After revolutionising the transport and holiday sectors, the collaborative economy, driven by Airbnb and Uberis making inroads into the world of business travel. So much so that this phenomenon has become a challenge to take upfor companies and their employees travel managers for technology suppliers and travel agenciesor TMC (travel management companies). Depending on the case, these community players are gradually being integrated into travel policies and booking tools, as well as into development projects. "This has been a strong trend for several years. It is no longer possible to ignore the influence of these new players"insists Marion Mesnage, Head of Research at AmadeusGDS has also invested in a number of start-ups to support this movement.
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For her part, Patricia Morosini, Director of Business Travel for the Selectour network, points out that while "Collaborative sites are not officially integrated by Selectour, but our business agencies offer them to companies that wish to do so." The use of collaborative working is growing as more and more travellers want to use the same applications for business trips as they do for personal ones. Employees want to be able to use Airbnb for accommodation on their mobile - or even Booking, which is not a collaborative booking site - as well as VTCs such as Uber, Snapcar, LeCab or Kapten (ex-Chauffeur Privé) to get around, or EatWith to dine with local people. Travel experiences and they don't hesitate to share the details on social networks such as Facebook or Instagram...".Airbnb is the most widely used collaborative site, even though none of our clients have officially listed it."says Régis Pezous, Director of Incubation and New Products at CWT (formerly Carlson Wagonlit Travel). He adds: "Airbnb is used by small companies with no structured travel policy or by companies travelling to certain cities where the hotel offer is expensive and of poor quality.". And to cite California as an example San Francisco and the Silicon Valley.
As early as 2016, Airbnb entered into a partnership with CWT. American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) and BCD Travel. "The business traveller has become a fully-fledged member of our communityconfirms Emmanuel MarillDirector of Airbnb France. This is one of our areas of development, and one that is growing fastest both internationally and in France, where 35,000 companies have at least one employee registered on our platform with their business address.With at least 15 % business travellers, i.e. those who tick this box when booking, the Californian site is developing a "business traveller's" concept. Airbnb for Work (formerly Airbnb for Business, created in 2014) to meet the expectations of this target group. The specific offer, with wi-fi and an office corner, is used by 700,000 businesses worldwide, to which Airbnb also offers team building activities as well as flats suitable for meetings.
The impact of Millennials
This craze for collaborative working first came from young business travellers, the famous millennials born between 1982 and 2000. These "digital natives will be 1.8 billion worldwide by 2020or 25 % of the world's population. Above all, they will account for 35 % of the working population and more than 50 % of travel-related expenditure, according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group. "These figures show the need for the business travel industry to respond appropriately to the needs of this generation, which represents a high potential for profitability. With millennials travelling more and more, the sector needs to adapt to their new consumer habits."insists Gilles Trantoul, Director of Strategy and Transformation at Amadeus. With 82 % of travellers under 35 preferring to make their own reservations, according to a BCD Travel study, the use of collaborative sites appears to be a way of personalise their journey and regain a degree of autonomy in the face of travel policies which they consider restrictive and constraining.
The success of alternative accommodation is also based on the fact that young business travellers enjoy living under the same roof as their colleagues. This generation is also adept at "bleisure"Airbnb for Work combines business travel with tourism. More than 30 % of Airbnb for Work bookings made in 2018 included at least one night at the weekend. In addition, 60 % of bookings involved more than one traveller, including 40 % involving more than three people. These collaborative accommodations offer more freedom and space, with properties equipped with a kitchen and living room, whereas the average three-star hotel room measures 14 m².
From the company's point of view, thefinancial benefit can be significant when several employees stay in the same flat at the same time, or when an employee is away for a long period of time on a replacement, expatriation, training or audit assignment. "The greater the number of residents, the greater the savings - up to 40 % compared with conventional hotels."says Valery Linÿer, CEO of MagicStayThis site offers 200,000 flats worldwide, including 20 % in France. Holidays shared between colleagues can also be encouraged by Hubtobee. This start-up enables company employees to share their diaries in order to optimise their business travel, for example by travelling together to the same destination rather than in shifts. "This better management of time and travel can reduce a company's travel budget by between 5 % and 10 %."says Thibault de Guillebon, co-founder of Hubtobee, which boasts over 100,000 users.
Car-sharing at low speed
On the other hand, these business travellers are harder to spot in shared transport systems, which are less suited to the demands of business travel. "This remains marginal, but we obviously have business travellers, especially when there is no other way of getting around. no direct train service on the required routesays Robert Morel, in charge of communications at Blablacar. However, we do not have direct agreements with companies, because under our rules it is not possible to use a company car because of the sharing of expenses between the occupants."
