Travelogix Presents…Daniel Price
For our 10th Travelogix Presents interview, we grab a few minutes with industry friend, ground transportation expert and CEO and Co-Founder of Jyrney, Daniel Price.
“I want to see ground transport take its place next to air, hotel and car hire as an important and respected piece of the travel jigsaw. We are only at the start, but it is going to be an exciting Jyrney!”
Daniel is someone who deeply cares about mobility within the travel industry, specifically, ground transportation.
With previous roles for the likes Enterprise, Arval, Avis and Sixt, Daniel then moved onto ground transport aggregator, Cabfind in 2016.
It was here where he “saw an opportunity to consolidate the highly fragmented ground transport supply chain into an automated mobility solution for TMCs and corporates.”
In 2020, he Co-Founded Jyrney; the award-winning mobility solution provider to the business travel space.
The start of (a) Jyrney
After building the platform and supply chain for almost two years, Jyrney has been well-received in the travel industry since its inception.
Dan tells me, “Over the last 12 months, we have been recognised across several prestigious bodies in the markets we are active.
“In the taxi industry, we picked up Newcomer of the Year, from the UK’s early-stage tech competition Tech Nation, Jyrney was recognised as a regional winner in Rising Stars 4.0.
“From within the business travel industry, we won the Innovation Face-Off at the 2022 Business Travel Show and were featured in Phocuswire’s 2023 Hot Startups.”
Jyrney formed part of the well-received Tech Village at the 2022 Business Travel Show, (which Travelogix hosted alongside long-time industry friends, Midoco) so it was a joy to see Daniel waltz back to our stand with the Innovation Face Off Award in hand.
“Having the often-overlooked ground transport sector recognised in such a way demonstrated the demand for our solution,” Daniel said.
However, the biggest reward for Daniel is hearing from TMCs and travel professionals about Jyrney’s ability to answer the often-asked questions about ground transport. Daniel said, “When we hear from travel buyers, TMCs and their travel consultants that this is the solution that they have been missing, it validates everything we have worked for over the last couple of years and drives us forward with the innovation needed in this space.”
Like Travelogix, Jyrney presents technology as the enabler to a better way of doing things. For a decade now, Travelogix has been showing TMCs a new way to view and interpret their travel data.
Daniel said, “Jyrney is the technology that bridges the gap between ground transport and business travel in that it’s our goal to enable these two giant industries to talk to each other whilst improving workflows and efficiencies.”
Making up less than 3% of TMC transactions, ground transport has been sluggish to progress over the years, but it was Daniel’s mission to change this.
He said, “Supply fragmentation, lack of technology and difficulty in managing the service has held back ground transportation – making up less than 3% of TMC transactions. Jyrney addresses these issues through a fully automated and managed supply network, all available within the TMCs tech stack.”
No TMC wants a million-and-one suppliers to deal with day to day. The goal of a travel tech supplier should be centred around the word efficiency. Daniel tells me, “Jyrney can integrate directly into booking tools, mid/back office, mobile apps and GDS making it easier for the TMC and business traveller.”
See…efficiency.
He continues, “TMCs only want to complete one integration for ground transport, so it should be with a platform that can give them all the supply they need, from ride-hail to taxi and chauffeur.
Innovation, sustainability, and the road ahead for ground transport
Whilst facing some hurdles in years gone by, ground transport has made some pretty innovative leaps in the past decade. Smartphones have been central to this due to the tracking and communication piece that has enabled the traveller to travel smarter and travel safer.
Daniel said, “Technology will take ground transport from less than 3% of all TMC transactions to over 10% in the next 10 years. As TMCs transition to mobile technologies, the integration of ground transport such as ride-hail, taxi and chauffeur will drive previously unavailable in-destination spend, and increase the stickiness of the TMC app.
“Ground transport is approaching a generational shift as we move closer to the introduction of autonomous vehicles. While still some years away, this technology has the potential to shake up the business travel industry.”
We have already seen partnerships form and steps made in this area. In the early development stage, The Urban Collëctif was launched in 2020 and sees French heavyweights Citroën, Accor and JCDecaux join forces for an autonomous, and perhaps ambitious, approach to inner-city mobility.
