Travel Tech Show 2022: We are the Tech Village
Next up in our interview series, we have Daniel Price, CEO at the enablers of total mobility, Jyrney.
Finding someone who is more passionate about all things ground transport would be tough.
Jyrney adopts an integrated approach when getting from point A to point B. They care deeply about passenger health and wellbeing whilst fully appreciating the role technology plays in driving our industry to innovative new heights.
We are over the moon to welcome Jyrney to our Tech Village, Stand L40.
Question – Could you introduce yourself, and outline your career to date and the position you hold currently?
Daniel Price: “Hi, I’m Daniel and I’ve spent the last 20 years working in mobility. Most of the early part of my career was spent in car rental where I led sales teams for Sixt and delivered propositions across Europe for Avis Budget Group.
“Since 2016, I have been focused on ground transport, here I took managed taxi aggregator Cabfind into the Business Travel market moving hundreds of thousands of business travellers each year.
“Across mobility, I have experienced car hire, car leasing, car share, taxi, chauffeur and coach, basically if it has four wheels (or even six) I have operated, marketed and sold it to business travel.
“As Co-founder and CEO at Jyrney I have brought together a world-class team of mobility and tech specialists to solve the problems that historically prevented ground transport from playing a key role in business travel.”
Question – How has 2022 been for Jyrney?
DP: “2022 has been an amazing year for the business. This year we launched our platform into the travel market and have received an amazing response.
“We have signed several TMCs to our platform in just a couple of short months, and we look forward to working with many more.
“We were selected by The Advantage Travel Partnership to deliver the Advantage Mobility Hub, a platform that integrates Advantage’s ground transport partners onto an easy-to-use platform. The Mobility Hub enables Advantage members to keep all bookings and data in one place, regardless of which transport provider is utilised.
“We are now working with OBTs and mid/back-Office providers to ensure the data is readily available within a TMCs tech stack.
“Outside of travel, Jyrney was recognized by the UK’s early-stage tech platform Tech National as one of the leading 60 start-ups in the UK. Jyrney was the only travel tech business to feature in their Rising Stars 4.0 competition.”
Question – Now that the industry seems to be heading in a more positive direction, how does it feel to be exhibiting at the TTS 2022?
DP: “This is our first year exhibiting at the TTS, in fact, it is our first customer exhibition.
“We are really excited to demonstrate our solution and how we can drive increased attachment rates and revenues to TMCs through our platform and APIs.”
Question – What are the expectations for the TTS this year?
DP: “As a start-up, it is important for us to develop our brand further within the travel industry. However, we also want to raise awareness of the importance of a fully managed ground transport programme to reduce cost and improve the duty of care for passengers.
“We have something new we want to show off, something that hasn’t been seen anywhere else, so if there are any TMCs or travel buyers looking to improve the travel options they offer to their travellers then we would love to talk with them.”
Question – What are your thoughts on our collaborative stand and why was it important for Jyrney to be part of our ‘Tech Village’?
DP: “The stand brings together some of our closest partners in travel. In working with these companies, we enable a truly connected experience for the business traveller.
“The management of data for a TMC has become an increasingly bigger part of their role and ground transport is packed full of real-time data that historically a TMC couldn’t get.
“This data includes not only pick up and drop off but journey tracking, pricing and accurate Co2 usage.
“Unfortunately, most of this valuable data is currently lost to bookings transacted outside of policy, in working with our partners on the stand we deliver to the TMC and their customer a technology stack that offers a completely integrated solution to their passengers.”
Question – What role will technology play in the recovery of the business travel industry? And specifically, what value will Jyrney bring to TMCs moving forward?
DP: “The pandemic has changed the way we work. Or more accurately, ‘where’ we work.
“This has thrown into question the role business travel plays within the work environment. Working from home has established a whole new category of travellers, one who would have previously been a commuter who now makes what was their daily commute only a few times a month.
“This traveller is likely to use ground transport for part or all of their journey. This is a new market for the TMC to capture.
“In the last 10 years, ground transport technology has advanced to the point where a completely integrated solution at both the supply and customer side can be provided to passengers. This has led to an increased demand for that technology to be available from the TMC by the travel buyer.
“This is where Jyrney’s technology can support TMCs not only to connect traditional travel journeys between home, the airport and the hotel but for newly emerging travel categories. This total market is worth over £3bn in the UK alone!”
Question – What value do you place on collaboration in the travel industry and moreover, do you feel that this will play a key role in business travel in the future?
DP: “Collaboration is at the heart of how Jyrney works. We collaborate with ground transport providers to deliver the service, we work with TMC to integrate our content into their technology providers such as Atriis, Midoco, Travelogix and Grapevine.
“Integration with both sides of the market, supply and demand providers is key to a successful ground transport programme.”
Question – Lastly, as we’re halfway through 2022 already, what are the plans for Jyrney in the short term, and of course for the second half of the year?
DP: “We have several newly signed TMC relationships that we are currently on boarding. In working with their OBT and mid/back-office technologies we offer a seamless integration that opens thousands of mobility options for their passengers.
“These integrations are important for us to ensure the TMC has the best chance to capture as many ground transport journeys as possible.”
If you want to see what integrated mobility looks like for the business travel space, please swing by and speak to Jyrney on Stand L40