What is Egencia's position in the UK market, where the Business Travel Show was recently held?
Christophe Peymirat - We're in the top 10 in the UK market. We haven't made it into the top 3 yet, but I think we will soon. It's a market I know well, as I launched Egencia there in 2004. We've become an established player there, not least because buyers and business travellers appreciate our positioning, which consists of importing solutions from the leisure world into the corporate world. We are therefore making progress with domestic customers, but also with international or multinational customers who are looking for a common technological solution with a local service. So we're continuing to grow in the French market, but we're also relying on extremely strong growth drivers in the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and the Nordic countries thanks to the acquisition of VIA Travel, now VIA Egencia.
Are the keys to success in the French and UK markets the same?
C. P. - The dynamic is the same: to meet the expectations of travellers and assistants who, by using tools like Expedia for private purposes, have developed expectations in terms of quality of content, ergonomics and speed, and who are looking for the same thing in the corporate world. It's the same in every European country, which is why new companies are joining us: they are being challenged internally by travellers who are used to the performance of leisure tools. So the ingredients are the same: the desire to be on the same level between leisure and business travel, the desire of buyers to rely on multi-country control of their travel policy, and the need to rely on a local service.
What is the balance between technology and people in a TMC like Egencia?
C. P. - Technology should bring transparency to a market that was opaque when Egencia launched. It should also bring productivity and efficiency, but we remain focused on service. The 10% of offline bookings means that we have to rely on extremely qualified travel consultants. The quality of service, the level of training and the skills of our advisers are all the more important in a world that has moved online.
So wouldn't the mobile mean the "death of Travel Management", as one of the conferences at the Business Travel Show suggested?
C. P. - The mobile phone meets the need to make travellers more efficient during their journeys, but always within the framework of a travel policy managed by the company. When I started out in 2000, we were asked: "Why do you want to make online reservations when it's so easy to make a phone call or send a fax? A travel agency seeking to help the Travel Manager keep track of its travellers and ensure their safety must offer consistent multi-channel monitoring, both online and offline. It is therefore a tool that promotes management. If companies don't equip themselves with high-performance technological tools to manage their business travel, that's the death of Travel Management, because travellers will book elsewhere. I don't see how an agency or a buyer can do their job today without a mobile solution.
What are your priorities at a time when other TMCs are mobilising substantial financial resources to rethink their technological offering?
C. P. - We're not changing our strategy: we're continuing to grow organically in our markets. And if acquisition opportunities arise, why not? In any case, we're continuing to invest and develop technological solutions in our various markets. Other travel agencies don't really have a choice: they have to equip themselves with strong technological solutions.
What types of acquisition could be considered?
C. P. - We bought Via Travel 3 years ago in the Nordic market, but we don't necessarily need to make acquisitions to develop our strategy. Our organic growth is strong. And we're going to continue to invest in travellers and assistants alike. The challenge in this industry is to integrate the different channels. It's not a Lego game where you just add bricks: efficiency depends on integrating the different booking channels. That's the key. I can understand why a travel agency that doesn't master its technology the way we do might see mobile as a challenge. As soon as the technology is mastered and coupled with customer service, things move forward naturally, seamlessly: that's where the challenge lies.
