A Dutch
technology company that originally provided text voting for television game
shows last week delivered its first customized mobile travel app to a corporate
client. Sound of Data CEO Jeroen van Velzen said the app, provisionally called
Mobitinerary, was developed for an unidentified energy company. It provides
real-time itinerary information populated from global distribution systems,
online booking tools or travel management company sources, plus flight change
notifications, suggestions on how to proceed through each component of an
intinerary (airport transfers, for example), a bespoke frequently asked questions
section and such information as emergency numbers and contact details for local
company representatives who meet travelers on arrival.
Van
Velzen claimed the biggest differences from competing itinerary products, such
as TripIt, are the ability to customize the look and feel of the app and the
amount and types of information provided to travelers and their managers.
Mobitinerary is available in 28 languages, and Sound of Data is looking to sell
it both directly to corporate customers and through travel management
companies. The price for providing a customized version to a corporate client on
all major mobile phone platforms—depending on content requirements—ranges from €50,000
to €100,000, van Velzen said.
Sound
of Data made its first connection with corporate travel in 2007 when Anglo-Dutch
multinational TMC ATPI commissioned it to develop a text-based flight
notification service for customers. Corporate clients proved very reluctant to
pay, but when ATPI offered notification as an ancillary service via a retail
travel website with which it was involved, users purchased it for 30 percent to
40 percent of bookings through that site, van Velzen claimed.
"We
found consumers were willing to pay, but corporate customers weren't," van
Velzen said. "Purchasers were thinking only in terms of price, not value.
The corporate market risks being left behind because procurement is not willing
to pay for an information layer and convenience for travelers. It's why they
get renegade traveler behavior, because travelers are not being provided with
the tools that are out there. Scarcity of talent at the top of organizations
means looking after travelers will become a hot topic in the next three to five
years."