In today’s digital world and always-on business climate there’s more pressure to be innovative than ever before. You very likely have been pressured to be innovative in your work environment.
But do we even really know what it means to be innovative? And what form does innovation take between you and your TMC?
Unsurprisingly, a 2014 survey of literature on innovation found over 40 definitions for the word.
With so much noise it’s easy for the concept’s true intention to be lost and one has to wonder if the focus is being applied where it should.
Todays’ definition of innovation is a “new idea, creative thoughts, new imaginations in form of device or method”. It’s often also viewed as “the application of better solutions that meet new requirements, unarticulated needs, or existing market needs”.
If you’ve ever purchased anything online, you may have had the same expectations of efficiency for your travel purchases as you would for your snazzy new noise-cancelling headphones or latest pair of shoes. Maybe you have thought that business trip to India would have been a lot easier if your TMC had recommended a good restaurant close to your hotel. And what if you could pay for your next bleisure trip with Bitcoin?
ASATA identifies the need for innovation as pivotal to the sustainability of the travel industry.
And that is why the association hosted its inaugural Innovation Summit on 14 March at The Forum in Bryanston. Travel industry leaders from across the business travel space and their suppliers met to debate, discuss and explore the most significant disruptors in the industry. The future of travel payments, the changing customer journey, and transformation in travel content distribution were hot topics at the event.
Because innovation is not just about fixing problems, but about driving the conversations which lead to “meeting new requirements, unarticulated needs, or existing market needs” to ultimately best serve the heart of the travel business, you, the traveller.