To realise this approach, however, there will need to be a significant investment and ‘buy-in’ from traditional car manufacturers with huge changes to city infrastructure needed.
How will ground transport tread lightly in the business travel space, and with sustainability in mind, how do the green credentials stack up for this vertical? Daniel said, “As many taxi drivers own their own vehicles, it will take some time before the whole market adopts electric mobility.
“This is due to the cost of acquisition, and the lack of charging infrastructure. Government legislation will speed up adoption by phasing out-licensing ground transport vehicles that are not electric vehicles (EVs).”
To help end the sale of new petrol, diesel petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030, March 2022 saw the UK Government set out their vision on electric mobility with their Electric Vehicle Infrastructure strategy.
As part of this strategy, the UK Government also announced it will install 6,000 superfast charge points across motorways by 2035. In addition, there will be 300,000 public charge points by 2030 which comes in at a cost of £500 million with the end goal being that all new cars and vans will release zero emissions by 2035.
In November 2022, the ZEV (Zero Emissions Vehicle) Mandate for the UK was released which is aimed at reducing the emissions impact that ground transport has on our planet.
And London seems to be playing its part in an effort to provide a greener strategy around inner-city mobility. Since the start of 2020, Transport for London (TFL) reported, all private hire vehicles under 18 months old and licensed for the first time in London needed to be zero-emission-capable. (Essentially, this includes, pure electric vehicles or EVs, hydrogen vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles with a zero-emission mode).
This means that 25% of private hire vehicles operating in Greater London are now zero-emission-capable, including 6,000 black cabs.
But, in the lead-up to these industry-shaping changes, data will continue to be utilised to offer details of the lowest emitting mobility options. Daniel said, “Until the industry gets to the point where all vehicles are electric, we need to use vehicle data to ensure we lower emissions.
Data – now we’re talking…
The trends lying in wait for 2023.
At Travelogix, we have the raw data to look ahead at the trends and behaviours that will shape the travel industry in 2023.
But what of the ground transport vertical? Daniel believes that “a new travel segment will emerge; the movement of work-from-home employees that no longer need to attend the office every day but need shorter, less than 50-mile trips to get to meetings.”
He continues, “This will be a new segment for business travel, and one that TMCs are not yet geared up to serve; they do not have the technology, supply chain or experience.
“This will be a growing market that is attractive to any company involved in moving people including car rental, leasing and automotive companies.
“Five years from now, we don’t want to look back and realise we missed the opportunity to own a significant share of this market. To be ready for the changes, travel needs to wrap its arms around mobility.”
Daniel thinks the “travel industry will converge further” within the business travel ecosystem.
He adds, “Already a quarter of travel buyers have some responsibility for fleet purchasing, and that number will continue to grow. I see the role itself being rebranded to something like a mobility manager.
“In the last few years, we have seen companies in the fleet sector acquiring travel booking platforms. This trend will accelerate, increasing the number of places where a travel manager, or maybe even a mobility manager, can access the content they need.”
Something that we value here at Travelogix is the collaborative nature of the business travel space. We have many industry friends and partners from around the globe, that not only utilise our products and platforms but are also flag bearers for the brand.
Being a youthful company in this space, Daniel’s had a similar experience. He said, “I like how welcoming the industry is.
“As a new business, we have attended many conferences, events and exhibitions in the last 12 months and every person I have met, no matter the country or where they sit within the travel ecosystem, has been unbelievably welcoming and supportive.”
That said, we asked Daniel what he thinks needs to change regarding the promotion or forward momentum provided to start-ups like Jyrney.
He said, “We have an opportunity in the world of business travel to learn from the mobility industry when it comes to promoting innovation and startup businesses.
“At the large mobility events, they have a startup village with 200+ startups present. They’re offered free attendance and a small 1m booth at the show.
“Compare this to the more generic business travel events where a simple stand at the back of the hall costs thousands of pounds.
“As an industry, we have the opportunity to define our future. If we are to foster true and tangible innovation from anyone outside of the big players within business travel, then we need to offer more support to forward-thinking start-ups.”