to
bring travel programs together through technology. This will finally give their
travelers, who are their customers, the ability to book and manage travel more
easily.
While the channel is different, the complexity
remains behind the scenes. The complexity requires more oversight than
off-the-shelf apps can provide; corporate developed portals and apps must
support travel program processes to succeed. But no longer can corporates
ignore the prevailing forces of mobile. In 2016 the industry will embrace it as
the new way of doing business for business travelers worldwide.