Through your booking channels, are you seeing an upturn in business travel?
Ziad Minkara - Yes, absolutely, at least at national level. This upturn was already noticeable from June onwards and became real and concrete since SeptemberWe're also seeing the length of our stays increasing, to allow more activities to be organised on site. At the same time, we're also seeing the length of stays getting longer, to allow more activities to be organised on site. Historically, the average booking was for two nights' accommodation, but today we're talking more about two nights' accommodation. over 2, 5 or even 3 nights. Finally, another observation: it is the budget hotel chains that are benefiting most from this recovery, rather than the international chains, which are more dependent on international business travel and trade fairs and conventions, which have not yet fully recovered their dynamism. The recovery is therefore national and provincial, whereas we were used to seeing a global and international recovery, driven by Paris and the major upmarket chains.
Are you happy with the current state of affairs?
Z. M. - Since CDS's basic positioning is to be a player with a strong local presence, we are taking full advantage of this. Especially as the markets reopen, the return of international travellers is also being felt. We're starting to see bookings on the American market, for example. Even so, the pandemic has led to a change in habits. From global customer accounts, where companies managed their travel policy on a global basis, we switched to multinational accountsEach country is managing the crisis with its own travel rules. These key accounts need agile operators like us, capable of doing 'tailor-made' work on a country-by-country basis, with a specific tool for each entity. In my opinion, we are going to move from from a travel policy to a travel processWith processes defined not as a whole, but on a passenger-by-passenger basis. What has really developed with this crisis is the flexibility that allows companies and their employees to adapt their ways of travelling.
That's why you need to adapt to this new situation.
Z. M. - In addition to our contacts in purchasing and travel management, we are now working with risk management, which has become a major issue for companies, with this problem being raised to comex level. The idea today is to enable fewer bookings outside approved channels by the company. Everything has to be traced and integrated into tools with information fed back to specialist security operators such as SSF, International SOS and others. For us, this is a positive development, because the decline in direct bookings - leakage, as they say - is now coming through our pipes. As a result, given the capturing these flows that were eluding usWe are seeing an increase in the volume of bookings on our customer portfolios. This partly offsets the expected fall in the number of business trips, with several studies showing that 25 % to 30 % of them will disappear.
Companies have realised that they need a Hotel Booking Tool, just as they need to negotiate rates with airlines, railways and hotel groups.
What other ways do you see of mitigating the expected decline in business travel?
Z. M. - These include, for example, the complementary flows that we are developing through the travel agency distribution networks. And with the upturn in business, these networks are recording fairly impressive growth rates on hotel reservations. This is also offset by the fact that key accounts are increasingly equipping themselves with stand-alone hotel booking tools from the major American travel agencies. Companies have realised that a Hotel Booking Tool is just as necessary as their rate negotiations with airlines, railways and hotel groups. That it was to have a partner capable of supporting them on hygiene issues, hotel openings and closures, and real-time information. All this has value, and our business has been strengthened by it. During this period of crisis, we even tripled our customer portfolio. We had never experienced such growth before.
So your positioning as a pure player in the hotel booking market has been legitimised?
Z. M. - Our role has been strengthened by this crisis, because TMCs need technology to evolve. The new entrants, such as Travel Perk and Trip Actions, are arriving with their fully integrated technologies. And the so-called 'traditional' agencies need technology, additional revenue, support and services. So either they turn to the GDSs, or they take the technologies that are available on the market. The end of the crisis is positive for an HBT supplier like CDSWe are at a turning point in the digitalization of businesses such as travel agencies, with adoption rates for our online booking tools in excess of 90 % on our customer portfolios. We're at a breaking point in terms of the digitalisation of companies such as travel agencies.
Does this open up new prospects for growth?
Z. M. - Before the crisis, we had already changed our strategy. From being the market leader in France, we moved to a strategy ofto be a major player at European level. We are present in 18 countries, with major markets in which we are making progress, including Italy, the UK, Spain and Belgium, although this market is still heavily impacted by international trade and will recover less quickly. We're talking about the headquarters of companies in all these countries, but obviously we support our customers all over the world. We adapt to each customerThis is done on a country-by-country basis, depending on the SBT used, the validation workflow, the travel rules and the means of payment, with some countries using corporate cards and others using escrow accounts. This agility is increasingly in demand from all our customers.
Before the crisis, we had already changed our strategy. We went from being the leader in France to becoming a major player in Europe.
Another major underlying trend in the future development of business travel is undoubtedly CSR. How are you tackling this issue?
Z. M. - Our booking tools were already highlighting two important aspects: the green key and green globe labels awarded to hotels, and their commitment to people with reduced mobility. The crisis has added another concept, that of health measures, hence setting up a covid index. Today, we're going one step further with the Afnor fact sheets covering around a hundred questions. In the past, we relied on declarations, but now we're going further. we move on to controlled. Of course, we cannot control the 17,000 hotels that we offer for booking in France, or the one million establishments worldwide. This truly comprehensive CSR checklist, covering everything from energy and social inclusion to short supply chains and the products used, will only be applied to the hotel programme of major accounts, i.e. on the following sites 300 to 500 hotels to be awarded the Afnor labela partner chosen for its neutral approach. We expect these certifications to be pooled in the future, as it would be foolish to certify the same hotel used by several customers several times. These are developments that will come in time.
What other plans do you have for the coming months and years?
Z. M. - Clearly, the maintain our position as a pure player in the B2 hotel sectorB, and not to move into leisure or other sectors. All the more so as Booking.com for Business has withdrawn from this area of distribution, leaving a place for itself in the market. Another objective is to continue digitalising our tools, making them mobile and interfacing with all SBT and risk management playerst. We are also in the process of working with all the payment players, particularly newcomers to the market such as Mooncard and Jenji, to provide solutions linked to these new payment methods and management tools. Finally, we will continue to expand in the European market, which remains substantial despite the crisis. It was estimated at €25 billion before the pandemic. Which means that, even after subtracting the expected 25 % drop in business travel, it still represents 20 billion. Nothing to sneeze at.
