These are testing and changing times but digitisation, hyperconnectivity and personalisation are the future, writes senior Carlson Wagonlit’s Travel’s Carlos Sánchez in this guest post

It’s one thing working with data analytics in a sandbox environment, but the real world is a very different place. While every organisation is different, one of our main focuses this year has been integrating analytics into our products to simplify the decision making for travellers. For instance, we now analyse hotel reviews to ensure the traveller chooses the right place to stay. But this integration is significantly more complex and challenging than people may think, as many systems have to come together seamlessly to create product success. In my opinion these are some of the driving trends and themes that will dominate discussions in Amsterdam next week. 

1. User experience has to be the focus, and mobile plays a bigger role than ever

Even though I work in a primarily B2B environment, the use of mobile is something that is popular with business as well as leisure travellers. Our own research at CWT backs that up.

• 25% of all online corporate travel bookings will be via mobile by 2017, with mobile bookings set to double in the next two years. 

We’re also finding that apps like CWT To Go^TM are transforming the way we interact with our travellers. The idea is to create a mobile experience, to support travellers and interact at all stages of the journey. My guess is that the traveller experience will be a dominant theme in Amsterdam – specifically how we can make the life of our travellers easier on the road.

2. Technology and customer service: a fusion of equals

Going forward, the push to streamline the integration of analytics into digital products remains a top priority. As any data-driven person will know, accessing the data, running an algorithm and displaying the results should be easy peasy.  

This will allow the fusion of technology and customer service, which has real, tangible business benefits. In today’s digital world, there is even more importance placed on brands and businesses, which can deliver great customer service; and analytics is a bridge between the two as it can tailor the service for each traveler.

3. Analytics: commoditisation is coming

My prediction is that today’s analytics will become a commodity sooner rather than later. Technology evolves at an ever-increasing pace, and it pushes us analytics professionals to continuously innovate in order to stay ahead of the curve.

CWT sees the future of business travel in three parts; digitization, hyper-connectivity, and personalisation:

• Digitisation more and more customer interactions will be digital
• Hyper-connectivity - Travellers expect immediate, constant access to information in all parts of their lives, including business travel. They want fingertip access to relevant, local offers and services, based on their location
• Personalisation - devices will become extensions of the self, and people will come to expect customized, personally tailored offerings and services.

4. Future-gazing

In the above scenario, digitisation and hyper-connectivity generate the data that feeds personalisation, which will be key in the future. Integrated booking systems and traveller profiles will allow travel agents to have a complete picture of what an ideal trip might entail.

As business trips overlap with personal vacations, it will be increasingly important for agents to be able to tailor suggestions and opportunities to specific travellers based on preference profiles, loyalty memberships, and trip details.

Carlos Sánchez, Carlson Wagonlit’s Travel’s senior manager, data & analytics, will be speaking next week in Amsterdam at Smart Travel Analytics, Europe (Nov 24-25). Don’t delay, book your place now to hear how the industry’s top executives are moving ahead with data and analytics