The idea that business travel has changed forever has become the under-statement of the year among Travel Managers and category owners. Clients and prospects typically just skip the obvious observation and get to the punch line and ask: “So what happens now?” The same basic questions keep popping up so in the interest of efficiency […]
While employees are eager to get back on the road this summer and return to their road warrior lifestyles, leaving the impact of 2020 behind, there’s one facet of travel the past year brought to the forefront: attention to risk. If your company doesn’t have a travel risk management solution in place, now is the […]
Travel and expenses are not always managed centrally together, but nonetheless, travel and expenses always go hand-in-hand—and accordingly, when choosing an expense management solution, your travel manager should be a key player in the conversation. Whether or not your intent is to integrate travel and expense as a function internally, understanding travel’s needs and how […]
Strange Bedfellows I have been aggregating corporate travel survey data now for close to 20 years. Primarily among multi-national organizations considered “mid to large market”, our client base covers virtually all industries with varying corporate cultures. A central goal conducting these surveys is to balance senior management expectations in terms of the impact of policy […]
It seems like every year we reminisce about how much the industry has changed over the past year. 2020 was no different but of course under much different circumstances. In spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought the corporate travel industry to its knees, we saw record investment in start-ups, lots of innovation from traditional […]
If your company is asking “What are the best corporate travel software solutions in 2021?” – you are starting out with the wrong question. No corporate travel software solution is one-size-fits-all for companies, however much marketing would like to persuade you otherwise. Think in terms of vehicles: a Ferrari might be a best-in-class car, but […]
Corporate and leisure travelers may be on the same flight, but in many ways, they have always existed in separate, orbiting travel worlds. Purpose of travel drives the travel experience, both in terms of the choices made by the traveler and the airline alike, for example, a corporate traveler may not purchase auxiliary items like […]
Among the many descriptions that could be applied to 2020, it is, undeniably, a very peculiar year for hotel sourcing. With business travel down, hotel rates fluctuating, and the uncertainties ahead in 2021, both the corporate and hotel sides of the annual hotel RFP process face myriad questions and challenges without precedent—but 2021 hotel sourcing, […]
Key to every successful travel policy is that it reflect the reality of your company. Often, when determining travel policy, a critical element is company culture: a hard-line policy on not reimbursing bookings made outside your designated travel management company might be successful at combatting leakage, but it is often ill-suited to a company’s culture […]
How can I maintain visibility into my travel program if I let my employees book direct with suppliers? There’s one word that haunts, and potentially hurts, every managed travel program: “leakage.” Direct bookings, made by employees with the vendors, whether on an airline website, a third-party option like Expedia, or walking right up to a […]