Interview: Yorick Charveriat, American Express Global Business Travel

The IFTM Top Resa event was an opportunity to take the temperature of the business travel market: how do you feel about it?

Yorick Charveriat - Concerning TMCwe're all in the same boat: there's a kind of recoveryAnd so much the better. We had to be at 20% business in the month of MayToday, the figures are in the region of 55% compared with a normal year in France, a market which has the advantage of a high level of domestic traffic thanks to the train. In countries such as Belgium and the Netherlands, the market is concentrated mainly on long-haul routes, so volumes remain very low until the borders are truly opened up to international traffic. At United StatesIn China, volumes are good thanks to the strong domestic market. In China, the domestic market is also important, but there are periods of sudden closures which break the momentum. As for Australia, it's closed in on itself... That's where it's complicated when it comes to managing our resources: the lack of visibility and stability means we have to manage our teams on a day-to-day basis, while at the same time having to deal with increased customer needs and longer conversation times. It's a challenge.

What is the main obstacle today for the 45% business travellers who have not returned?

Yorick Charveriat - Opening up to international and long-haul markets. We saw it with the US market: as soon as the United States have announced their reopening for the month of November, we received a lot of bookings that very afternoon. A lot of companies are in the starting-blocks to take off again. Perhaps this will generate a peak, with full aircraft during the month of November - in fact fares have apparently risen significantly - and this will be followed by a backlash in its wake. But as long as the conditions for international access remain complex, and above all as long as they are not harmonisedWe're not going to get back to pre-crisis levels. But we all need to get together and meet our customers. Travel is the fuel of the economy. Will we see a return to 2019 levels by 2022? I don't think so, or at least not before the end of the year. But things are moving very fast: all that's needed is for Asia to open up again, for governments to harmonise their measures... There's a real appetite, and business travellers are in the starting-blocks.

These uncertainties did not prevent American Express GBT from acquiring Egencia…

Yorick Charveriat - We have not yet acquired Egencia. We are awaiting approval from the competition authorities...

By making so many acquisitions, aren't you approaching a monopoly situation?

Yorick Charveriat - No: there are still plenty of competitors! As far as EgenciaWe wanted to buy them because they're a very strong agency in the region. mid-marketThis is a segment in which we need to strengthen our position: it's one of our major objectives. Their technological tools are high-performance, and there is a very interesting hotel content that will complement all the agreements that we can have on the air side. We're going to bring a lot of value to our customers thanks to this. Egencia's expertise is very complementary to ours.

Why didn't you include Traveldoo in the deal?

Yorick Charveriat - We already have Neo, so there was no need.

Although American Express GBT does not have a monopoly, it has bought out several of its competitors, and other TMCs such as CWT have experienced a few setbacks.

Yorick Charveriat - We must be wary of everything that is said about CWT They're intelligent people. Competition is always present, whether it comes from traditional TMCs or new players. It's important that we strengthen ourselves with a strong network in the mid-market to provide our customers with more solutions, more products and more possibilities. That's the real objective. If we had simply wanted to buy market share, we could have bought a competitor similar to American Express GBT, but that wouldn't have made sense: that's not the objective.

Like the integration of Whatsapp, your latest innovations seem to focus on communication with the traveller. Was this initially on your roadmap, or has the context precipitated certain developments?

Yorick Charveriat - We're investing heavily in these technologies and products, because we're going to be operating in a fairly unstable environment for some months, if not several years, and we need to provide travellers with as many options as possible before and during their trip, so that they can contact the agency for assistance. Like Travel Vitals, we need to provide information to help travellers prepare for their trip. That's why the communication via WhatsApp is already available in the United States, and will soon be available in France. Our roadmap already included the desire to bring much more technology and simplicity to business travellers. We actually accelerated certain projects at the time of Covid, with Travel Vitals, or with all the modifications to the Neo tool in terms of CSR, with CO2 filters for example.

What remains to be done in the coming months?

Yorick Charveriat - There is one issue that is very close to my heart and that is the CSRWe have a real responsibility in this area. We have a real responsibility in this area. We compensate, as all companies do, but we also have a very important role to play in terms of lobbying on the subject of SAF (Substainable Aviation Fuel). It's a bit like the electric car: it won't become widespread if there aren't enough charging points. And there's a whole industry to be created around FAS. So we have set up a partnership with Shell to push this issue forward, create this industry and increase the use of this type of fuel. We need to bring together as many market players as possible to influence the debate and encourage investment. We also want to give customers the option of making a full green" reservationWe'd like to launch this feature as soon as possible. We'd like to launch this functionality from early 2022. For some customers, it may no longer be as natural to travel. There will have to be a real meaning behind it, and this will provide an additional tool.

We're being promised a match with an uncertain outcome between business travel and videoconferencing: what's your own prediction?

Yorick Charveriat - I am a great believer in travel, including for internal meetings We need to see each other. Videoconferencing is practical, we can do extraordinary things, including in hybrid formatBut technology has its limits. We're in the process of going back to face-to-face meetings with customers, and that changes everything! We need to see each other again, both internally and externally. At American Express GBT, we truly believe in business travel, we invest in it and our shareholders believe in it too. In fact, we're very lucky to have them, because we have a very strong shareholder base. very healthy financial situationBecause our shareholders believe in us, they invest in many areas of the travel economy. Videoconferencing is a good complement, and why not even look into the possibility of replacing travel with virtual travel for a round-trip day. But we truly believe that travel is the fuel of the economy.

So will EVP 2022 abandon the virtual format?

Yorick Charveriat - Yes, we would like to organise the EVP 2022 in person, with a broadcast of course, but in the same way as participants have been able to experience the event beforehand.