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Today’s Corporate Travel Agent

It may surprise industry outsiders to learn that frontline travel agents remain a vital force in corporate travel. They weren’t wiped out by the Internet. They weren’t erased by self-booking tools. And, no, artificial intelligence and bots aren’t taking over anytime soon.
At most travel management companies, frontline counselors represent the largest single employee group. Each day and in droves, these counselors work to solve managed travelers’ problems: fielding questions, making reservations, de-escalating tensions and mitigating trip disruptions. They remain essential to the service-delivery mission of corporate travel agencies.

Today’s Corporate Travel Agent

It may surprise industry outsiders to learn that frontline travel agents remain a vital force in corporate travel. They weren’t wiped out by the Internet. They weren’t erased by self-booking tools. And, no, artificial intelligence and bots aren’t taking over anytime soon.
At most travel management companies, frontline counselors represent the largest single employee group. Each day and in droves, these counselors work to solve managed travelers’ problems: fielding questions, making reservations, de-escalating tensions and mitigating trip disruptions. They remain essential to the service-delivery mission of corporate travel agencies.

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

According to conversations with TMC executives, a review of U.S. Census Bureau data and a look at tenure profiles of respondents to The Beat’s survey, a wave of Baby Boomer retirements is washing over a sizable portion of the TMC frontline.
Consider this: “On Jan. 1, 2011, the oldest Baby Boomers will turn 65,” Pew Research Center wrote in 2010. “Every day for the next 19 years, about 10,000 more will cross that threshold.”

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

According to conversations with TMC executives, a review of U.S. Census Bureau data and a look at tenure profiles of respondents to The Beat’s survey, a wave of Baby Boomer retirements is washing over a sizable portion of the TMC frontline.
Consider this: “On Jan. 1, 2011, the oldest Baby Boomers will turn 65,” Pew Research Center wrote in 2010. “Every day for the next 19 years, about 10,000 more will cross that threshold.”

TECH NEEDS TOUCHES

Paul English’s roots are in travel e-commerce. He co-founded metasearch operator Kayak, which sold to Priceline. He since has founded Lola, a well-funded startup that targets business travelers and lightly managed programs with mobile travel booking and support technology commingled with artificial intelligence and chatbot interactions. It’s a “virtual assistant,” but not entirely virtual. As of early September, the company had a small team of travel counselors and job listings for more.

THE NEXT GENERATION

TMCs face challenges attracting new employees to a profession saddled by a no-future perception. Hiring managers are on the prowl for a different skill set than they were a generation ago.
Knowledge of cryptic commands in global distribution systems and memorization of airport codes no longer are essential, given advancements in point-of-sale technology.
Fox World Travel looks for new agents who “are customer- service oriented,” chief information officer Beth Marino said. “We’re looking for people who have been in difficult, high-stress, fast-paced customer service roles and can excel in an environment like that. We can teach them the travel part.”

TODAY’S CORPORATE TRAVEL AGENT (OR ADVISOR OR CONSULTANT OR COUNSELOR)

The TMC frontline employee is changing, and so is their identity. Many TMC operations folks, hiring managers and frontline employees have moved on from the label “agent.” They increasingly favor “advisor,” “associate,” “consultant,” “counselor” or “specialist.” To wit: the American Society of Travel Agents in August rebranded as the American Society of Travel Advisors.
“We’re really focused on being more consultative at every level,” said Christopherson Business Travel CEO Mike Cameron. “The whole industry is migrating to a consultative model from a transactional model. In order to be successful, you have to make that leap from booking agents to travel advisors and from account managers to client consultants.”
No matter the handle, the TMC frontline is not homogeneous. Depending on a TMC’s structure and employee hierarchy and the skill set or tenure of a given counselor, frontline workers can assume various dedicated roles.

