travel tech insights

There are times it seems the travel industry should take a cue from its customers; go to some quiet place and just relax for a long time without reading anything about travel (except this blog, of course) or talking to anyone in the business.

During the past decade it has certainly seemed to be the case that disruption has been experienced to a far greater degree on the leisure side of travel rather than business side. Leisure travel has been impacted by OTA and witnessed the role of the travel agent - though still a force now – reduced in decision-making influence to that of friends, family and social media.

This week I was on a software provider's website and read this description of an ERP product feature, “With FeatureABC, the accuracy, the reliability and the availability of information are improved so management can make better strategic decisions more quickly. Consolidation is beneficial in many processes in an agency.”

At first, I found myself thinking, “What are they talking about? What does this mashup of adjectives even mean?” Then I thought, “How many people in the travel industry even know what reports they need, much less what reasonable expectations should be for their reporting tools and database?”

Sounds a bit crazy, doesn’t it? How could a travel agency be its own worst sales enemy? And, if somehow it was, why would any management team in its right mind allow the situation to continue?

A recurring theme in this blog is the central role travel technology plays in the business model of successful travel companies, particularly enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems designed for the travel industry. There’s a simple explanation for this – Travel ERP has the potential to deliver such a wide array of benefits that it fits into any number of travel topics: reducing operational costs with automation; making better decisions with more accurate reporting; or supporting sales with better travel partner integration, just to name a few.