Responsibility of buying business travel has shifted and so too has the culture of travel management. Economic optimism changes our approach to business travel management. The stage is set for the renaissance of the specialist travel manager.
LONDON – In the latest edition of The Wire UK, AirPlus managing director Caroline Haywood and Roger Eccleston, head of Strategic projects, talk through the changing responsibilities of travel management and what different skills sets bring to the party.
“The rise of centralised procurement in travel management was more than just a functional reorganisation” says Haywood. “The focus, emphasis and philosophy of corporate travel management changed too. With finance, procurement and treasury in the driving seat, concerns about productivity, value and fiscal risk have become top priority”.
With the business travel market strengthening and optimism returning there is no longer as high a corporate priority to reduce trip numbers and lower standards of travel as was seen in the period since 2008.
Roger Eccleston comments “Procurement tries to commoditise everything it touches but it is in the nature of travel, and the traveller, to resist. Travel is too perishable for full commoditisation – empty seats on departure are gone forever. Look at the number of variables to consider; what use is a cheap hotel if it’s on wrong side of town or poorly supported by local services? There are so many factors – weather, quality, location, environment – all working in real-time to make or break the traveller’s experience.”
With travel now treated as just one procurement category among many, companies have recognised that they need help to deliver a refined service to their travelling staff. Haywood suggests that the stage is set for the renaissance of the specialist travel manager; “Marketing skills are an increasingly important part of the armoury. Getting maximum savings from a travel policy means coaxing maximum compliance from staff. And that needs internal communication skills to sell the benefits to executives and employees alike.”
Travel managers are faced with a more potentially baffling and fragmented array of service providers, technology options, strategic advisers and internal stakeholders than ever before. Cost pressures have never been greater, but nor have the informed expectations of travellers been higher or the duty-of-care responsibilities more onerous. Putting travellers’ needs back at the heart of cost-conscious procurement could provide the answer.
Tatiana is the news coordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes monitoring the hundreds of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skimming the most important according to our strategy.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
