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| Peronalised Cabins? I'll take this one thanks! (Image courtesy http://www.elakiri.com/forum/showthread.php?t=611197 - a cool trip through the 8 most luxurious aircraft cabins in the world.) |
First of all, I just wanted to thank everyone for reading and commenting on last week's Blogalogue regarding consolidation in global corporate programs. We'll keep that topic alive and well, as just because we have a new topic to tackle this week doesn't mean you can't still weigh in on last week's.
In keeping with the thought-provoking approach in the new look Cafe, I turned my attention this week to a hefty tome just released by Amadeus, in conjunction with Oxford Economics. The report, titled "The Travel Gold Rush 2020" is quite an interesting read, as it attempts to project trends and changes in the travel industry over the coming decade. I always find these reports fascinating to read through, as they invariably fall into a blatant promotion for whatever product/service the sponsoring organisation is fostering, or it's a thoughtful and useful review which just happens to be sponsored by an organisation who has parallel interests. Thankfully this one falls into the latter.
Although more oriented towards leisure and online travel, there was a very interesting theme throughout the report which has potential significant implications for corporate travel. And that is the idea that in the near future, air travel especially will see traditional classes (ie - First, Business, Economy, etc.) be replaced by "virtual classes." According to the report, "The future of the aircraft cabin is set to go through significant changes as customers are able to share their preferences with airlines and the airlines will be expected to meet their individual needs leading to the decline of traditional travel classes." The report later goes on to say that "In reality, what is likely is that traditional airline class structures will break down and there will be a multiplicity of travel classes in the near future."
Although I'm not altogether surprised by this prediction, from a corporate buying perspective it could prove worrisome. On the former, I'm not surprised by it as the individualisation of traveller needs and related product offerings is just a sign of the times. The "I want it now" generation coming up through the ranks demands smart phones with an infinite number of configurations to make it their own, websites and social networks with robust profile tools to allow for maximum individualisation, and an almost daily launch of travel websites devoted to allowing you to "book your travel your way."
On the latter, corporate buyers already faced with ancillary fee charges, travel application download costs, and new pricing schemes like dynamic hotel pricing are now faced with travellers who may (if you believe the Amadeus/Oxford predictions) ask for the airlines to create their own cabin class. How much will THAT privilege cost, I wonder? And will it be in policy?
Regardless of whether you believe this "personal cabin" will be a reality or not, if you are a buyer of corporate travel the message here is that if you're not already thinking about managing the growing personalisation of your company's travellers - you'd better start. And next week I'll have some suggestions on how to do this in Part 2 of this blog.
In the meantime - what do you think? Do you think travellers are headed down a no-going-back road to individual freedom of choice for business travel, or will the company win out as they do today via standardised program design? Not to worry - the Barista still makes all his shots of travel advice to order....
