Greater deployment of emerging technologies in 2019 will make the business trip cycle easier to navigate—and increasingly populated with personalized choices. In other words, we're closer than ever to giving you what you really, really want when traveling on business.
Last year, the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation fundamentally altered how companies collect and use personal information on EU residents, giving travelers more control over their personal data. Because data privacy must be considered from the outset when new technologies are designed, we'll see the move to individual control applied more broadly and consistently, even by companies without presences in the EU.
Business travelers will continue demanding the same convenience and service from industry providers that they find in consumer services, and in 2019 they will get more of it. Consider the cloud-based music service Spotify. Users can search for the music they love, create playlists and follow other subscribers with similar tastes. The next time they log in from any device, they get recommendations based on their previous choices. Expect this to be replicated in the corporate travel industry.
Most users like the benefits they enjoy when a platform remembers their preferences. They're willing to allow suppliers to collect and store a defined amount of personal information in exchange for the convenience. But service providers' ability to offer and remember the personalized choices of travelers begins with trust that personal information will be secure and result in a direct benefit to its owner.
Traveler Identity Management
For a long time, profile management has stood as a logjam to a more personalized, simple and seamless experience for business travelers. Few of the systems and platforms used throughout the business trip cycle, even those provided by the same supplier, integrate seamlessly. Users have to log in separately to different platforms, and an interrupted data flow prevents systems from sharing information about traveler preferences. That's set to change with the next generation of traveler identity management.
A new system for managing traveler identity will result in smarter travel policies, negotiation of better deals, easy booking of ancillary services and the ability to influence traveler behaviors. We'll see enhanced security and reduced fraud. Travel managers will be able to track traveler interactions to create traveler scorecards. Travelers will be able to more easily manage communication preferences, controlling the type and amount of information they receive from their travel management companies.
They'll also get the kind of personalized choices that are possible when a system immediately recognizes the individual it's interacting with and remembers his or her preferences. BCD Travel's mobile platform, for example, will gather relevant data about travelers' brand preferences, booking behavior and travel patterns. That information will merge with their companies' travel policies and be used to influence positive choices and improve service. Agents will be able to access profile information and all trip-related communications, so travelers will receive seamless and personal support before, as and after they travel.