1. april 2011
At The Point of Decision:
Managing Travel
In Real Time
Mobile technologies are clearing the way for corporations to influence business
traveler behaviors even when on the road. Are they taking advantage of them?
A business travel
white paper presented by
Business Travel Media Group and Concur

2. Executive Summary
Mobile technologies are providing new opportunities to influence travelers and under-
stand their behaviors. Until now, visibility into traveler decision-making on the road has
been limited at best. New travel management tools have presented the possibility of
reaching travelers at the point of need and increasing compliant behaviors even at a
distance.
This has been a recognized gap in travel management that stakeholders have historical-
ly attempted to close through traveler education, continuous policy communication and
mandates to drive all travel booking through sanctioned channels. Still, when a critical
travel need emerges in transit—and sometimes when it’s not-so-critical—convenience
often wins out over compliance.
The travel management community continues to express concerns about the broad
access to out-of-policy travel content that mobile devices make available to their busi-
ness travelers, yet they are not adopting mobile managed travel technologies quickly—
despite the fact that they are becoming more available.
Some providers have aimed at the core competencies—travel shopping, booking
and expense—for companies that want to provide a robust technology suite to their
april 2011 travelers on the road. These types of tools are powered by sophisticated mobile operat-
Produced by
ing systems now standard on corporate-issued BlackBerry devices and other, more
consumer-oriented devices like the Apple iPhone or Android phones. Other tools offer a
more narrow focus on policy communication or traveler safety/security, using specific
functionalities, such as SMS messaging and/or global position systems, allowing com-
panies to target key areas of need.
Elizabeth West
Group Director, Content Solutions While these developments present major breakthroughs for accessing travelers on
ewest@businesstravelmedia.com
the road, some challenges remain. Transactional functions, particularly air bookings,
Amanda McDonough
continue to be an obstacle for providers. Nonetheless, corporations need to take a hard
Designer
look at what mobile tools can provide now and how future developments will shape their
LOUIS MAGLIARO
Publisher programs.
lmagliaro@businesstravelmedia.com
TIM REID A recent study from PhoCusWright showed that business travelers are the heaviest
Group Publisher users of smartphones, and as more travelers are empowered with high-tech tools—
treid@businesstravelmedia.com
whether company-issued or not—the pendulum between compliance and convenience
is likely to swing in the wrong direction. Corporations must mitigate this trend by provid-
Sponsored by
ing a new generation of travel management tools that embrace the rapidly growing
marketplace of smartphone-based travel apps and mobile websites.
In this white paper sponsored by Concur, corporate travel management stakeholders will
get a snapshot of the mobile travel management technologies in the marketplace today,
2 Business Travel Media Group

3. how user habits and developing mobile technologies are reshaping the industry and
how these developments should influence their company’s long-term travel manage-
Corporations
ment strategies. will only regain
Mobile Travel Tech: influence and
Current Tools Touch Entire Lifecycle of Trip
Mobile travel technology has always been traveler oriented, providing services and relevance with
information to employees at the time of need. The challenge for managed travel pro-
grams is filtering the information that reaches business travelers. This is what many useful tools that
corporations and travel managers are attempting to control with mixed strategies as
well as mixed success.
fit exisitng
For a successful near-term and long-term travel management strategy, it is important
technology
to know what tools and apps are available now and what is on the horizon. While the habits­ that
—
lines between enterprise travel tools and good travel apps remains blurry, current
technology touches every part of the business trip lifecycle, and travel managers must means mobile.
assess what can contribute to their programs and what could detract from it.
Mobile shopping and booking
The ability to shop for and book travel from a mobile device represents a major break-
through by technology providers—but the work is not fully accomplished yet. The
most sophisticated technology providers offer the ability to shop for and book hotels,
rail and taxi service, with some services powered by direct connect (i.e. not through
the GDS). Most providers have yet to cut a clear path to mobile flight shopping and
booking, but the first releases of this technology are just coming into the market.
