Communications giant Alcatel this month plans to expand a European self-booking program to the United Kingdom, following implementations in Belgium, France, Germany and Spain. The company works with online booking tool provider KDS, due in part to KDS' autonomy from global distribution systems.
"We would like to have a tool that is fully independent from any GDS, especially when we go with direct links to any of our travel suppliers," said Alcatel travel director Cyriaque Benoist, speaking during a KDS-sponsored webcast this spring. As an example, he said Alcatel works with the Amadeus, Galileo and Sabre GDSs and also plans to "go to direct links for car rental."
Paris-based Alcatel in 2004 began the online booking project after undertaking a global travel agency consolidation; Carlson Wagonlit Travel now handles the company's travel programs in 43 countries. In Europe, Alcatel also now is in the process of transitioning from traditional travel centers in each country to regional e-fulfillment centers. "We have achieved what we feel we could achieve in terms of travel optimization," said Benoist. "The last frontier is to have one single point to manage and to change drastically the way we are purchasing. It was time to start [online booking]. The market is mature, the tool is mature."
Alcatel charted several primary objectives, including reducing travel agency transaction fees--it switched its agency model to management fees/transaction fees in 2005--obtaining the widest possible selection of supplier inventory, empowering employees and scrutinizing corporate procurement.
After a pilot phase and selection of KDS, Alcatel in late 2005 began country-specific deployments. "We asked Carlson and KDS to help with project management, especially for the change management," Benoist explained, noting Carlson's training efforts and Alcatel's own internal communications program. Alcatel also assigned one project manager to centrally coordinate deployment and one staffer in each main country.
The company now offers the tool to 10,000 travelers in France, where it has achieved an online adoption rate of 47 percent of all transactions (not just eligible ones) without issuing mandates. In Germany--where adoption has reached 65 percent--the KDS booking option is available to roughly 2,000 travelers. Alcatel also offers the self-booking tool to hundreds of travelers based in Belgium and Spain.
"Northern countries are more adopting than southern ones," Benoist said, echoing observations by many other global travel management professionals. "There are discrepancies by culture and by ability to adopt such a tool. We have to push harder in Spain than in Germany, for example."
Overall, Alcatel's online booking program has produced touchless transaction rates ranging from 92 percent to 96 percent, with an aggregate average of 93 percent.
Alcatel now is working to deploy the KDS tool in the United Kingdom, where the company has a base in London and nearly 2,000 employees.
"Each time we start a country, we use a pilot with key users, not to test KDS but to get the user community and the travel arranger community to buy in, and to include them on process design from the very beginning," Benoist said. "In some countries, if you are not ready, it is better to postpone because once you start, you need to go very fast to create adoption rates at the beginning." For example, Alcatel had delayed deployment in Belgium by one month.
Alcatel measures online booking success not only through adoption and touchless transaction rates, but also through return on investment. "We are targeting a one-year return, only including the reduction in travel agency transaction fees," Benoist explained. "We do not take into account the effect of diminishing average ticket price. We have that in mind, but do not take that into account to build the ROI."
Last month, Alcatel issued a survey to users but already had informally received positive feedback. Benoist cited the user-friendly interface, country-specific customization for such elements as corporate travel policies--notably pre-trip approvals--enhancements for data reporting (which in turn aids Alcatel's request-for-proposals processes) and a growing list of accessible suppliers, including 1,000 entries from Alcatel's global hotel program. He also said the next version of the system "will have some interesting features," including the ability to foster "visual guilt."
Alcatel now is evaluating online booking integration with an expense management tool to create an end-to-end system. "We still have an incumbent situation where there have been some travel expense management tools deployed, for example, in Italy and Spain," he said. "We are analyzing the situation to see how we could go to one single solution. After the booking part and the work-flow part, it would be a good idea to add the expense management part."
All told, Alcatel operates in 130 countries, fields 30,000 travelers and annually spends roughly 150 million euro on travel. That would rise dramatically should the company cement a proposed merger with U.S. communications firm Lucent Technologies of Murray Hill, N.J. Lucent stockholders are scheduled to vote on the deal during a 7 Sept meeting.