The Business Traveller as the Business Travel Agent

Business travel is undergoing a technological revolution. How business people travel, how they book their travel – and how they think about travel is fundamentally changing.

At the 2005 London Business Travel Show, a survey found that 75% of respondents believed that online booking and e-tickets were the most significant developments in business travel in the past three years.

However, using a Business Travel Agent has its advantages in:

1. Utilising a large company’s purchasing power, using numbers to get great travel deals.

2. Making any necessary revisions to bookings, meaning less stress for the business traveller.

3. Organising complex of multi-sector itineries, as all elements of travelling, such as car hire, hotels, and flights can be booked in one transaction or PNR.

4. Being at the other end of the phone.

These traditional advantages can be countered with the advantages of self-booking, which is often more suited to the needs, capabilities and technological sophistication of business travellers. For example, convenience is the reason given by 64% of business travellers booking travel online*.

Within the competitive car rental industry it is easy to see just how far online initiatives and technology have come. National’s aim is to optimise efficiency with carefully tailored services, with minimal cost:-

• Carhirebooker.com - an online rental management system. Reservations can be placed or amended from anywhere in the UK, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

• E-billing - all Clients, can receive, pay, query and correct their invoices online.

• Online Management Information - a unique service from National. Customers have access to comprehensive online reports about vehicle usage, which can be accessed at any time.

Self-booking tools add flexibility to business travellers when used correctly with a clear and consistent company policy.

The next challenge is for business travellers and business travel providers to recognise real change and produce innovative solutions to solve existing problems, fill market gaps and take self-booking even further.

* Barclaycard Business Travel Survey 2004/05