When considering any mobile shopping and booking tool, a company must assess
the following:
• bility to incorporate travel policy and prioritize content on the mobile display
A
according to preferred suppliers
• ccess to online profiles so traveler is not required to input a lot of data
A
• Secure access to a payment tool
• Real-time data integration with the traditional online booking tool
• ompatibility (either via mobile website or downloadable app) with the majority of
C
mobile devices in the program
Considerations/Challenges: Despite the complexities of managed travel shopping
and booking, travel managers need to stay current on developments and utilize the
pieces that are available now. Free of the complications of embedding travel policy
and synchronizing with agency mid- and back-office systems, mobile travel websites
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4. (especially prevalent for hotels) and broad consumer travel shopping apps are making
it easier than ever for travelers to shop and book travel outside of preferred channels.
Cool Mobile Tools
Need some ideas of how to Future Developments: Recent technology announcements have begun to close the
get started? These options are gap in travel booking capabilities for mobile devices, and more announcements are
among the best. expected this year. One critical issue is the size of the smartphone display and it will
be critical to see how well providers work within these constraints and still accommo-
TripIt for Traveler Services – date the intricacies of policy, unused tickets and/or complex itineraries and ultimately
Recently acquired by Concur, TripIt serve up the information needed to communicate, provide choices and confirm that
received the first Innovation Award booking on a small screen. The promise of mobile shopping and booking tools is im-
from the National Business Travel
mense, enabling the travel manager to address policy controls and needed services in
Association. The current app is able
a single effort.
to receive email confirmations from
more than 3,000 booking channels
(forwarded by the user) and orga- Travel alerts
nizes them into a master itinerary, Continental Airlines rolled out the first flight status alerts for mobile devices several
providing corresponding alerts via years ago; sending text messages to passengers about delays and/or cancellations.
email or SMS messaging. Travelers Since then, there has been something of a race among airlines as well as third-party
also have access to information app suppliers as to which can offer the most accurate and earliest notifications
such as weather, traffic and direc- about flight status. In addition, several TMCs and technology providers have rolled
tions through this tool. out a variety of travel-related alert systems: weather, traffic and safety/security alerts
are among the most used. Advanced alert systems also message users about price
ConTgo for Policy changes and potential refund opportunities.
Communication – The leader in
SMS messaging for policy commu- Mobile check-in/boarding passes
nication, ConTgo gives travel man-
Very commonly used by business and leisure travelers to check-in to flights remotely.
agers the ability to reach travelers
Mobile boarding passes are less common and are subject to scanner availability
at the moment of decision with
notifications about compliant travel at airport security checkpoints. BlackBerry devices do not display mobile boarding
choices. passes well, so many corporate travelers either use an alternate personal smartphone
for this service, or forego it.
Blue CRM for Safety/Security –
For companies with strong traveler Itinerary managers
safety/security needs, this subscrip- Several good itinerary management apps have emerged from the pack of smart-
tion-based service allows them to phone-enabled travel tools. The most sophisticated among them offer business trav-
use the GPS function of a traveler’s elers the ability to forward confirmation emails from numerous suppliers (preferred
smartphone to track whereabouts. or not) to an online account where the information is aggregated to form a master
Other SMS functionality and push itinerary that is accessible to the mobile device, either through a mobile optimized
alerts for the traveler are also used. website or a downloadable app, depending upon the device platform. The best itiner-
ary managers wrap alerts and other travel-related information sources around the
itineraries, such as weather, traffic, directions and flight status notifications. Some
providers allow users to share their itineraries with social networks.
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5. Considerations/Challenges: Some travel managers will want to think twice about
integration of itinerary managers with social networks. There is some concern over
revealing business travel patterns over time to outsiders. Also, when travel plans are
shared on social networks, where recommendations from friends and colleagues are
dispensed generously, there could be some risk of outside influence in such areas
as hotel bookings if they were not previously arranged (or if the traveler decides to
change the booking in transit). If concerned, consider wrapping policy around usage.
