Advantage business travel director Norman Gage has called for an industry-wide campaign against commoditisation in order to raise awareness of travel management companies’ expertise and professionalism.
“The internet-inspired shift towards so-called dynamic packaging has gone too far,” he claimed.
“Anybody can buy a list of ingredients, but that doesn’t mean that they suddenly turn into a Jamie Oliver or a Gordon Ramsay.”
Gage is concerned that leisure travel trends are increasingly influencing business travel purchasing decisions.
“The boundaries are becoming increasingly blurred, and that’s bad news for the industry and for consumers. At Advantage, we have made a clear distinction between our leisure travel members and our travel management company members. For its own sake, the industry needs to follow our lead.
“The notion that online travel is cheaper is generally misplaced these days. The idea that it’s better value is a complete fallacy, and that’s particularly true in the case of business travel, where even a minor hiccup can have extremely costly implications.
“As an industry, we need to challenge these pernicious misconceptions, and demonstrate our true value as travel consultants, providing service levels that simply cannot be replicated on the internet.”
By Bev Fearis
