How Business Travel Counsellors use technology to create personalised experiences for clients

Travel Counsellors have a unique competitive advantage in the form of our in-house booking system, Phenix. Built by our 80-strong tech team, Phenix is updated every 3 weeks to ensure it is always able to meet the demands of Travel Counsellors across the globe. Working in collaboration with Business and Leisure Travel Counsellors, the tech team ensure that Phenix provides Travel Counsellors with the features needed to operate an efficient business, without the snags and glitches they don’t.

This enables Business Travel Counsellors to provide a personalised service to their clients. With invoicing, booking documentation and Management Information reports tailored to each individual client, our Business Travel Counsellors can ensure their clients get everything they require without unnecessary complications. In other words, the Business Travel Counsellor is in control and uses tech to their advantage, avoiding any confusion or conflict with their client.

Business Travel Counsellors, Tim Fitzgerald, said: “Our systems enable us as Travel Counsellors to focus on our customers and their requirements. Continuous development and investment in our tech produce ever-more intuitive and efficient systems, which in turn means our days can be spent more productively. When incidents do occur, we know that the Technology team and other support teams will respond quickly, leaving us to get on with looking after our clients.”

Technology is a key investment area for Travel Counsellors, with over R108 million being spent annually; that’s over R54,000 per Travel Counsellor. In recognition of our focus on technology, we have been shortlisted in Travolution’s Tech Team of the Year 2018 category. However, we are acutely focused on utilising technology to strengthen relationships between people, rather than replacing them.

Technology Project Manager, Sam Powell, said: “We have designed the invoicing process to be flexible enough to meet the needs of the fast-paced corporate market whilst maintaining core elements that are rigid enough to adhere to the obvious financial expectations. As a company we are extremely passionate about ensuring any technology we deliver is continually refined by suggestions from Travel Counsellors and clients. We work hard to give every individual the tools to feedback freely to our Development Team.”