Many travellers also use the Drivy car-sharing application for business purposes, to hire one of the 3,000 self-service vehicles in Europe, including 2,000 in France. Although Drivy does not offer a professional website, a number of features have been added for this target group, including instant bookingYou can also download expense reports and pay with a business card. "Drivy's simplicity appeals to professionals, who can do everything from their smartphone.explains Isabelle de Passemar, the site's Marketing Manager for France. No need to queue at an agency to get the keys, the car can be collected at any time of the day or night..."
Another car-sharing platform, TravelCar, is beginning to work with TMCs, with its first global partnership with Egencia. "TravelCar operates in some sixty countries, offering free parking and car hire between travellers at around sixty locations in France, including airports, train stations and city centres."explains co-founder Lofti Louez. He adds: "TravelCar makes it easier for business travellers to get around, and meets the needs of companies with premium solutions such as valet parking, a choice of car parks close to terminals, and transfers... With the advantage of being able to make bookings well in advance of the trip and to have a single invoice."However, companies and TMCs are still wary of all these players, with reservations about the possibility of connecting these collaborative sites to online booking tools, having real-time availability, being able to trace bookings and not forgetting reporting and expense claim management.
"These collaborative players must provide guaranteesthe same quality of service and a flexible offer that allows bookings to be cancelled or changed"says Patricia Morosini of Selectour Affaires. The signing of contracts with the voluntary network could then be considered. "Initially, we encountered obstacles in working with certain companies, particularly the larger ones, which have real assurance needs in terms of quality and safety, says Valéry Linÿer of MagicStay, which works with 700 companies in France and is targeting a quarter of the CAC40 companies by the end of 2019. Technology has made it possible to integrate our content into KDS and Concur, as well as online booking tools and BtoB accommodation booking platforms such as HCorpo and HRS". And he insists: "Our technological developments are tailored to the needs of each customer".
Direct booking
To keep up with the times, AirPlus allows you to centralise payments bookings with his card at Airbnb and MagicStay. "These are the two most popular websites"According to Marie Auzanneau, marketing and communications manager for France at AirPlus, the German corporate payments specialist, which has also signed agreements with Booking.com for accommodation, BizMeeting for seminar rooms, Business Table for catering and Snapcar for car hire. VTC. The situation remains more complicated for Uber, which is not widely accepted by companies in Germany. "Other partnerships will be announced in 2019 to offer players that our competitors have not yet integrated. This personalisation will lead to greater acceptance of the travel policy, because travellers will find brands that they use in BtoC."she confirms.
At both Selectour Affaires and CWT, managers draw parallels with the beginning of low-cost airlines Several platforms that were originally BtoC have already taken the plunge by creating a dedicated offering for business travel, such as Drivy for Business, Uber for Business and, of course, Airbnb for Work. "We are making great strides with our 24/7 check-in/check-out and cancellation policy."says Emmanuel Marril. The US platform has also strengthened its partnership with SAP Concur to facilitate reporting of bookings via the TripLink tool, while at the same time displaying flat advertisements in Concur Travel.
For its part, Uber for Business, used by 2,000 companies in France, highlights simple operation with a single user account for switching between personal and professional use, plus a number of business services, including pre-booking racesand reporting. However, the use of collaborative working still raises a number of questions within companies, particularly large groups or companies operating in a sensitive sector, namely the passenger safetythe data protection employees and the company, not to mention the fact that some of these platforms practicetax optimisation as part of their activities on the Old Continent.
Still limited useAccording to several recent studies by FCM Travel Solutions, while 63 % of business travellers would like to take advantage of collaborative platforms such as Airbnb or HomeAway for accommodation and Uber for transport, only 6 % have already used private accommodation during a business trip and 201 % have tried the services of a VTC, while 4 % have tried both. However, a quarter of them still don't use these services, as they don't see any practical use for them. On the other hand, 6 % would like to be able to do so, but their company won't let them. Furthermore, 26 % do not see the point of getting advice from other travellers, despite the fact that exchanging opinions is one of the principles of the collaborative mode. However, 2 % agree to receive good deals (WiFi, access to trade fairs, etc.) to make their travel more efficient. Finally, in the context of bleisure or discovering the destination, 26 % would like to obtain leisure advice, 22 % good restaurant addresses and 1 % critical reviews of accommodation, transport companies, hire companies, etc. |
