OBTs, AI and NDC will continue to dominate business travel landscape.
Demand for business travel will remain soft at the start of 2024, with many corporates still stipulating travel bans, but the industry will nevertheless reach pre-Covid levels by the end of the year, according to Chris Thelen CEO of global boutique TMC TakeTwo, and SME specialist Eton Travel Management.
2024 will also be a pivotal year for OBTs and digital solutions in terms of adapting to meet travel buyers’ need to access and book full travel content. Indeed Thelen believes that the industry will start to see a shift away from the OBT as the entry point for booking corporate travel and TMCs will increasingly deliver services directly to customers via channels such as MS Teams, Slack and mobile apps.
Chris Thelen CEO of global boutique TMC TakeTwo, and SME specialist Eton Travel Management.
Elections in the UK and US – two core markets for TakeTwo – could add to market uncertainty, but Thelen is confident that both TakeTwo and Eton Travel will experience another strong year of growth in 2024. “We are seeing genuine demand for our independent travel service solution from clients who are dissatisfied with the service levels they are getting from the large mega TMCs,” said Thelen. TakeTwo closed out 2023 having won US$30M in new business in the UK, US and Ireland, including clients in financial services, asset management, well known household brands, and a leading supermarket retailer. Eton Travel also retained all its SME clients throughout 2023. Both TakeTwo and Eton have seen major demand from clients for their meetings and events services.
Other industry trends that Chris Thelen expects to emerge in 2024 are:
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