The SME business travel market is heating up – so, how to win it?

The Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME) segment of business travel is a bright-spot in the industry as it recovers more rapidly than the large corporate segment. As a result, the SME is a top priority for many airlines, hotels, TMCs and other suppliers. Qantas Group CEO, Alan Joyce, told CAPA Live in April that a ‘battle royale’ is occurring for the SME market between Jetstar, Virgin and Rex – and one that he sees continuing throughout the recovery phase. “Small businesses need to travel and need to make the contact, so it's less subject to being disrupted by video conferencing”, Mr Joyce said.

Historically the SME market has been largely unmanaged, price-sensitive (and dis-loyal) and highly fragmented. So it’s been an elusive target, hard to capture and difficult to retain, requiring investment in technology, systems and people. Do these features still hold in the pandemic era – and will loyalty, insurance and duty of care rise as features of the drive to success in the SME travel market?

Speakers:

• TTG Asia, Senior Correspondent, Caroline Boey 
• Belgium Association of Travel Management (BATM), President, Pascal Struyve 
• Kam Pin Industrial, Managing Director, Danny Lau 
• Small Enterprise Association of Australia and New Zealand (SEAANZ), Chair, Dr Tui McKeown