If GBTA 2016 was an international sporting
event, the big winners from the Denver conference were business travellers
themselves.
As we walked the show floor of GBTA 2016,
and attended the education sessions, we were struck by how spot-on this year’s
show theme of ‘balance’ was. Balancing business travelers’ needs for familiar
consumer-like booking experiences, with their companies’ needs to manage cost
and ensure traveler safety was clearly a top concern. This year, companies were
focusing on technology and employee traveler satisfaction as their key success
metrics.
Balancing duty of care and traveler
behavior
Given recent world events, it’s no surprise
that duty of care was a major concern at this year’s conference. Show
participants in particular wanted to know, “Will sharing economy services
provide adequate safety measures and duty of care for my travelers?”
Regardless of your opinion on the sharing
economy, one thing is clear; it is still a grey area that many companies have
not yet addressed in their travel policies.
In the “How Do You Measure Up?” education session, most of the audience
of travel managers – yes, travel managers – did not even know if sharing economy
services were covered by their company travel policy.
With travel management companies (TMCs)
starting to provide access to sharing economy services, the importance for
companies to set a policy, and communicate it clearly, is increasingly evident.
On the road, business travelers don’t check their company policy before making
decisions that may ultimately hinder a travel manger’s ability to help in a
crisis. To get ahead of these trends, travel managers need to define what
services are covered in their policies, and update their TMC apps and website booking
tools before their travelers book.
When it comes to technology, the industry
still has not stuck its landing.
While the travel industry is making strides
in technology, the overall consensus is that the corporate travel space has a
way to go before its technology catches up with leisure offerings.
Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Expedia, Inc.,
said “I do think there will be consolidation in the corporate travel space
because some of these companies don’t have the scale to invest in technology…
there’s going to be a lot of consolidation in this industry; financing is cheap
and it’s driving acquisitions activity.”
Increased investment in technology is good
news for travel managers battling leakage from their business travelers using
consumer websites. Corporate solutions that aren’t user-friendly don’t work. By
offering travelers access to familiar, consumer-like experiences, travel
managers are more likely to drive natural adoption and compliance in their
programs.
Should the gold medal go to companies with
top cost savings or most satisfied travelers?
For years, most companies’ procurement
departments had goals of reducing cost. However, it’s clear that the industry
is now trying to find ways to balance costs with business traveler and employee
satisfaction.
Cost reduction is still going strong as
illustrated by innovations announced at GBTA 2016. One of which included GLP
Designation Group’s value estimator tool, designed to quantify the value of
managed travel. Egencia released its Travel Intelligence home page, which
provides a summary overview of a customer’s travel program. Taking a look
beyond the data to provide actionable insights was a burgeoning theme at this
year’s show.
It is clear that wanting employee
satisfaction is now a necessity. As United’s CEO Oscar Munoz said “The airline
industry has made travel hell for business travelers. We need to do better to
improve the air travel experience.”
During the Act Global, Think Local
education session, Will Tate from Goldspring Consulting noted that “if travel
managers want travelers to follow policies they need to prioritize service over
reasonable costs.”
TMCs talked candidly about their plans to
improve the customer experience, whether through mobile apps, data sciences and
refreshing their duty of care services. If the industry can deliver on these
promises, it will be a big win for business travelers.
There Are Still Some Hurdles to Jump
The corporate travel industry is striving
to catch up with its leisure counterparts, and we are encouraged by the strides
we saw at this year’s GBTA event. The industry continues to evolve to meet the
needs of both leisure and business travelers.
While TMC’s haven’t scored a “perfect 10”
yet, we’re definitely getting closer.