The corporate travel industry needs to embrace emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) to remain competitive and grow, according to a report by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA).
The report on ‘Technological Transformation in Corporate Travel’, issued jointly by GBTA and event management software and hospitality technology company Cvent, includes a survey of business travel professionals in Europe and North America.
This found 75% of travel buyer respondents interested in adopting AI-powered chatbots to answer questions about travel programmes.
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Half the buyers (51%) were interested in offering blockchain-based bookings and 49% blockchain-based payments – a surprising finding given the majority of people don’t understand blockchain and its limited number of use cases.
The survey found 29% of travel programmes have a full-time employee focused on technology-related responsibilities such as sourcing new digital tools, configuring booking and expense solutions, managing data collection or driving technology transformation.
In Europe, 36% of travel buyers said their company has such a role, compared with 22% in North America.
The travel buyers estimated on average that almost one fifth (18%) of travel budgets is now spent on technology.
One-third of buyers (36%) expected technology spending to grow this year, although 43% of buyers in Europe expected increased spending compared with 30% in North America.
Three out of five suppliers (61%) expected company spending on internal technology to rise this year and 56% spending on traveller-facing technology.
However, 83% of travel management company (TMC) respondents expected to invest more in internal technology and 79% of TMCs to spend more on traveller-facing technology.
More than one third of hospitality respondents (37%) said their company’s use of technology ‘has room to improve’ compared with just 10% of travel suppliers.
GBTA chief executive Suzanne Neufang said: “Our everyday and professional lives have ever-increasing touchpoints with technology. The report gives a view to the potential for technology to do more.”
Julie Haddix, senior director of marketing at Cvent, added: “We’ve long believed in the power of technology to improve how businesses operate.
“While the business travel industry recognises the importance of investing in technology, there is still an opportunity for buyers and suppliers to truly embrace emerging technologies.”
The survey of 388 GBTA travel buyers, suppliers and TMCs was conducted online on February 6-19.
The full survey findings are available only to GBTA members.