I NEWS IEDITORIALRichard
I NEWS IEDITORIALRichard BarnesEditor-in-Chief,ITB Asia NewsTech to the rescueAs travel and tourism experience thetoughest crisis in their history, all cards areon the table when it comes to staying aheadof what will be an ever increasingly toughand competitive pack when the big machinegets back up and running.Numerous are the ways in which businessesare learning to survive the storm and set sailstowards better climes. One of the keys isthe savvy utilisation of technology to honeefficiency to the Nth degree.With Travel Tech Asia debuting inSingapore, co-located with ITB Asia 2020Virtual and MICE Show Asia, this is now the“Premier Travel Tech Show” in Asia. Here, thelatest technologies, emerging trends, leadingtravel brands and innovative start-ups are allat one place to create the new possibilities oftravel. At the same time, the Hotel Revenue& Distribution Summit also brings togetherkey industry players - including top, midsizeand emerging hotels, resorts and otheraccommodations - to share thoughtprovokingideas, solutions and innovationsfor hotel revenue management anddistribution in Asia. Topics include: Howhotels and suppliers are changing the gamefor everyone; Hotel 2.0: What will the hotel ofthe future be like?... and - Coopetition: Directbooking & working with OTAs.These are integral, essential elements inthe success recipe for travel and tourismplayers today. We recommend not missinga moment!ITB ASIA NEWS is a CLEVERDIS Publication.65 av. Jules Cantini - Tour Méditerranée,13006 Marseille, France• Tel: + 33 442 77 46 00• SAS capitalised at €155,750 • VAT FR 95413604471• RCS Marseille 413 604 471 • info@cleverdis.com• www.cleverdis.com.• info@itb-asia-news.com• www.itb-asia-news.com• Publisher: Jean-François Pieri• Project Manager: Bettina Badon• Editor-in-chief: Richard Barnes• Editorial team: Luc Citrinot• Art Director: Hélène Beunat• With the participation of: Benjamin Klene,Huidi Wu>>> To contact them: first name.last name@itb-asia-news.comCover: © American Express Global Business Travel (GBT)© CLEVERDIS 2020 - Registration of Copyright october 2020. Informationpresented in this publication is purely indicative in order to illustrate subjectscontained therein. No guarantee can be given as to the accuracy of data orcontent at time of printing and thus the latter should not be used for professionalor commercial ends. While all efforts have been made as to accuracy andpertinence of content and data contained in this publication, CLEVERDIS may inno case be held responsible for the consequences, whatever their nature maybe, that may result from the interpretation of this data or content, or any eventualerrors therein. Any reproduction of the content of this publication, even partial,by any means whatsoever, is strictly prohibited without the prior autorisation ofthe publisher. Any copy, whether by photography, photography film, magnetictape, disc or other means constitutes a forgery, liable to punishment underFrench law according to the legislation of 11 th March 1957 covering copyright.All brands cited in this publication are registered trade marks and/or belong tocompanies which are their respective proprietors. The publishers and editorialstaff decline all responsibility as to opinions formulated in this publication bythose interviewed or cited therein. Their opinions are entirely their own, andare included with the understanding that they contain, to our knowledge, nomalicious intent. The inclusion of all texts, photographs and other documentssupplied by those included in this publication imply the acceptance by theirauthors of their free publication therein. Documents and photographs will not bereturned. It should be understood that this publication contains forward-lookingstatements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. All statementsother than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemedforward-looking statements. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions includeassumptions relating to the timing of the recorded date. If any of these risks oruncertainties materialises or any of these assumptions proves incorrect, actualresults could differ materially from the expectations outlined in these statements.Cleverdis assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forwardlookingstatements during the period of publication. Photo Credits and Copyright:All Rights Reserved.Today'sby KatrinaLeungHighlightsTravelling … and leading… in the new normalToday’s list of conferences is so rich,it’s impossible to cover everything ina few sentences. For this reason, I’vedecided to really spotlight our threemain keynotes this morning, which willbe setting the stage for another highlyproductive day at ITB Asia 2020.The first is Travelling in the New Normal, withAxel Hefer, Managing Director & CEO, trivago.The WHO is warning that it could take up tofive years before the pandemic is truly undercontrol, and the virus may never go away. Thissession will explore how it’s like to travel – anddo business in travel – in the new normal.The second is entitled “Leadership in Timesof Crisis” – with Deep