TODAY’S CORPORATE TRAVEL AGENT (OR ADVISOR OR CONSULTANT OR COUNSELOR)

TMCs face challenges attracting new employees to a profession saddled by a no-future perception. Hiring managers are on the prowl for a different skill set than they were a generation ago.
Knowledge of cryptic commands in global distribution systems and memorization of airport codes no longer are essential, given advancements in point-of-sale technology.
Fox World Travel looks for new agents who “are customer- service oriented,” chief information officer Beth Marino said. “We’re looking for people who have been in difficult, high-stress, fast-paced customer service roles and can excel in an environment like that. We can teach them the travel part.”

SATISFACTION REIGNS AMONG THE FRONTLINE

Roughly three-quarters of frontline corporate travel advisors surveyed by The Beat indicated they are either “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with their job. Ambivalence strikes another 13 percent, while 11 percent viewed their jobs negatively.
While these agents work for a variety of TMCs, report to a variety of managers, have a variety of coworkers and service a variety of clients—all things that can influence job satisfaction—a few themes emerged.
Among the contented, one derived satisfaction from “a feeling that I am making a difference and helping others.” Others echoed the sentiment. “I take pride in my work, and feel I do a very good job,” said one.

SEEING GREEN

At a travel tech startup pitch contest in August, Steve Domin, co-founder of distribution entrant Duffel, flashed a picture of a GDS cryptic screen and told the crowd: “I don’t know where to start.” The audience chuckled. “That’s the stuff that travel agents around the world are using to manage reservations. They love it. They really love it. It’s just crazy.”
There’s a reason the text-based codes many agents use to command these screens is called “cryptic.” It definitely mystifies outsiders. Its MS-DOS-like jumble of text and monochromatic background looks antiquated.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE

“Traditionally, the only frontline tool [agents] had was the GDS,” said Ovation Corporate Travel SVP of operations Isabel Torres.
Times have changed. Asked about the set of tools agents use today, she painted a picture of a two-monitor cacophony of apps, popups, widgets and websites.

CONTENT WITH CONTENT

Among respondents, 37 percent said they hop outside their primary system multiple times per day to access supplier content. A further 27 percent shop and book outside these systems once per day or multiple times per week. But 28 percent said they “rarely” or never work outside their primary point-of-sale application.
Airfare content satisfies: 85 percent were either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their ability to search and book fares on the systems provided by their employers.

THE AUTOMATED (OR AUGMENTED) AGENT

In May, Google wowed observers with a demo of Google Duplex, which two engineers at the tech giant described in a blog post as “a new technology for conducting natural conversations to carry out ‘real world’ tasks over the phone.”
In two demos, a system of AI technology made a hair salon appointment and called a restaurant for a reservation. The eerily human voice didn’t miss a beat talking to a live person on the other end. Duplex even incorporated common verbal tics like “hmm” and “uh” for a lifelike interaction.

METHODOLOGY

METHODOLOGY

In June and July 2018, The Beat invited hundreds of prequalified U.S.- based frontline travel agents who work on behalf of travel management companies or ARC-accredited Corporate Travel Departments to complete an online survey. In addition, The Beat enlisted several travel management companies, including BCD Travel, AmTrav Corporate Travel, Balboa Travel and Travel and Transport, to distribute the survey link to their U.S.-based frontline counselors.

In total, more than 800 respondents completed the questionnaire. Of them, 578 satisfied The Beat’s screening criteria by identifying themselves as frontline travel counselors or advisors who work on behalf of a travel management company or Corporate Travel Department and assist managed travelers with reservations, queries and in-trip assistance. Further, The Beat included responses only from those who indicated that at least 75 percent of the business they handled was related to corporate travel.

The Beat supplemented these statistical findings with interviews and conversations with TMC executives, technology providers, industry consultants and frontline agents—some for attribution, others on background.

As with all editorial undertakings, The Beat developed, conducted and produced this research project with complete editorial independence.

PRODUCED BY
JAY BOEHMER
Editor-in-Chief
jboehmer@thebtngroup.com
LOUIS MAGLIARO
Senior Vice President/Group Publisher
lmagliaro@thebtngroup.com
ANTHONY CARNEVALE
Publisher
acarnevale@thebtngroup.com
MARIZA MOREIRA
Group Design Manager
COPYRIGHT © 2018 NORTHSTAR TRAVEL GROUP LLC

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