Do business travellers need social networks?

The success of services such as Facebook and Twitter show how social networking has entered the mainstream. Business sites have enjoyed a lower profile, apart from the business networking site LinkedIn, which is enjoying a boost as people made redundant because of the credit crunch tap their contacts for new jobs.
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Two that have generally remained under the radar so far are aimed at regular travellers, such as those going on business.

Dopplr started off as an invitation-only site for travellers from companies considered cool by the founders, such as Apple, Nokia and McKinsey.

Marko Ahtisaari, the son of the Finnish ex-president, was among the early investors while Tyler Brûlé, the founder of Wallpaper and Monocle, added his financial support last year.

Dopplr is a repository for a person’s travel details, both past and future, which can be shared by other people in their network. Anyone planning a trip sends Dopplr an e-mail or “tweet” with the details and it automatically populates that person’s profile.

For business travellers, a useful feature is being able to see whether their path crosses that of someone they need to catch up with for a meeting.

One of the most popular features is the personal annual report, sent out at the end of each year, which shows how far a person has travelled, their carbon footprint and the people they intersected with most during the year. Here is what Barack Obama’s personal account would have looked like for 2008, based on publicly available data.

Dopplr also features city pages with recommendations from other Dopplr users for restaurants and places to stay. Ahtisaari says: “Think of it as the pop charts of the most frequent and smartest travellers in the world.”

The company is planning a paid-for professional account with access to a wider range of services. “I feel people are ready to pay,” he says.

TripIt, meanwhile, is more of an all-purpose travel organiser. The site works using the confirmation e-mails a traveller receives from airlines, hotels and travel agencies - it supports more than 350 types from most major travel companies.

The information is forwarded to a dedicated e-mail address and the traveller’s itinerary is populated with details including flight times and confirmation numbers. It then synchronises the itinerary with the user’s calendar software, such as Outlook.

Gregg Brockway, TripIt’s chief executive, says the service is principally used by business travellers. “Business travellers are focused on making travel easy - finding their confirmation code, the gate they are at or the terminal they are in.”

The company has recently opened up its technology to third parties, and developers have already written expense management programs and Facebook applications that use its information.

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BY Mark Frary
Source：TIMES ONLINE

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