Corporates tune in to new booking channels

BUSINESS travellers are considerably more open-minded to new booking channels than their fellow leisure travellers, but nearly half of all respondents would be comfortable booking travel through Amazon.

Consumer platforms (32%) like Amazon, Facebook and Google topped the list of non-traditional booking channels in a recent survey by OAG, in which respondents were quizzed on their willingness to secure travel through alternative platforms. Website chatbots were ranked second (28%), mobile assistants like Siri were third (25%) and text messages fourth (20%). Only 13% of respondents said they would be very comfortable doing so, 37% weren’t sure but would be willing to try it, and 49% said they couldn’t envisage doing so.