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Your new corporate travel manager....

Greetings, Cafe Patrons.

Now the generation gap will truly be put to the test. As corporate travel departments and procurement managers continue to struggle with the competing interests of savvy travellers vs. corporate objectives, an entirely new way of driving compliance is about to be unleashed into the corporate travel market.

Or so says Jesse Schell, a game developer and CEO of Schell Games (clever name, that one) which is devoted to helping companies design and implement gaming style strategies. (PLUG: he’ll also be the keynote at next month’s ACTE conference in New York.)

I highly suggest reading the article highlighted above, and if you’re coming to ACTE to attend his keynote and take good notes, as although there will likely be a significant amount of scepticism surrounding this topic I have a sneaking suspicion that gaming will soon be here to stay. I know that I’m ready to explore some of these radical new ways to get business travellers to comply with corporate programs (and perhaps even have some fun doing it?)

What I also find interesting about this concept of gaming is that much like what’s happened with mobile, social media, and tablet devices, these disruptive concepts seem to find a firm foothold in the mindset of people quite quickly. As the corporate travel industry has tended to be inversely welcoming to these new trends as they gain swift popularity in the mainstream, gaming will no doubt have some pretty big initial hurdles to overcome.

The good news is that I think the blinders have come off our industry and through the constant prodding and pushing of savvy travellers along with a steady stream of travel challenges in today’s world is sending a clear message to buyers and managers of travel: embrace first, then decide. I truly believe that the days of deciding first and dealing with the change later are moving well and truly behind us.

Anyone care to take a bet on this?

EXTRA SHOT FOR THE DAY

Just as a quick example of how social media is having a tremendous impact on travel, have a read about Malaysia Airlines’ new Facebook page. Book, buy, select seats and check-in: all via Facebook. Given the incredible rise of social media’s popularity in Asia, it’s probably no surprise that the first airline to provide a nearly full-service transactional capability via Facebook is based here in the region.

So well done, Malaysia. Keep us posted on how many people actually use it.

Perhaps next they will figure out how to allow you to “poke” your seat neighbour if they fall asleep on your shoulder…

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