Stéphane Donders was appointed head of Traveldoo in January. At the Business Travel Show, held in London on 24 and 25 February, this former KDS and Meilleuregestion employee takes stock of his objectives at the helm of the business travel technology specialist. Stéphane Donders discusses Traveldoo's past, present and, above all, its future: international expansion, relations with Egencia, and the SBT's development plans.
What are your thoughts on the 22nd Business Travel Show?
Stéphane Donders - It's a major gathering for the travel industry, an event where everyone comes together. Admittedly, the audience is mainly British, but it also has a European dimension, since the United Kingdom is the dominant market in Europe in the travel sector, quite simply because many of the major groups have set up their head offices in London, there's no hiding that fact. Every player needs to be present in the UK, which is in any case the most dynamic market, both in terms of volumes and in terms of the adoption of technological solutions and online tools. There is no equivalent to a show like this in France.
What mission were you given in January when you were appointed head of Traveldoo?
S. D. - Traveldoo is a technology company created by French people, and the structure has now been fully owned by Egencia and Expedia for four years now. If the group had wanted to dissolve Traveldoo within its organisation, all it had to do was turn it into a business unit and put an Expedia or Egencia manager in charge. My appointment, my entrepreneurial profile, my experience of five years at KDSThe success of these projects is evidence of a strategy to accelerate Traveldoo's development in the market. My mission is therefore to making Traveldoo a global playerOur aim is to ensure that our solution is used and marketed in all countries. Through our customers, our tool is used in around forty countries. Our aim is to develop the Travel & Expense technology offering. We also need to be able to put in place content aggregation agreements. The market is highly segmented. Just a short while ago, the GDSs concentrated the offer, then the low-cost companies appeared, followed by the VTCs: we need to be able to meet all the needs of the different countries. This requires technical interfaces, the famous APIs. Our job is to offer content and a service. Customers want to have as much choice as possible. And the supplier wants to be visible to the corporate world through Traveldoo. In the end, everyone wins.
The challenge is also to capture all this data from this increasingly wide choice...
S. D. - We collect this data, aggregate it in the system and then offer it to the traveller at the booking stage, in line with the customer's travel policy. Reporting and mobile services are also, of course, major areas of development.
Are you following in the footsteps of your predecessor, or are you breaking with the past?
S. D. - It's about continuity, because some very fine things have already been done. So there's absolutely no question of creating a rupture, that would be presumptuous on my part. It's about fostering relationships with the group, having a much more global approachWe are also committed to international expansion. The creation of a six-strong team for the UK market is a logical step in this direction.
What will be the priority markets for your international development?
S. D. - In Europe, apart from France of course, our focus is on the UK, the northern countries, Belgium and Switzerland. We will also be starting up operations in the United States through major European customers, where we will be strengthening our local teams at the end of 2016. Traveldoo has come a long way, and is now big enough to do so. We can be proud that France has technology companies capable of innovating, taking market share, being visible internationally and investing. KDS is also helping to do this: to legitimise French know-how and technologies.
How do you see the future of your relationship with Egencia?
S. D. - Relations are calmer, since it was the group that recruited me. So I'm naturally inclined to foster these relationships. In my mind, relations with Egencia are on the same level as those we have with CWT, American Express GBT or BCD Travel.
Is this satisfactory?
S. D. - Yes, insofar as we can't be 'married' to an agency, and a TMC can't be married to a single tool. In the end, it's common sense - and the customer, of course - that decides. It's in all our interests to work together intelligently.
We can't be 'married' to an agency
The balance seems complex...
S. D. - Things happen naturally on both sides. I said, "Why should we work with Carlson Wagonlit or American Express GBT, and not with Egencia?
That's the question...
S. D. - This issue has now been resolved, as I have been appointed by the Group. This work is underway to enable Egencia to offer Traveldoo's services, particularly on the expense side.
Without talking about a break with the past, it does look like a change of direction.
S. D. - Yes, there is a greater willingness to work together, on both sides.
Why hasn't the collaboration worked in this way up to now?
S. D. - In life, generally speaking, it's a question of people rather than politics or strategy: whether you want to work together or not. When Traveldoo was taken over by Egencia, some agencies turned their backs on Traveldoo, which may have caused a certain amount of trauma. Today, the agencies are coming back, because there is a total separation from Egencia, which preserves Traveldoo's autonomy.
Traveldoo has been indirectly linked to the minor controversy surrounding the new Travel Expert offer...
S. D. - Yes, but as far as we're concerned, we don't sell our technology for a single euro. It's a Voyage Expert business model. What they don't earn in transaction fees, they'll get elsewhere. Our technology agreement with them does not create no break with other agencies in terms of business model. It's all about the positioning and marketing communications of voyage Expert. We discovered the information at the same time as the market.
What is Traveldoo's added value today?
S. D. - Being able to provide an end-to-end solution for the travel chain. The difference lies in the functional coverage and the quality of the interface. Traveldoo is highly regarded for its user-friendly software. Last year, our customer renewal rate reached 98%, whereas the average for this market is around 94%. This reflects a certain quality of service and therefore customer satisfaction. If customers come to us, it's because they haven't found what they were looking for elsewhere in terms of functional coverage, quality of service and promises kept. Traveldoo relies on very close customer relationships. We won the biggest T&E project last year with the Total group, thanks to the functional coverage of the solution, its ergonomics, its user-friendliness, and the quality of service and expertise of the teams. Another big difference is that it's the only single platform, so there are no migrations or batches. All customers use the same versionWhatever the country. You can see that it's not just a connection between different platforms, but between tools that have been bought out and that communicate more or less well together.
Interview by Florian Guillemin
