{"id":58019,"date":"2017-02-14T14:52:45","date_gmt":"2017-02-14T13:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/?p=58019"},"modified":"2017-09-01T11:38:01","modified_gmt":"2017-09-01T09:38:01","slug":"interview-tristan-dessain-gelinet-travel-planet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/interview-tristan-dessain-gelinet-travel-planet","title":{"rendered":"Interview with : Tristan Dessain-Gelinet, Director of Travel Planet"},"content":{"rendered":"

How can Travel Planet be summed up in a few figures?<\/h3>\n

Tristan Dessain-Gelinet -<\/strong> Travel Planet achieved a turnover of \u20ac70 million in 2016. On the basis of contracts already signed, we are counting on 120 to 130 million this year. The rate of online transactions, which is what sets us apart, has reached 83% for all customers and all services combined.<\/p>\n

What's new at the agency?<\/h3>\n

T. D.-G. <\/strong>- We have launched and rolled out the Click & Control access portal for all services. It gives travel managers, travel agents and travellers access to the Self Booking Tool (SBT)<\/a>It also provides access to business intelligence filtered by trips made or scheduled, and by level of access. The platform also incorporates a traveller tracking and live communication tool. We are launching online reservations for services that do not exist in SBT, such as VTC, and we are in the process of adding various services to our portal, via direct links with the supplier. The advantage is that we are no longer tied to the speed of development of SBT.<\/p>\n

What booking tool do you use?<\/h3>\n

T. D.-G.<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013<\/strong> Mainly the Amadeus AETM tool, but we are currently looking at other systems. The SBT is now just one brick in our Click & Control portal. If we were to change the SBT, access to the portal, the mechanics, passwords and profiles would remain unchanged for the user. This guarantees us autonomy and flexibility, without having to impact the customer. We're not going to redo what works in the SBT - it would be foolish to try and reinvent the wheel. On the other hand, when it comes to so-called ancillary services, which will take a long time to integrate, we sign contracts that allow us to fetch and display relevant content directly. Everything is more transparent for the user.<\/p>\n

Is content from a player like Airbnb one of the services you are targeting?<\/h3>\n

T. D.-G. -<\/strong> Absolutely, players like Airbnb or Sweet Inn, or booking tools for meeting rooms.<\/p>\n

We are looking at external growth opportunities in Europe<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What are your priorities for 2017?<\/h3>\n

T. D.-G. -\u00a0<\/strong>We will continue to work on content, by increasing the ancillary services on offer. As far as the back office is concerned, the emphasis will be on the automated transmission of data from booking to invoicing. We issued over 300,000 invoices last year, so there is a major challenge in terms of processes. We are also looking at external growth opportunities in Europe, which will be announced later this year. It will be a medium-sized agency, like Travel Planet was around two years ago. We will bring to it all our know-how and content, and we will have access to their knowledge of the market concerned, and to the necessary contacts.<\/p>\n

What is the profile of your customers?<\/h3>\n

T. D.-G. -<\/strong>\u00a0We are targeting major accounts. The TMC market is no longer divided up as it was three or four years ago, when the big clients were reserved for international agencies. It's not the size of the company that's the issue, but rather its offering, its flexibility and its processing capacity. Today, we work on travel budgets ranging from \u20ac1 or \u20ac2 million, up to \u20ac35 or \u20ac40 million in annual business volumes. Below \u20ac150,000 in annual travel, a company doesn't need an agency. This is unjustifiable, contrary to what some agencies claim. Between \u20ac150,000 and \u20ac800,000, we're talking about large SMEs where there's still no structure in place. Individualities block a certain amount of automation in the processes. Beyond a million euros, there is a need for structuring, a volume that requires workflow management and the application of rules. In these cases, we are perfectly suited. And that's what we know how to do better than the others: take the company's rules and configure the tool exactly to suit, because we have the resources in-house in terms of development, configuration and customer support. At the same time, we try to differentiate ourselves by offering the widest possible range of content, whereas today's market tends to be limited to automated content.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the main TMCs have announced agreements <\/a>with Airbnb in recent months...<\/h3>\n

T. D.-G. -<\/strong>\u00a0I wouldn't call an agreement that consists of offering a TMC account to make a reservation on Airbnb an agreement. TMCs will have really reacted when they are able to aggregate content themselves, and offer it by applying the travel policy and profile management in the reservation system.<\/p>\n

Will Travel Planet be able to do this?<\/h3>\n

T. D.-G. -<\/strong> Of course we do. We only sign agreements that provide for this type of operation.<\/p>\n