How does the EVP 2023 barometer published this week by Amex GBT make you feel?
Yorick Charveriat - I'm seeing some positives, because we can feel that business is picking up again. Admittedly, we're not at 2019 levels, but we can count on a solid recovery. Of course, there are occasional hiccups, such as strikes. But people want to travel, they've understood why they travel, while being able to be a little more selective, and so much the better. It's time to take action, to get busy on the points raised by the barometer, in particular off-channel hotel bookings and thecarbon footprint. I talk about this regularly with customers, who in 50% or even 60% cases don't know where their employees are. I think the barometer can be a good wake-up call.
The barometer shows the many demands the company places on TMC. Aren't we expecting too much from the agency?
Yorick Charveriat - I'd like to say: ask me anything you like, because that makes us all the more indispensable! Before Covid, some people were questioning the usefulness of the agency. The subject came up all the time. The more we're asked to do, the more we'll be able to deliver. services and provide value For example, 52% of companies expect us to provide an integrated expense management solution. It's not our core business initially, but that's all to the good. Of course, if I can say this, it's also because Amex GBT has this solution thanks to NeoAnd we have the resources to invest. We were in a market where for many years we were seen as a commodity, where it was difficult to stand out from the crowd. So today, the more we ask of the agency, the more we'll be able to show what we can do, and what we can do better than others.
Are companies prepared to pay for all these services, and according to an attractive business model for TMC? The barometer shows that transactional services are making a strong comeback: so the little revolution that we might have expected, or even hoped for, is being shelved?
Yorick Charveriat - Yes, we put it away... But it doesn't matter. If a customer wants per-transaction fees, I can understand that; it's undoubtedly much easier for them to allocate costs internally. On the other hand, the customer has to understand that we have need to be profitable. That's the fundamental question. We've seen it in recent months in our dealings with customers: there's less and less aggressive pricing. Some things have happened in our market recently, some agencies have been pinned down, and now we're standing our ground when we go to see customers. We've refused certain contracts, with clients who were asking us to return commissions, for example. We let some deals slip through our fingers, and we're not the only ones to do so. We're on a trend where prices and the value of the agency will be better recognised.
Companies seem to be expecting a lot from TMC in terms of sustainability, but paradoxically are still doing very little internally, according to the EVP barometer...
Yorick Charveriat - It's a hard statement to make, but we also have to be understanding. For years we've been talking about thecarbon footprintBut it was good for company brochures. Now there's real pressure for concrete actions. The people involved had to be trained, they had to really understand everything that needed to be done and put it in place. And the first step is the measure. On this point progress is being made. And being a natural optimist, I think we're on the right track. But I hope that next year's barometer will show more action. Global warming is a reality. Everyone is aware of it: businesses and travellers alike. So we're going to get there, but we need to speed things up.
So does Amex GBT intend to push sustainabilty over the coming months?
Yorick Charveriat - We're going to do our bit, because we all have a responsibility here. We owe it to our employees in particular: there is an ecological awareness, and they need to see that their company is committed. I sometimes get the impression from internal surveys that for some employees, their employer is somewhere between a cigarette seller and an arms dealer... But that's not what travel is all about. Travel is a noble thingAnd we tend to forget that. We have put in place a whole plan for 2023, and for me, FAS is the solution that we need to work on. As our CEO says, the problem is not travel, it's carbon. We have a real responsibility to push the SAFThat's why we set up the Avelia platform, and why we talk to our customers about it, because we need them. There isn't much SAF because it's very expensive. In the United States, they're already building SAF plants. That's what we need to do. It's up to us to help, to contribute to launching this virtuous circle. The more people who sign up, the more FAS will be used, and the cheaper it will become. The first step is 10% by 2030, and we're already in 2023!
Is the boom in MICE a one-off response to the remoteness of teams, or is it a lasting trend? What impact might this have on TMC?
Yorick Charveriat - This is a lasting trend, and it will help to offset the loss of business linked to the use of videoWe're also looking at the usefulness of travel. Internally at Amex GBT, we set up a tour of France's regions to get in touch with our employees, bringing in all our staff, travel agents, people who didn't travel before and who now do, but for internal reasons. The idea is to talk about the company's culture, to get feedback from the teams, to make sure that there is a commitment on the part of the employees. That's why I say that thefrom business travel to professional travel. This is a fundamental trend. MICE is booming, and will continue to do so, so much the better. I think it's great to realise that we're not just here to get people to travel in order to win contracts and make more money. We're also here to make sure that the community that the company represents works.
How do you see the use of artificial intelligence?
Yorick Charveriat - I think that artificial intelligence is going to be increasingly necessary. We've seen it since the pandemic: we're getting a lot more calls. Travellers are using us differently. Where we used to receive one call for a booking, we are now contacted three times. During strike periods, we go from 3,500 calls a day to 7,000. We need help to manage this, we need artificial intelligence to answer travellers' questions, particularly questions like: "How can I make a reservation? Is my train running despite the strike?" . This is typically the kind of question that artificial intelligence can answer. I'm not saying that AI will immediately organise a Paris-New York-Los Angeles-Tokyo-Paris journey, that's technical... But for simple things it can. We've been using chat for two years now, and there's been a huge increase in the use of the discussions via WhatsAppwith excellent usage and satisfaction rates. But it's a chat managed by humans, with a dedicated team. The second stage will therefore involve relying on artificial intelligence, which will recognise the question and answer it when it is capable of doing so, or transfer it to an agent if this is not the case.
Should we expect Amex GBT to invest in external growth in 2023?
Yorick Charveriat - Everything is open. We floated on the stock market last year to give ourselves the means to achieve our ambitions. That means investing in our people, in our carbon footprint and in technology. We already have Neo and Egencia, and I think we have the best developers in the market. We're going to invest a lot, because technology means investing all the time. You can't stop. And why not invest via acquisitionsBut I can't control that. I do know that if there are any opportunities, there is an M&A unit looking into them at a global level. To come back toacquisition of Egencia For example, the Group didn't do this just to add a brand, but because it had identified a major growth opportunity in the 'unmanaged' SME/SMI segment. And who is the best player in this segment? It's not Amex GBT, it's Egencia, with a formidable tool. So this acquisition makes sense, because we have a clear strategy at Amex GBT.
Could the boom in the MICE sector also prompt you to invest, either through acquisitions or via the Meeting & Events division?
Amex's Meetings & Events division is booming. We're recruiting a lot, and it's set to grow even more. MICE is no longer anecdotal. When I arrived 8 years ago, there was very little talk of it. I don't know if we're going to invest in it, but it would certainly make sense.