Even more ideal, companies can source corporate traveler-oriented itinerary manag-
ers, which allow information to be shared internally, but limit external sharing. As a new
Mobile policy communications generation enters
Communicating with travelers via SMS messaging has seen interesting travel
management developments as well, particularly in relation to policy compliance. Us-
the workforce, they
ing an SMS service that is linked to a traveler’s itinerary, travel managers can relay
automated messages to an individual that will review in-policy taxi or hotel suppliers
are demanding
and give recommendations about getting around in the destination city. For example, robust technology
there may be a few transportation options in the city of arrival or, if a hotel desig-
nated on the itinerary has a free shuttle, the tool will recommend it. Companies can and are influencing
also configure the tool to respond to keyword inquiries from the traveler (taxi, hotel,
restaurant) and an automated message will return to them with in-policy advice. Such
upwards.
tools require fairly complex configuration and might only be set up for top 10 busi-
ness travel destinations, but they represent an excellent example of how to influence
in-transit travelers to comply with the travel program
Future Developments: Future versions of this type of tool may not be based on GDS
itineraries, but rather on GPS location. If a company has not transitioned its travelers
to true smartphones, the SMS technology is perfect. If they do have GPS-enabled
devices, it might be worth a short wait for the next release.
Location-based services
The concept of location-based services continues to entice managed travel technol-
ogy providers. Several are already providing GPS-powered traveler safety and security
services that allow companies to locate and message travelers in crisis. Once on the
fringe of the smartphone-enabled crowd, marketing schemes that use the GPS func-
tion on the user’s phone to position them and offer localized services and deals are
gaining ground. Such popular consumer-oriented services like Foursquare, Facebook
Places and Gowalla allow users to “check in” to locations to receive discounts and
deals or win social gaming awards for being the most frequent user of the location.
Other applications of the technology are more traveler-inclined. Certain “augmented
reality” apps, for example, allow a user to look at a destination through the camera
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6. setting of the smartphone and get labels for the streets and retail establishments that
surround them.
Considerations/Challenges: Marketing the patronage of certain businesses in
social gaming structures could potentially include travel suppliers, particularly if the
travel program has negotiated its own discounts with dining establishments (a grow-
ing trend). Additional advertising often goes along with coupon/deals offered, and
Chart 1.
travel managers have no control over who is advertising to their travelers.
Fringe to Familiar:
Location-Based Services Future Developments: Progressive TMCs and technology providers are exploring
ways to leverage this type of functionality for managed travel programs by creating
A worldwide study of 1,500 con- compliance games whereby travelers could get points for “checking in” to preferred
sumers released in January 2011 by
suppliers. Others are exploring augmented reality to display preferred suppliers in a
Microsoft showed that adoption of
destination overlay, for example, or to identify “safe zones.”
location based services (LBS) had hit
the mainstream. Fifty-one percent of
respondents overall had used LBS Mobile expense reporting
and among users, and 94 percent While not the purview of every travel manager, expense reporting is integral to the
find them valuable—especially lifecycle of a business trip. Mobile expense was one of the first tools to hit the man-
for such practical applications as aged travel market and has been used very successfully by many companies. Mobile
weather alerts, traffic updates and expense tools need to include the often complex approval configurations that are
finding restaurants. All of these are unique to each company as well as the configuration of expense categories that mir-
familiar needs for business travelers. ror the online technology—all on a simplified user interface.
51% Have used LBS Best-in-class tools capitalize on mobile device capabilities to make “paperless”
reports a reality. For example, if travelers need to pay in cash or use any form of pay-
49% Have not used LBS
ment that is not already integrated with the expense system, the mobile expense tool
Among users… should allow them to enter the purchase data and include necessary details, such as
the reason for the expense, number of diners, etc. Advanced tools allow the traveler
70% GPS Navigation to use the camera function on their device to take a photo of the receipt and upload it
46% Weather alerts to the expense system.
38% Traffic updates
Considerations/challenges: Anecdotal feedback from travel and expense manag-
38% Restaurant info/reviews ers that utilize mobile expense tools, applaud the easy reporting capability that mobile
36% Locating nearby convenience expense brings to travelers and the quicker turn-around that mobile technologies
services facilitate—both for the traveler filing the report and for the managers approving
33% Shopping/coupons them. One area of concern, however, regards the approval process. Travel managers
Source: Microsoft Corporation,
emphasize the need to encourage approvers to review reports thoroughly even when
January 2011 study of 1,500 consumers they are doing so “on the go.” When sourcing a mobile expense technology, compa-
nies should investigate how the provider takes steps to address this issue.
