UNIGLOBE Belux establishes a cutting-edge travel tech stack for its member agencies. Full steam ahead - Travel Tech Manager Eva Juchtmans is driving this ambitious project with outstanding passion and engagement.
Eva – looking at your systems diagram, I find Atriis, Umbrella and your mid-office at the heart of your TMC operations. How do they work together?
We consider the traveller’s profile to be at the center of it all. It needs to be seamlessly connected to the agent tool, OBE, reporting and mid-/backoffice processes.
How far into the project are you?
Umbrella’s profile solution is up and running. UBI – which stands for UNIGLOBE Booking Intelligence – is our agent tool and OBE powered by Atriis – is already in use internally for our offline customers. We will have a big release for all UNIGLOBE Belux online corporate customers in January 2020. The next project phase will focus on our mid-office. We are currently evaluating our options and the compatibility with Umbrella and UBI/Atriis is of course essential.
What will be the main benefits for agencies once the project is fully implemented?
Agencies will have the best possible content available – and full control over it. Their processes will be widely automated. In short – UNIGLOBE’s partner agencies will be highly competitive and fit for the future.
What is the biggest challenge on the way?
It’s definitely change management, which requires serious commitment by agency owners and decision makers. Real change happens in the mind – and, you know, it takes time to change the mind.
Could you please describe the relationship between UNIGLOBE Belux and its partner agencies? How are decisions taken and coordinated among the members?
UNIGLOBE Belux is a franchise organization under the umbrella of the global UNIGLOBE Partners network. Our headquarters in Mechelen drives marketing, supplier relations, technology and provides operational help when needed.
Where did you grow up and where do you live now? What do you like best about that place?
I was born and raised and still live in the beautiful city of Leuven. It’s cozy, green, open minded – and the home of a gigantic beer company, Stella Artois. As much as I love travelling, I just wouldn’t want to live anywhere else but in Leuven.
What is your most remarkable personal travel experience?
This is, without a doubt, Pakistan. This country has so much beauty and history to offer, but obviously many things are not taken care of properly. Among my favourite areas is Bahawalpur in the Punjab region.
Eva, thank you so much for sharing this!