Online adoption is growing in the Asia Pacific region where companies and travellers are becoming smarter about the way they book travel, according to James Stevenson, Executive Vice President, AsPac for Hogg Robinson Group (HRG), the world class corporate travel services company.
In a keynote industry perspective to the ACTE Asia Pacific Education Conference in Singapore today, Stevenson said that corporate travel managers in AsPac are being asked to be more traveller-centric, and to not only allow self-service but to actively encourage it.
"Online booking tools (OBT) can drive tighter policy compliance, expense management, and cost reduction but the organisation needs to first decide if it is ready to adopt online tools. For success it must also have a strong implementation and communications plan in place", he said.
"At HRG we have identified an upward trend amongst our AsPac clients keen on making efficiencies in the booking process. The traditional push back around culture and traveller behaviour is not as strong as companies mandate OBTs from outside Asia to this region and local companies are starting to see the value. Most of our clients are either closely looking at OBTs or in the throws of piloting a roll out. We believe over the next three years, OBT booking volumes will grow exponentially in Asia as the tools, carriers and corporations evolve and adapt to the new processes around OBTs."
HRG is showcasing its latest technology at the ACTE Asia Pacific Education Conference, held on 25-26 August 2010. These new technologies will help contain costs, maximize return on investments, and meet duty of care requirements, all of which will enable travel managers to drive value in the new economy as it recovers from the recession.
HRG will unveil HRG Security SuiteTM, HRG i-SuiteTM, HRG ReportingTM, and TripCase. Steve Ash, Director, Business Technology for the AsPac region, says: “Each of these elements is vital to the success of a travel management programme as the new economy takes shape, which demonstrates that HRG has anticipated the different requirements and new approach by travel managers.”
- TripCase was developed through HRG’s partnership with Sabre Travel Network. In addition to unique location-based messaging capabilities, it includes full-integration of travel plans, which makes it possible for HRG to enhance the traveller experience by providing timely and relevant information delivered to a mobile device. Security of data has been considered a part of this development.
- HRG Security SuiteTM was developed in response to managing traveller safety. It has a full range of security services, from pre-trip destination intelligence, traveller tracking and security training, to international emergency response services. The new technology helps organisations and their travellers in dealing with different situations which can affect travel. The suite offers a combination of core services provided directly by HRG, utilising its global reach and expertise, together with specialist services offered in association with global security experts, red24.
- HRG ReportingTM is an online reporting tool designed to provide clients with relevant key data about their travel programmes quickly and easily. The latest version of the technology has additional reports which have been added to the standard ‘dashboard’ menu. This ‘dashboard’ can be adjusted by the individual user to suit their own needs, giving them the ability to ‘slice and dice’ information through a mouse click which can filter information in seconds.
- HRG i-SuiteTM is a portal that provides corporate travellers and travel managers with one single point of online access to a wide range of tools, offering capabilities from booking to reporting and traveller tracking. Both in-house tools and third party products and services can be integrated to provide a customised solution for the client organisation. The modular structure also enables users to personalise their homepage, choosing from content such as city and airport guides, weather forecasts and time zones. The new version contains an improved design, which when combined with existing multi-language capabilities, provides all users with an enhanced experience, whether their need is to book their next trip or make a programme management decision.
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For further information:
Sallyanne Heywood/Katy Carmen
Hogg Robinson Group
Tel: +44 (0) 1256 312624/+44 (0) 1256 312622
sallyanne.heywood@hrgworldwide.com/katy.carmen@hrgworldwide.com
Ed Grattan
Euro RSCG Biss Lancaster
Tel: +44 (0) 207 467 9200
Email: blhrg@bisslancaster.com
For further information in the AsPac region, please contact:
Reene Ho-Phang/Jeanette Wu
BrandStory Inc
Tel: +65 9819 1558 (Singapore)/Tel: +65 8138 9487 (Singapore)
Tel: +86 1381 6106 531 (Shanghai)/Tel: +852 8177 6078 (Hong Kong)
reene@brandstoryinc.com/jeanette.wu@brandstoryinc.com
Notes to Editors:
Hogg Robinson Group (HRG) is an award-winning international corporate travel services company which operates from headquarters in Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK. Established in 1845, HRG’s interests now relate to owned or controlled corporate travel services operations in 25 key driver/growth markets throughout Europe, North America and Asia Pacific supported by contracted partners in Africa, Middle East/West Asia and Latin America. The HRG worldwide network extends to nearly 120 countries.
HRG’s philosophy is to focus on its clients, underpinned by three differentiators – its people, its technology and its breadth of service. The company has experienced management and skilled operators together with a strong reputation for technology which it develops and owns in-house. In addition HRG is the only major travel management company to offer a real breadth and depth of services, all of which combine to serve every client around the globe delivering value, cost savings, efficiency and innovation, without compromise.
HRG’s portfolio of clients spans a broad range of industry sectors including but not limited to Automotive, Banking and Finance, Food Manufacturing, Media and Entertainment, Oil & Gas, Pharmaceutical, Retail and Telecommunications.