Disruptions have characterized the travel industry over the past year. The pandemic caused $492 billion in cumulative losses for the U.S. travel economy from March 2020 through the end of the year, according to the U.S. Travel Association. Analysis from Tourism Economics from January 2021 showed that international and business travel experience the largest declines, as international travel expenditures fell 76% compared to 34% for domestic travel, and business travel expenditures fell 70%, compared to 27% for leisure travel.
In addition to these longer-term losses, a winter storm the week of February 15 caused 3,800 flights to be cancelled nationwide.
Despite these losses, members of the travel industry have reason to feel optimistic about travel’s comeback. According to the Global Business Travel Association’s annual BTI™ outlook, a 21% increase in business travel spending is projected in 2021, and a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels is expected by 2025. These potential gains show that this is a great time for airlines to prepare not only for a return to normal, but to set themselves up for even greater success in the future.
Here are five ways TA Connections’ unique expertise and innovative tools can help your team come back stronger this year.
1. Contactless vouchers to increase COVID compliance
TA Connections offers paperless voucher technology so that passengers and agents can avoid frustrating lines and wait times. Our platform integrates seamlessly with airline passenger service systems to issue electronic vouchers, which travelers can instantly redeem from their own device to book hotel rooms and access meal vouchers.
2. Intelligent Passenger Management (IPM)
Provide emergency relief and IROP solutions to distressed passengers with missed connections, delays and flight cancellations. Our full suite of disrupted passenger services, including automated distribution of hotel accommodation and digital meal vouchers, makes travel disruptions seamless.
3. Intelligent Crew Logistics Management (ICLM)
TA Connections’ AI-powered booking applications, intelligent learning algorithms, customizable rules engines, and analytics make travel management easier and less expensive. Our end-to-end solutions and data processing automate over 97% of crew logistics management processes.
4. Access to a global hotel network and inventory
The TA Connections network provides the industry’s first aggregated application interface of global hotel content and inventory, with discounted rates. Clients can take advantage of our purchasing power of over 34 million hotel rooms booked to leverage time, control, and rate savings.
5. Unparalleled Support
TA Connections members benefit from the stability and support of a large and growing enterprise that is focused on investing in your business. Our recent merge expanded our services and expertise, and we continue to give our members access to 24/7 global support, 365 days a year.
Contact our team to learn more about our full suite of disrupted passenger services, crew accommodation capabilities, proprietary hotel database, advanced technology, and dedicated global airline support to reduce the impact of travel disruptions.