[UPDATE, Jan. 26, 2023: This article did not properly describe ARC’s Direct Connect initiative; its definition is updated below.] We start with some good news. ARC president and CEO Lauri Reishus told attendees to The Beat Live in December that the pandemic caused fewer travel agency closings than ARC had anticipated. Back in 2020, Reishus…
American Express Global Business Travel in September added Evan Konwiser to its C-suite, responsible for strategy and marketing. Konwiser on Monday brought his thought-provoking self to The Company Dime’s new platform for audio events, LinkedIn, with commentary on a variety of topics. Some fresh food for thought came from audience members who asked about how…
Are native travel management company mobile apps obsolete? That’s Darryl Hoover’s question. The Direct Travel chief technology officer was playing out the implications of the company’s revised digital strategy. Leveraging collaboration platforms including Microsoft’s Teams and Salesforce’s Slack, he said, allows the travel management company to meet customers where they are. That’s a lot easier…
American Express Global Business Travel is nearing an agreement to acquire 30SecondsToFly, a chatbot-maker serving travel management companies. The 30SecondsToFly engineering team would join the Paris development shop that GBT obtained in its deal four years ago for travel and expense system provider KDS. Its product folks would report to GBT’s EVP for product and…
There’s so much information to convey about traveling during a pandemic that many companies shut off their online booking tools. They told employees to call human travel agents for support. While few see this as permanent, the lack of activity provides tech-based solutions with limited use cases. Faced with near-zero demand, CWT had to mothball…
Travel management companies are trying to make the most of a time when bookings remain feeble. In addition to staff right-sizing, relocating and retraining, some are trying new technology. A more efficient operation could improve margins. For some, that means accelerating artificial intelligence, which may shift client service propositions and performance measurement. An area of…
The rise of chat and messaging in travel management operations is not only delivering convenient, new ways to serve the customer. It’s challenging TMCs to rethink servicing configurations, training and service level agreements. TMCs are taking different approaches as they experiment. It’s all a work in progress. Fundamental change for large call centers and veteran…
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