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7. Mobile Is Now
Smartphone technology has fundamentally changed the expectations of business
travelers. On-demand access to information—company and private e-mail, social
networks, instant and SMS messaging, customer relationship management data, sup-
plier websites and, of course, travel content—have empowered business travelers to
stay connected and get more done on the road than ever before.
As a new generation of employees enters the workplace, technology habits and
expectations will only become more demanding. Raised on Internet connectivity,
on-demand music and games, social networks and cheap access to sophisticated
smartphones and apps to power their personal lives, younger workers expect the
same (or even better) from their companies. Moreover, as these newly minted workers
hit the office, they are influencing upwards—not only raising tech expectations in the
minds of their bosses but also showing them the ropes.
Chart 2.
When companies fail to deliver on the technology front—including travel technolo-
Smartphone Usage by Frequency
gy—workers may have very little compunction about defaulting to alternatives that of Travel
they believe are faster, cheaper and more advantageous to their business goals. Frequent business travelers outpace all
other travelers in their use of smartphones.
Often, these decisions are made with the best of intentions, but as travel manage-
ment stakeholders know all to well, they can still undermine the fundamental benefits
% Using A Smartphone
of the travel program: # of Trips Leisure Business
• raveler safety/crisis management
T
• ost savings and realizing discounts that hinge on achieving volume goals with
C 1-2 35% 49%
preferred suppliers 3-4 39% 58%
• nsuring adequate supplier services for travelers
E 5+ 50% 75%
Source: PhoCusWright’s Consumer Technology
Survey 2010
Yet, relatively few travel managers are offering enterprise-oriented mobile travel tools
to their employees.
Slow Adoption Hinders
Travel Program Optimization
According to a recent survey conducted by Procurement.travel to measure emerg-
ing competencies for travel management, mobile competency showed the lowest
adoption rates among all areas examined. Of 294 travel buyers surveyed, 56 percent
were not involved in managing mobile technology-related issues, less than one-third
purchased apps or mobile software to help power their travel management programs,
and less than one-quarter were involved in procuring mobile devices (which does
not mean that travelers did not have access to corporate-issued or personal smart-
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8. phones, but only that travel management had no involvement in the decision-making
around devices to be used.)
There are several contributing factors to this disconnect:
• obility Programs Travel – As much as corporate mobility programs and travel
M
are related, they have been developed separately within most organizations and
breaking through that wall is a challenge for a travel manager without upper
management support.
• ack of Awareness – Travel management has been under intense scrutiny to
L
tighten budgets and manage multiple other areas of travel; the ability to research
options and create a business case for mobility programs is likely an issue.
• ear – Mobile devices have provided access to travel content that is not sanc-
F
tioned by travel management. Many travel managers and companies have opted
to restrict use of these devices for travel rather than harness them.
While all of these factors are understandable, they will not improve a travel program.
Indeed, resistance to an emerging mobile platform for travel management will likely
undermine the relevance of the travel program as more travelers become aware of
the mobile options available through other channels and take advantage of them.
Instead of restricting access to mobile content and travel tools, travel managers and
their companies need to leverage the power that mobile devices can offer to reach
into the trip cycle to support business goals and traveler productivity but, most impor-
tantly for travel management, to influence traveler behaviors at the point of decision
to drive increased compliance and savings.
ABOUT
Business Travel Media Group Content Solu-
tions serves the information needs of the
Concur is a leading provider of integrated travel and expense management solutions.
managed travel and meetings marketplace
with integrated media opportunities for its Concur’s easy-to-use Web-based and mobile solutions help companies and their em-
partners. BTMG collaborates with business ployees control costs and save time. Concur’s systems adapt to individual employee
travel organizations to deliver sponsored preferences and scale to meet the needs of companies from small to large. With
content to targeted communities of travel
Concur’s mobile application, you can create, review and approve expense reports and
professionals via e-newsletters, white
papers, webinars, publication supplements book and change your travel itinerary - hotels, airfare, taxis, rail and rental cars - all
and other vehicles. from your smartphone. Learn more at www.concur.com.
8 Business Travel Media Group