Online investments<\/h2>\n
The configuration of the French market, where point-to-point travel predominates, thanks in particular to the high-speed rail network, continues to offer great opportunities for online solutions. Egencia has had an online adoption rate of over 80 % for several years. The new investments made over the last few months to enhance the hotel reservation, airline ticket and car rental tools should further improve this ratio. The launch of the TripNavigator mobile application is another step in this direction, simplifying hotel bookings from a smartphone. It will accompany travellers on their journeys. After all, the business world has moved into the age of online booking. \"Even customers who had a 100 % offline mode of operation can, thanks to our implementation programmes, achieve an online booking rate of 75 % to 80 % in the first few months of our collaboration.<\/em>says J\u00e9r\u00f4me Fouque, Managing Director of Egencia in France.<\/p>\n This technological expertise, which draws on Expedia's resources, has long led to Egencia being likened to an online agency, or even a 'pure player', a concept that would reduce the agency's role to its tools alone. \"Egencia has been wrongly presented as an online agency. In fact, we have always been a full player, a fully-fledged TMC whose specificity is to master the entire value chain, both in terms of technology and services.<\/em>J\u00e9r\u00f4me Fouque insists.<\/p>\n So it's easy to see why the agency focuses on the human touch and the expertise of its teams, which were strengthened in 2013 with the opening of a new French platform in Tourcoing, proof if any were needed that technology can't do everything. In this way, Egencia intends to advocate 'glocal' by combining proprietary global technology with local customer service.<\/p>\n In line with this business model, Opodo Corporate more readily assumes its status as an online agency. This is logical for a new player in the market, whose strength lies above all in Odigeo's technological resources, just like eDreams, GO Voyages, Opodo, Liligo and Travellink, the group's other subsidiaries. Since its arrival on the French market at the end of 2012, the business version of the booking site has gone from strength to strength.<\/p>\n In addition to the portal, which can be accessed without registration - a solution equivalent to that of the general public sector - a free registration allows a micro-site to be set up exclusively for the company, enabling it to manage its traveller profiles, the various season tickets and means of payment. It also allows you to set a few travel rules with pre-recorded information. A third 'premium' section, for which a charge is made, enables the creation and administration of profiles to be delegated, while giving access to an account manager who monitors expenditure.<\/p>\n This solution also includes a 24\/7 telephone customer service. This guarantee is particularly reassuring for business customers, especially as it is complemented by a financial counterpart on the agency's remuneration in the event of failure to meet its commitments. In addition, the fixed commission on each transaction decreases as the company's commitment to Opodo Corporate increases. The current dynamic is proving promising for this myriad of online solutions, which respond both to companies' quest for savings and to travellers' expectations of solutions via their mobile devices. The \"best buy\" policy, the search for the best price, is catching on far beyond the world of very small businesses, with a growing number of companies now questioning the relevance of negotiated rates. The debate is particularly sensitive in the hotel sector, which is often considered to be the Achilles heel of travel agencies, and which has created specialist online players such as HRS, HCorpo and CDS. These are partners that 'generalist' agencies could be relying on more and more in the near future.<\/p>\n But a new revolution, and not the least important one, could reshuffle the cards in the sector with the arrival on the market of players such as Google and Apple. For many, the question is no longer whether the two American giants will tackle the business travel market, but rather when. For others, the wheels are already in motion. For several months now, a project has been the talk of Cupertino, home of the famous Apple. Its evocative code name, iTravel, presages a hyper-intuitive global solution, transforming the iPhone into an indispensable sesame by centralising all stages of travel, including ticketing and payment. Patents have already been filed. For the time being, the Passbook application is bringing together an increasingly wide range of travel suppliers, particularly in the air travel sector and more recently in chauffeur-driven car hire following the arrival of SnapCar. However, the project has been slow to really take shape and has not been the subject of the kind of resounding announcement that Apple is so good at.<\/p>\n Google, on the other hand, is making slow but steady progress. What if the search engine became the new giant of online leisure travel, before becoming the giant of the business travel market? It's a question that stirs up the market with every new move by the American giant. This was the case in 2011, with the launch of Google Hotel Finder, and above all the flight comparison tool Google Flight Search, made possible by the acquisition of technology specialist ITA. Since their launch in the United States, these two tools have gone from strength to strength. After landing in Europe last year, Google Flight Search is now working to expand its catalogue, and has just integrated the services of low-cost carrier Ryanair. So, rather than a revolution, we are seeing a gradual and pragmatic extension of the Googlesphere to the various components of a complex market.<\/p>\n Professionals in the business travel sector are still refusing to talk about a threat and are confident in the future of agencies. Is this wishful thinking or enlightened optimism? Even a player like Google can't jump the gun and will have to prove itself on a large scale in the leisure market before trying its hand - or not - at business travel. But the sheer strength and multiple hats that giants like Google and Apple wear suggest that the online travel market is in for some far-reaching changes. Changes that the various players in the field are preparing for.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/shutterstock_180145652_opt-2.jpeg\")
The development of online tools is also on the agenda for the major Travel Management Companies (TMCs). Last September, American Express formalised a joint venture (JV) project with a group of investors led by Certares in order to \"to accelerate the transformation of its Global Business Travel division\".<\/em>. The preamble to the project states that \"The JV will benefit from significant investment in digital technology, while maintaining its links with the American Express group.<\/em>. Others, like HRG, do not hesitate to play the anticipation card. We weren't particularly afraid of being eaten up by online, and we've made it our own,\" says R\u00e9mi Bouysset, Managing Director France for Hogg Robinson Group (HRG). Today, we've achieved an online adoption rate of 54 % in France, and we're going to continue to promote it.<\/em><\/p>\nFree portal and premium pane<\/h2>\n
This positioning is beginning to bear fruit with customers from small and medium-sized businesses, and we may be able to target larger structures in the future.<\/p>\nSupporting the 'best buy<\/h2>\n
Google making giant strides<\/h2>\n
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