Kalra, Founder & GroupExecutive Chairman, MakeMyTrip, hosted byPhilip C. Wolf, Founder, PhoCusWright, Mentor& Serial Board Director. Enduring a crisis of thismagnitude calls for leaders to demonstrate visibledecisiveness, to proactively address humanaspects of the crisis, reflect optimistic yetrealistic outlook – while taking decisions in theKatrina LeungManaging Directorof Messe Berlin (Singapore),the organiser of ITB Asiabest interest of every stakeholder. Companiesand leaders have to reset for growth beyond theCOVID-19 crisis and deal with the multitudeof challenges while continuing to inspire andmotivate.The third keynote today is entitled, “TheExperience Starts Online: Attracting TravellersWith Memorable and Easy to Book Tours andActivities” with Ben Drew, President, Viator,Kristin Dorsett, VP of Supply, Viator, and ShiyiTay, Manager, Business Planning, Tour EastGroup. Join us for this keynote as we rediscoverand modernise our view on what makes atour or activity truly awesome – easy to book,expectation-exceeding and memorable. Sharingkey traveller insights from the past year andlooking towards the future, we’ll share actionsyou can take – and operator examples – to reinvigorateyour experiences for the new travellerjourney.It goes without saying that the list of C-Suitetalks today is also mind boggling. Please takethe time to consult the programme and take inas many as you can!2 ITB ASIA NEWS • THURSDAY 22 OCTOBER 2020www.itb-asia-news.com
I EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW IAmEx launches Travel Vitalsto help travel managersand travellers in turbulent timesExclusive Interview: Joanne Sully - Vice President and GeneralManager - American Express Global Business Travel (GBT), Asia PacificAmEx GBT has been working hard in APAC to counter theeffects of the Covid-19 situation. We asked Joanne Sully, VicePresident and General Manager for American Express GlobalBusiness Travel (GBT), Asia Pacific, how the organisation hasbeen helping its clients and partners at this time.When the world went intolockdown back in March, our firstresponse was to mobilise ourincident management responseteam and implement a businesscontinuity plan. In these early days,our travel counsellors around theworld repatriated more than 35,000passengers and we processedmore than 100,000 refunds.Our teams went all out to locatetravellers, supply travel managerswith reports and analytics and getpeople home to their loved ones.We were an essential partner insupporting companies to fulfil theirduty of care obligations.WE ARE ARMINGTRAVEL MANAGERSAND TRAVELLERSALIKE, ANDMAKING SURETHEY HAVE "KNOWBEFORE YOU GO"INFORMATION ATTHEIR FINGERTIPSTraveller confidence though hasbeen shaken. Gaining this back isessential to get the world movingagain.Now, we are arming travelmanagers and travellers alike,and making sure they have "knowbefore you go" information at theirfingertips. We’ve launched a newtool called Travel Vitals whichaggregates information fromhundreds of sources to providethe essential Covid-19 informationa traveller needs, all in one place.We can help clients pinpoint andcommunicate with travellers in acrisis by using GPS and recentcredit card data combined withitinerary information. In everydaytravel, we have numerous channelsfor travellers and travel managers,such as in-app messaging, and livewebchat with travel counsellors, aswell as phone, SMS and email.Managing forward-lookingtraveller data is also critical: In thisvein, we’ve helped thousands ofclients look at forward bookingsby proactively pulling data,identifying and communicatingwith clients and employees thatneeded support.What sectors are you seeingemerging at this point and whatare the most challenging?Our data tells us domestic travel isreturning more quickly and morestrongly than international travel,primarily because there are lessrestrictions from governments.Around the world, economies havebeen severely impacted by thelack of travel. Perhaps the biggestchallenge we have is restriction,rather than demand. And wecan’t really gain confidencein travel without governmentslooking to open-up borders againinternationally.We can see some proactive policyin places like Singapore with theestablishment of Safe Travel Passschemes with countries includingChina, Malaysia and New Zealand.But for business travel to play avital role in restarting the globaleconomy, we need to see moregovernments embrace proactivepolicies. Only then can we get theworld moving again.Joanne SullyVice President and General Manager- American Express Global BusinessTravel (GBT), Asia PacificWhat were the key messages inyour presentation at ITB Asia 2020Virtual ?Building traveller confidence andhow TMCs partner with companiesand travel managers to do this isthe key message for our session.This is a defining moment for TMCsand we are uniquely positioned tobuild trust back in business travel.We are well placed to partnerwith our clients, travellers andtheir companies in this new era oftravelWatch Joanne's C-Suite Talk“What today's Corporate Travellers wantand how Companies can adapt” on replay@ itb-community.comITB ASIA NEWS • THURSDAY 22 OCTOBER 2020 3
