GBTA Convention 2022 – up close and personal

 

Over 4,000 attendees gathered in person in San Diego this past week for GBTA Convention 2022. With all these people in the same place, many for the first time in several years, the energy was palpable, and the expo floor was buzzing.

Now that we’re back and have had some time to unpack our bags, CTM is looking back at last week’s GBTA Convention 2022 to summarize the trends. We thought this year’s show was all about personalization – from technology to sustainability to, yes, even the parties!

Read on for four personalization insights from CTM at this year’s show.

PERSONAL technology

Lehi Mills, CTM’s chief product officer for North America, kicked off GBTA convention 2022 on Sunday, announcing that CTM has added artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to its proprietary online booking tool, Lightning.

CTM has been quietly building out a team of data scientists over the last three years focused on improving the customer booking experience with enhanced personalization. By training multiple overlapping algorithms to work with historical booking data, company policies, known preferences, and other variables, Lightning can now provide more relevant options to travelers, with prediction accuracy continuously increasing as more bookings are made.

Screenshot of Lightning AI’s top hotel recommendations

Save time in the booking process

“AI can help solve the ‘paradox of choice,’” Lehi explains, “where the abundance of content types can overwhelm the traveler in making the right decision.

By sifting through thousands of fares, rates, and content to intelligently recommend “top 3” in-policy choices for the individual traveler, Lightning can enable better decisions and reduce time spent on the booking process. Preliminary results have shown that AI recommendations reduce average trip booking time by up to 30%.

Boost travel policy compliance

The artificial intelligence model CTM uses is trained with company travel policies, so that it operates within the confines of those policies even while adapting to every traveler’s preference. “We have to establish trust with our customers,” Mills said, sharing that algorithm will never recommend any options outside travel policy.

PERSONAL tech-driven sustainability

Built with sustainability in mind, Lightning already helps travelers choose greener options at the point of sale by displaying CO2 emissions for flights. With new artificial intelligence capabilities, Lightning AI can now go further in understanding travelers’ intent, enabling smarter recommendations to guide travelers trying other greener travel options for the first time.

For example, Mills mentioned how a traveler renting an electric car for the first time might not realize they’ll need to charge it over the course of their 4-day trip. While the traveler might select a hotel they’ve previously stayed at, Lightning AI can identify that there are no nearby charging stations and will serve up hotel recommendations that are closer. AI can help alert travelers to any changes they need to make to support a greener travel experience.

PERSONAL service with CTM Advisor

Kristen Pratt, CTM’s VP of Global Customer Solutions, sat down in the Broadcast Studio on the GBTA convention floor to talk about how CTM’s technology suite focuses on personalized service.

Pratt emphasized that “the number one need in our last global customer survey was customer service and delivery.” CTM Advisor is one of CTM’s internal products that focuses exclusively on enabling more efficient and personalized customer service.

CTM Advisor helps CTM’s agents have more meaningful, efficient client interactions. “CTM Advisor frees up time for agents by getting the tedious Q&A out of the way,” explains Pratt, which allows for more personal conversations with travelers that get straight to the issue at hand. Continuous improvements are made to the technology on the back end, such as phone integrations to reduce time spent on calls by pulling up a traveler’s profile within seconds of answering a call.

Risk mitigation instead of risk management

CTM is excited to see applications of AI to other areas, such as risk management. For example, when a flight is delayed, AI enhancements in CTM Advisor might proactively recommend new flights or local hotel picks in case the traveler needs to stay overnight. This example would reduce manual efforts by the agent while giving them the correct information to act quickly in the traveler’s best interests. “When it comes to risk management, we hope to see a future that is more risk mitigation focused with the tools and systems that are smart enough to identify potential issues before they happen,” said Mills.

The new artificial intelligence enhancements in Lightning have been rolled out for select clients in North America, to expand globally in the next year.

PERSONAL partying with CTM

And last but not least, we can’t forget the fun side of any GBTA event, the parties! Corporate Travel Management (CTM) hosted a fun-filled evening at Lumi for its clients and guests, alongside hosts Event Travel Management (ETM) – CTM’s events division, and Hilton and Enterprise.

Guests enjoyed an elevated and creative menu featuring local ingredients from world-renowned celebrity chef Akira Back, handcrafted libations, and views of the city from a modern and vivid fresh-air atmosphere high above the streets of San Diego.

How did CTM make things personal for our guests? With an automated photobooth, CTM branded drinks, and branded pedicabs to breeze through the streets of San Diego in style!

We’re already looking forward to GBTA Convention 2023 in August in Dallas.  Hope to see you there!