Podcast: Combining JTB Business Travel’s history of service with modern technology

In today’s corporate travel landscape, providing both personalized service and cutting-edge technology is crucial for success.

For the fourteenth episode of The Travel Is a Human Emotion Podcast, Spotnana VP of Marketing Justin Schuster spoke with Geert de Boo, Vice President, Global Business Travel, JTB Business Travel about how JTB Business Travel brings exceptional experiences to customers with Teal, its new product offering powered by Spotnana.

De Boo discussed how JTB is addressing content fragmentation for global programs, the importance of integrating service and travel technology, how TMCs are evolving in a world where technology enables greater amounts of automation, and JTB Business Travel’s century-long commitment to serving its customers.

Solving content fragmentation

One of the biggest challenges in corporate travel management is the fragmentation of content across different systems and regions, leading to limited content options and serviceability.

Content fragmentation “is really challenging the proposition of TMCs as a single source of content, as a place where you put all your travel in,” said de Boo. “That’s also an opportunity for TMCs, if you have the right technology, to continue to be that one-stop shop. It may be [using] a different technology ecosystem, but I believe it’s still the best proposition of a TMC to be that one place for corporate accounts.”

By consolidating diverse content streams, including GDS, NDC, and direct connections, Teal provides a single source of truth for booking travel, eliminating the complexity traditionally associated with managing multi-national travel programs.

Teal enables travel managers to provide access to comprehensive inventory across markets while maintaining consistent policies and processes. The unified approach also brings significant cost savings and efficiency improvements for JTB Business Travel.

“All content can be aggregated into one place for a better user experience,” said de Boo. “As we look at a landscape of distribution that keeps evolving, we will see a shift to more direct integrations. I don’t see the GDS completely becoming obsolete, they will continue to play an important role.”

Convergence of service and technology

Providing quality service is key for JTB Business Travel, with more than a century of exceptional service guided by the Japanese principle of omotenashi.

Modern technology lets it maintain its service-first philosophy while enhancing efficiency and traveler satisfaction. Teal customers have experienced a significant boost in online booking rates, as well, reducing the need for travelers to contact agents.

“For JTB, first and foremost, efficiency can never reduce the level of service, because that’s really what is so important to us,” said de Boo. “That’s why it’s so important to have the right tools to have a very high level of service yet work very efficiently and reduce all kinds of manual processes that typically exist in our industry.”

The integration of modern technology with JTB’s service-first approach enables agents to focus on delivering exceptional customer experiences rather than getting bogged down in repetitive, time-consuming tasks.

Corporates, as well, gain benefits from one global unified platform when designing and deploying a managed travel program. As mid-market companies increasingly have complex global needs, having access to a single technology platform with consistent workflows can help streamline operations worldwide.

“We will have the ability to provide Spotnana in 25 countries this year,” said de Boo. “We’re entering a new era where it was once a pretty heavy lift to launch a global program and we’re making it a lot easier. This is what the market needs and what really fits into that changing dynamic of mid-market consolidation of travel programs.”

Looking ahead, de Boo views emerging technologies as crucial to further enhancing the efficiency of agents and the satisfaction of travelers.

“We’re becoming more and more of a technology company where we have the philosophy to work with the best and latest technology rather than developing it ourselves,” said de Boo. “AI is definitely going to enhance those capabilities already there. It’s going to probably help, even for things where agents are now responding. Does it completely replace human beings? I think not.”