An update from this year’s Update
Amadeus Travel Industry Update was wearing a brand new suit this year and the theme for the day was change. Change as something positive, something that inspires improvement and something that is necessary. The recently inaugurated Clarion Hotel Sign in Stockholm was the venue for the conference and there was a record interest in the event. Amadeus Magazine was on site and is pleased to offer you the following summation.
That changes can come quickly was something we were given several examples of during the day’s attractions. Since the programme was printed, Fly Nordic had become Norwegian and a Google Earth search for the address where Clarion Sign is located today shows a mound of dirt, rather than the Nordic region’s most modern hotel.
Janchrister Egnefors from Amadeus opened the bulging schedule by drawing a parallel to Darwin’s survival of the fittest theory. Those who survive, according to Darwin, are not those who are fastest, strongest or shout the loudest, but those who are best suited to adapt to change. And with that, the stage was polished and set for the invited speakers, who from different angles gave their views on the changes the travel industry is facing.
The industry’s challenges
By way of introduction, we were given reflections on future challenges from the various corners of the industry, and all had the GDS as a common denominator. IF Casualty Insurance’s Ulf Stenvard from the customer side, LCC’s representative Lars Näslund from Norwegian, Dan Håkansson from Amex in the business travel agencies’ uniform and Helene Sommerfeld/Britt Johanssen from Air France/KLM all had different angles of approach. Travel Beyond’s founder Helena Andrén spoke about how the GDS can be of great use even for a service-driven intermediary of individually planned premium trips.
Joakim Karlén from SBTA and Anne-Grete Lindberg from Danish DBTA then observed that they recognised themselves in the panel’s discussion and were in agreement that the challenges facing the travel industry are largely the same in the Nordic region as in the rest of Europe, in regard to areas such as safety/security, cost-control and the environment.
More frenzy than worry in the crystal ball
Even before Jan Carlzon brought us “moments of truth” with his book twenty years ago, he was known as “SAS Janne,” an epithet that he still wears with pride. Today, he is “Företagarna-Janne,” but still a skilled motivator through and through. There were few who weren’t eager to get started with their own changes after Jan’s speech. An important prerequisite for success, Jan maintains, is constantly being perceptive to what the market wants and adapting business activities accordingly. While Jan brought us a few flashbacks, Johanna Danielsson from Kairos Future did what her company does best – predict the future.
On assignment from Amadeus, Kairos identified and compiled important issues in the near future for the travel industry. Emerging from beneath the cover of a report entitled “Amadeus Trend Outlook 2008” is a trend analysis, which Johanna summarised into two “worries” – recession and climate – and four “frenzies” – the environment, the rising acceptance of virtual technology, the hunt for authenticity and the new perspective of time. And speaking of frenzies, this crystal-gazing certainly inspired some frenzied note-taking in the audience. We will undoubtedly be given cause to return to Amadeus Trend Outlook again.
Green travel
That the environmental issue is a hot topic is probably the greatest understatement of the day. Environmentally-conscious travel or “Green Travel” will inevitably be an issue that affects everyone’s weekday in the future. Catherine Karagianni gave us a picture of how Telia Sonera has already come far with its efforts to reduce energy use and environmental impact with measures such as reducing “unnecessary travel” through better planning.
Many headlines have mentioned how a threatened environment is also a threat to the travel industry. After Niels-Eirik Nertun from SAS gave his views on this subject, however, most agreed to instead look optimistically toward the business opportunities offered by an increased and common concern for the environment.
No Update would be complete without a reminder that no industry, whether mobile telephony or travel, would be an industry at all without customers. Sales and successful business ventures are not about coaxing customers to buy, but instead about constantly learning to sell what customers want and surprising them with what they didn’t yet know they wanted. The participants in the concluding debate, Stephan Ekeberg from Travelstart, Erik Hörnfeldt from 3, Magnus Gidlöf from Swedbank and Peter Majanen from Quattroporte, gave us that reminder.
Janchrister rounded off the day with a big thank you from Amadeus to the day’s participants, who all received high marks. As did the concluding dinner…
