Travel management companies are (finally) snapping up mobile applications in an effort to help consolidate their clients' purchases, improve program integration and bring order to the delivery of handheld software to travelers.
Every big TMC has mobile projects in its history, and some launched services over the years, but most of those are obsolete. SMS text messaging is still big in some parts of the world and mobile-enabled Web sites still have value, but there's no denying the impact of the mainly iPhone-powered app explosion. No TMC so far has built one of their own, but partnerships abound.
The TMC-appmaker announcements started with BCD Travel, which in sum-mer 2009 said it would partner with TripIt. WorldMate began approaching TMCs around the same time and signed several midsize agencies, including Pro Travel and Short's Travel, before this spring announcing the biggies: American Express Business Travel and Carlson Wagonlit Travel. Meanwhile, Omega World Travel in February announced a deal for Sabre's TripCase.
Amex in April additionally announced it would offer clients Rearden Commerce's booking-tool-agnostic mobile platform and its apps. CWT in May announced it would incorporate conTgo's SMS-based services, and an Amex manager said his company offers conTgo as well.
These tech providers offer travelers a variety of services, which in the apps are mainly comprised of relevant information built on the itinerary's date and location data. Integrating with TMCs means that changes made by agents or online booking tools are automatically synchronized with the traveler's device. But while some of the initiatives the TMCs announced remain subject to pilot testing, travelers already are using them outside corporate programs. That's what the largest TMCs are hoping to change.
The concern is not so much over the additional exposure to nonpreferred suppliers, which travelers may experience with a consumer app that offers bookings or advertising, according to CWT president for suppliers, products and technology Andrew Winterton. For now, he said, it's that travelers are spending money in a nonconsolidated fashion for travel technology.[PULL_1]
"The utilization and penetration is still very early, so it's difficult to judge whether mobility has started to drive noncompliance within the core travel policy and airline or hotel selection," he said, although he noted an example where the conTgo product could boost the use of preferred suppliers: "Say a company has its headquarters a taxi ride from an airport, and they have a taxi company they contract with for fixed rates. The travel manager can drive this product so that when the traveler lands, he receives a text messaging saying 'Please remember to use XYZ Taxi company on the corporate plan.'
"The compliance I am talking about," Winterton added, "is really with the sharing of information and the utilization of subscription products and services. So if you had a customer with 100,000 travelers and they all pay list price to subscribe to products and services, that's noncompliant purchasing behavior." WorldMate, for example, charges $99 a year for its premium version. "Some companies would have a view that people should only use their company card to subscribe to certain applications that are, in essence, mandated and fed by the company itself," he noted.
Although details at press time remained unannounced, CWT was aiming to offer preferred pricing to its clients on a referral basis, where the client would ultimately contract with the mobile solution provider. ConTGo offers a central subscription to corporations, whereas with WorldMate the purchase would likely be made by employees using a rate code, Winterton suggested.
"We're looking at that right now," said American Express Business Travel director of innovation Zaki Fasihuddin when asked in April about potential pricing plans. "We'll be able to unveil the details around that in the coming weeks, once we're out of the pilot phase. But we're definitely looking at pricing and how enterprises would purchase this rather than a direct consumer buy."
Like CWT, Amex at press time was still testing the new partnerships as part of its overall mobile strategy, and planned a formal rollout for later in the year. "We're trying to make it an enterprise class product so it can be deployed centrally by the company and managed centrally by the company," said Fasihuddin. "A lot of people have downloaded the app and use the various features on their own, but we're trying to create some structure and process and visibility so companies can manage this centrally."