BBT editor Paul Revel talks to Mathias Andersson, chief operating officer of Travelport Hotelzon, about the latest hotel booking technology trends

I¡¯m talking to Mathias Andersson at the Hilton Helsinki Kalastajatorppa, a conference hotel in an almost fairytale setting, overlooking beautiful forest-fringed waters in the Gulf of Finland. We¡¯re here for the CAPA Aviation summit, and Andersson has just come off stage, where he took part in a panel session on disruptors in corporate travel programmes.

More of that later ¨C but first I want to find about Hotelzon, the corporate hotel booking technology firm that was acquired by Travelport in 2014. Why did Travelport decide to buy Hotelzon?

¡°It¡¯s really two reasons. First, the sense of growth in the hotel booking business itself, of both direct corporate customers as well as TMCs ¨C it fitted very well into the Travelport strategy. Second, the content acquisition capabilities ¨C the ability to add independent properties and smaller chains.¡±

He says it¡¯s an easy and simple process for hotels that don¡¯t have the resources to build application programme interface (API) connections, to self-register with Hotelzon and get up and running on the platform.?

I ask him what the platform offers corporate travel buyers. ¡°It¡¯s fully-fledged tool for the travel buyer ¨C you get the ability to manage your hotel programme, and the ability to have your own rates loaded and preferenced. You can show only your chosen, in-policy hotels, but that¡¯s fairly uncommon; most corporates will preference them so they show on top, but you still see other options.

¡°Then, of course, there¡¯s the reporting piece, and data integration with back-office systems, but also to TMC-GDS segments. Buyers want adoption and policy adherence, so they¡¯re looking for user-friendly tools that are a good experience for their travellers.¡±

During the session, Andersson talked about how ¡°relevant content¡± is a big focus for the firm. He¡¯s referring to the independent hotels and small chains. ¡°We¡¯re not immune to the numbers game ¨C there¡¯s so much talk about how many properties you have, as opposed to which properties,¡± he says. But he says corporates and TMCs often say they¡¯re using particular hotels not available on any channel. It¡¯s these hotels he¡¯s bringing onto the platform so they can be booked efficiently, with reporting benefits.

Why the demand for these properties from corporate customers? It¡¯s not specifically because of price, nor a particular preference for independents, says Andersson, but for location and choice. ¡°Typically these properties are demanded because they¡¯re next to your meeting, your factory, your customers... You want that option.¡±

And for those hotels, he says, it¡¯s a cost-efficient way of being connected to an online channel that reaches business travellers ¨C and the 67,000-plus travel agencies that connect with Travelport.

The sharing economy
Unsurprisingly, his panel session on disruptors discussed the so-called ¡®sharing economy¡¯ provider ¨C Andersson said Travelport-Hotelzon had not yet seen demand for the type of content offered by Airbnb. He saw the ¡®sharing¡¯ element as ¡°more of a traveller community within a company, the ability to get sense of trust and certainty based on other peoples¡¯ experiences¡±.

But, I ask, surely never say never? ¡°Well, I guess if the demand was there, there¡¯s no reason why Airbnb would not be bookable through Hotelzon,¡± he says ¨C barring some interface mechanisms that could be resolved (as he points out, his platform connects with many types of content, whether by simple extranet, or APIs and direct connects). It¡¯s just that it hasn¡¯t been a priority to look into it, because there simply hasn¡¯t been the demand, he adds.

Ancillaries and merchandising
One hot topic at the moment is the direct targeting of end-users, which goes hand-in-hand with unbundling, ancillaries and merchandising ¨C by hotels as well as airlines. Does he find himself in the middle of that debate?

Hotels have started to follow airlines down the merchandising route, he says, ¡°but surprisingly ¨C because you¡¯d think hotels would be the perfect place for it ¨C when you talk to some hotels, they¡¯re only getting started, and only on their own websites. It¡¯s really repeating the type of story we had with the airlines; it¡¯s not for reasons that they don¡¯t want to promote it elsewhere, they just don¡¯t have the capabilities.¡±

He sees an evolution as hotels follow airlines in offering more ancillaries and benefits on the distribution platforms, but in the meantime the travel buyers are unhappy with these only being sold directly. ¡°So clearly we have to work with the hotels and the corporates on this,¡± he says.

What it boils down to is adoption, says Andersson. When he talks to buyers about booking travel, adoption is ¡°the nut they want to crack¡±. This, he says, should be a joint effort between buyers, suppliers and those providing the booking and distribution platforms. ¡°How do we make sure it¡¯s as good as possible for the travellers? So there¡¯s nothing stopping people, no excuses to not use the tools.¡±

Mathias Andersson was appointed COO of Travelport Hotelzon in February 2015. He was previously Travelport regional manager for the Nordics for ten years. Before joining Travelport, he ran his own firm, Cambit Consulting AB, and held consulting roles with US firm Monitor, and Scandinavian internet business Connecta. He holds an MSc in Business Administration from the Stockholm School of Economics. He is fluent in English, French and Swedish.