A nugget of good advice

I CHATTED recently with an airline executive - let’s call him ‘Bob’ - and it shook me a bit.

It wasn’t combative. It was friendly and business-like. And yet, I walked away thinking differently about our place in the travel ecosystem.

By ‘our’, I mean travel management companies - TMCs like mine.

For decades, TMCs have perhaps operated - no offence - like we’re the ones wielding all the influence at the centre of the travel universe, perched at the pointy-end drinking fancy French fizz, politely (but firmly) asking for more from our supplier partners.

Guilty, your Honour.

So, what happened?

Bob described what was on the airline’s plate - fuel prices, new routes, new aircraft, old aircraft, industrial relations, geopolitical and environmental matters, serious global health concerns, distribution and other foibles - and stressed that they’re considering the impact of these things over the 40 years ahead, not just the next few.

OK, Bob, I get it. I appreciate the issues affecting your world.

Some of them certainly affect ours, too. And in that context, perhaps our little piece

of that puzzle - distribution - seems a bit insignificant.

But, frankly, we’re not just going to shrug and relinquish our place at the table.

From the moment IATA announced its New Distribution Capability (NDC) with dubious fanfare about ‘transparent shopping’ and ‘full and rich air content’ benefits, many of my TMC compadres have had a few “Chicken Little” moments. (Again, guilty).

My chat with Bob left me thinking it’s time we got real and stopped being angry about the things that, frankly, we can’t control.

TMCs play a crucial role in the corporate travel ecosystem. And while we need to accept that the next 40 years won’t look like the last 40, we will continue to insist on a seat at the collaboration table, and make the business of travel management continue to work for us, our partners - like Bob - and our joint clients.

When things settle down, we’ll see Bob and his compadres at the distribution table.

Chicken Little warns us against blowing things out of proportion. She also tells us not to believe everything that we’re told.

Well, that seems like good advice to us. We know.

“Chicken Little warns us against blowing things out of proportion...she also tells us not to believe everything that we’re told

“

Peter Hosper is one of Australia’s most respected travel industry figures. His extensive global industry experience and connections were instrumental to his successful founding of The Travel Authority Group (TTA) with Sarah Bush in 2004. Since then, Peter has been an integral part of the exceptional growth of the business.