CONNECTED TRAVELLER

The specialist in last-minute hotel bookings is revising its positioning slightly, now offering rooms up to seven days in advance.

Aloft has unveiled the features of its new butler, who bears a striking resemblance to Pixar's little robot Wall-E. With the recruitment of Botlr, the first 'robotic butler', the mid-range cousin of the Starwood group's W brand is taking another step towards automating hotel service, both in the rooms and in the lobbies. 

American Express has just officially launched its AX Connect solution on the French market, a new assistance tool enabling companies to locate, communicate with and provide assistance to their business travellers throughout their business trip. Interview with Nicolas Buc Vice-President, New Product Development, American Express Business Travel.

Avexia and BizMeeting have formalised a partnership dedicated to the MICE market, following a conclusive test period within the business travel specialist in the SME-SMI segment.

A new guide published by Skyscanner puts European airports under the microscope, providing a comprehensive overview of the rates offered to business travellers for access to the platform's Internet network during their business trips.

Apple has unveiled its new range of solutions for both business travellers and the general public. The programme includes two versions of the iPhone 6 - Classic and Plus - an Apple Watch, and Apple Pay with NFC technology.

Concur and Taxis G7 announced a new strategic partnership at the Fusion Exchange Paris event on 9 September. Concur customers can now access taxi booking and expense management services in both France and Europe.

Edenred is making a remarkable entry into the world of business travel with the launch of Ticket Travel Pro. The new solution, unveiled on Thursday 4 September, aims to streamline business travel expenditure for small and medium-sized companies by offering them an "all-in-one" solution incorporating a payment card, a booking platform and an online expense claim management tool. All this while capitalising on Ticket Restaurant's solid image in the corporate world, and relying on dynamic players in the business travel sector, notably HCorpo, Capitaine Train and Go Voyages. Yan Mortreux, Managing Director of Business Expense Management at Edenred France, outlines this new business travel solution.

The new BizMeeting solution has just completed the test period it began last January, and is now making its debut on the French MICE (Meetings, Incentive, Convention, Events) market.

What really happens at the other end of the line during a conference call? Intercall, the provider of conferencing and communications solutions for the enterprise, has attempted to draw up an overview of practices. The next time you have a remote meeting, you won't be listening to the other person in the same way...

To identify their customers' profiles and provide them with highly personalised offers and services, airlines analyse the vast amount of information contained in customer databases and on the Internet (forums, social networks, websites, etc.).

Momondo has published a study dedicated to in-flight Wi-Fi. The flight comparator aims to give leisure and business travellers a clearer picture of the different pricing structures introduced by the major airlines for in-flight Internet access.

A partnership between RATP, its advertising agency Média Transports and Orange has resulted in a particularly welcome experiment for business travellers: the introduction of free Wi-Fi on board the Roissybus.

Hilton is making a major breakthrough in the integration of mobile technologies within the business hotel sector, with new features long-awaited by business travellers, in particular room selection and the use of smartphones for check-in and door opening.

Parisian motorists will soon have access to a new parking meter system, via the PMobile application, which will offer greater flexibility and responsiveness. The first full-scale tests are scheduled for the autumn.

Starwood is embracing connected objects and offering members of the SPG loyalty programme the chance to wear Google Glass to explore the group's range of products and services.

Since 1 July, business travellers have been able to connect to the Wi-Fi and GSM networks on board transatlantic flights operated by Iberia.

Etihad is getting up to speed with the launch of mobile boarding passes, which became official on 26 June. France is not yet one of the markets concerned.

El Al is adopting DreamStream technology on board its flights to and from Europe, enabling business travellers to access streaming entertainment programmes directly from their own mobile devices.

Six months after his launch on the north american marketBCD Travel's TripSource application is now available in France for business travellers. We are currently waiting for the Enterprise version of the tool, aimed at travel managers.