Event report: ITM Conference
Travel buyers and suppliers came together to tackle seven key subjects at the ITM Conference in Aviemore, Scotland. Andy Hoskins reports
This year’s ITM Conference was opened by the organisation’s Chair, Karen Hutchings, and CEO Scott Davies (pictured), who introduced the industry’s evolving areas of focus: consolidation, distribution, security, technology, geopolitics, sourcing and the traveller experience.
A subsequent panel debate featuring representatives from Hyatt, Travelport, American Airlines and American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) not surprisingly dwelt on consolidation and distribution.
There were mixed opinions regarding the advancement of New Distribution Capability (NDC), with one panellist suggesting only a handful of airlines were making meaningful progress and that the industry was “very much on a journey”.
“Airlines are investing in their technology but there’s a whole range of models out there. There is no common flavour,” said the Travelport representative. “Our job is to bring it all together and make it look neat.”
Hyatt’s spokesperson added: “If airlines are on a journey, then the hotel industry is only just packing its bags. Our sector is so fragmented. It’s an area of concern but also of opportunity for us.”
Traveller experience was the theme of one breakout session at the conference but it permeated many others too.
“People are making the link between traveller experience, job performance and staff retention,” said one TMC representative. “We’re seeing more health and wellness policies coming into place and it’s all about mitigating stress.”
A travel manager overseeing the programme of two merging companies described they action they took: “We consolidated five travel policies down to one and 23 TMCS down to one. We looked at our competitors and actually put in place a higher, more generous policy,” they said.
“It’s helped us gain stability around the traveller experience. We can now measure traveller satisfaction and it’s going up everywhere, they added.”