This year the Travel Technology Show at London’s Earl’s Court exhibition centre in early February is getting a makeover. The focus is now squarely on Europe and the show has been renamed Travel Technology Europe.
Event director Neil Simpson says: “We wanted to reflect Europe’s increasing role in the emerging global travel technology market.”
The show is also attracting a greater mix of exhibitors – there are now more than 60 offering tech services to the travel industry. “They are all keen to showcase their tour operator and travel agent solutions, including access to new markets and how to compete in this rapidly changing landscape,” explains Simpson.
This year’s exhibition has a new conference targeted at senior executives and is being touted as an exclusive ‘invitation only’ event. It will tackle the main issues facing decision makers; according to Simpson the line-up includes “the cream of the industry’s thought-leaders”.
Speakers include the head of innovation at Lastminute.com, and key figures in the digital arena from British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Abercrombie and Kent, TUI, Microsoft and Amadeus.
Travel Technology Europe runs parallel to the Business Travel and Meetings Show, with many people combining the two since they are in the same building.
Certainly, there are a lot of trends and ideas to pick up on whether it is technologies that integrate suppliers, customers and employees, dynamic packaging products, digital film brochures or touch-screen bookings.
One focus that reoccurs every year for travel agencies is to find technologies that streamline the daily routine with a focus on lower costs.
Jonas Sprenger, online marketing manager at pixell daten and design, which won the Travel Technology Show’s Innovation Award last year, says: “The buzzword at the moment is ‘crisis’, so everybody is looking for strategies to keep their business running. Instead of a scattergun approach, everybody is interested in efficient marketing campaigns.”
There is also an increasing call this year for visitors and exhibitors to be more realistic. Andy Keeley, director of sales at intuitive, says: “Time is often wasted because suppliers want to get as many leads as possible, so will oversell to a potentially less technological trade visitor who has high aspirations.”
Social media still the buzz
Exhibitors agree that social media is still a big topic for those attending the event. Peter McCormick, co-founder of ExactTarget, says: “The show offers a huge variety of different solutions to engage with this audience. Visitors should take time to visit the stalls and seminars to learn about them.”
Over the past year, travel companies such as Expedia, Hotels.com and Icelandair have built admirable one-to-one communications programs through email and social media, with encouraging results for repeat purchasing.
Focus for the industry
One of the areas that will be a big focus will be the rise of mobile services, especially with the rising penetration of the iPhone and other smart devices, the importance of which was recently highlighted by Worldchoice chairman Colin Heal at the Tourism Society’s Prospects for 2010 event.
Last year, discount travel site Kayak launched a free iPhone application that allowed it to raise £145 million in investment, due to its ease of use. Craig Dean, CEO of Web Applications UK, says: “It’s not hard to argue the importance of mobile phones as a sales end point going forward.”
Brian Harmes, director of marketing at Cornerstone Information Systems, says: “There are more than 2,000 mobile applications available for the travel industry now and this will be a top growth category this year. Location services will be a central theme behind this growth.”
According to Theresa Quinn from Datalex, the use of mobile phones in travel has yet to live up to the hype. “However, it has happened and people are using their smart phones on the move. This year will be about leveraging mobile devices and providing better shopping tools.
Fact file
- When: Tuesday February 9 (9.30am-5.30pm) and Wednesday February 10 (9.30am-5pm)
- Where: Earl’s Court 2, London
- What: The show runs alongside the Business Travel and Meetings Show also in Earl’s Court 2. Register online to get free entry. The event is trade only and no under 18s or students will be allowed in.
- Getting there: Nearest underground stations are Earl’s Court and West Brompton on the District Line. West Brompton mainline station provides services to Clapham Junction, Gatwick, Brighton and Watford.
- Seminars: These can be booked in advance online until February 5 and cost £45 each. After February 5, places cost £55.
- Find out more: traveltechnologyshow.com
Hot topics for 2010
- Social networking develops with a new loss of control
From Facebook to Twitter, ubiquitous and personalised information is delivered through social networks – no longer are operators and agents in control. - Power of choice
There is an explosion of unbundling – look at the rise of airline ancillary fees. For the carriers and providers it is about personalisation and giving people choice. But for travel managers it is a double-edged sword. Sellers want to increase choices for travellers while buyers attempt to rein them in through a travel policy. - Policy compliance
Those with limited experience in travel procurement are demanding real-time analysis of travel spend prior to allocating money. New or enhanced technologies around policy compliance will be required to deliver information in an easy-to-use format with supporting data a simple click away. - Reporting technologies
A recurring theme, but any application that can help travel managers report on ancillary fees will gain greater adoption. Extra fees are here to stay and will expand as suppliers generate non-taxed revenue. They have become an increasingly larger component of the total cost of travel and professionals want to know what they get for their money. - Aggregation
For travel technology in general, especially within corporate travel, the agenda focuses on the aggregation of content. Melissa Flury of Evolvi Rail Systems says: “This involves the melding together of travel procurement and expenses management software solutions.”
New initiatives for exhibitors
Look out for the newly released Amadeus Fare World. Ypsilon marketing vice-president Patrick Coulomb says: “This multi-consolidator booking engine allows agencies to compare fares with different consolidators. It is available as an Amadeus smart tab or as a stand-alone solution for non-IATA agents.”
Swap Systems is launching at the show. It’s already been described as the ‘Facebook for the travel industry’ and is a new multi-dimensional management tool designed to boost holiday sales, cut costs and open up new markets.
ExactTargetwill exhibit for the first time. The company’s products help travel marketers connect with travellers via personalised email, text messaging, social media and web content.
Web Applications UK will demonstrate its new Software as a Service products, which allow customers to bring technology solutions into their business at no cost, and only pay for what they use.
Cornerstone Information Systems will focus on additions to its iBank Reporting system, and Travets, its travel information management system.
Micros Travel is promoting its new SABS Corporate product, which demonstrates the value of ‘holistic’ costing.
Belgian-based technology firm Gateway will showcase its enhanced Gateway 2 Travel hotel booking engine. The new version includes improved map search and XML functionality while the number of hotels featured has increased to 120,000 worldwide.
