TRAVEL MANAGEMENT

For Jean-Marie Login, Director of Hotel Sales EMEA at American Express Global Business Travel, the key to adopting hotel reservation solutions is the customer experience.

For John Baird Smith, Managing Director France at HRS, blockchain technology has a definite future in the world of hotel reservations.

Although all the players involved are united in their desire to automate the booking of meeting rooms, the complexity of the subject means that this is still a long way off. But that doesn't mean that progress hasn't been made.

For a long time, this was a real headache. But the world of hotel reservations now offers companies greater clarity when it comes to rationalising this major budget item.

According to preliminary figures released by the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization), 4.3 billion passengers travelled by air in 2018: an increase of 6.1 % compared with 2017.

New York, London, Paris: these are the top destinations for business travellers in 2018, according to a study published by Egencia. The French capital was particularly buoyant in the first half of the year.

For the 134 buyers surveyed by the Business Travel Show, Brexit appears to be the number one challenge for the next few years.

According to the study conducted by SAP Concur and Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), 69 % of business travellers made direct bookings in 2018. This is down from 81 % in 2017. By improving their booking channels, companies could help to confirm this trend.

Like the business travel sector, the profession of travel manager has undergone profound change in recent years. By opening up to new fields of action, the new mobility manager has made himself indispensable to the company and its travellers.

Sabah Kahoul, Managing Director of Business Travel Purchase, is well acquainted with the ins and outs of the travel manager's job, having held it at Microsoft. She shares with Voyages d'Affaires her analysis of a rapidly evolving profession.

American Express will add two airport lounges dedicated to Platinum cardholders and Centurion members at London Heathrow and Charlotte.

Booking.com and AirPlus International have entered into a partnership to enable hotel bookings to be paid for by virtual card.

To coincide with the publication of its traditional Travel Risk Map, International SOS has unveiled a survey highlighting the need to improve travel policies in terms of "duty of care".

Carlson Wagonlit Travel is launching CWT AnswerIQ, a new tool designed to improve travel policy management and optimise the processing of business travel data, based on artificial intelligence.

Although all discrimination is prohibited, disabled travellers and those with reduced mobility feel that they are not given much consideration by carriers and travel operators. In the face of charters and declarations of good intentions, these customers expect more results in their daily lives to make travelling easier.

New technologies, applications and data sharing are making life easier for people with disabilities, helping them to get around, communicate, find their way around, visit... Start-ups have also developed tools that, while not specifically designed for PRM travellers, simplify their journeys.

At the heart of its Paris head office, Accor-Hotels is presenting its Smart Room, a room concept designed for everyone: people with reduced mobility, families, business travellers...

Concur has published a global study on bleisure, which shows that the phenomenon grew by 46% last year in the EMEA region. Tel Aviv, London and Paris are the most popular destinations for professionals on extended business trips.

Groupize, the booking and management tool dedicated to meetings and events, has just integrated SolutionSource, BCD Travel's marketplace.

The results of a Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) study published on 5 November reveal that 4 out of 10 business travellers use their professional bank card for personal purposes.