Explore innovative ways to enhance your business travel program. Discover the power of automation, AI, and accessible technology for efficient travel.
These cost-effective strategies for travel procurement can help leaders navigate business travel costs during times of high inflation.
Discover how travel procurement leaders can boost value in their business travel programs, achieving top-tier services at reasonable costs.
Explore how cutting-edge technologies are transforming business travel. Uncover tools that help travel managers plan, manage, and optimize corporate journeys.
At time of writing world leaders have been gathering in Egypt for the annual Conference of the Parties, UN climate change conference – COP27. And, while the event has not been short of controversy – such as reports over 600 fossil fuel lobbyists were granted access to the event – it is hoped the gathering will result in the kind of decisive action on manmade climate change which is sorely needed.
Some concepts lend themselves more easily to quantifying than others. Working out how much money is spent on travel each year is relatively easy, for example – you just add up all the receipts (if you can find them) – but other elements of the travel experience are more ephemeral.
I our previous article on the potential effects of a recession in the US economy on the world of corporate travel, we suggested that companies may be forced to save money by only sending representatives on in-person trips when it was absolutely necessary, with other meetings being conducted through virtual means.
Is the US economy in recession as of 2022? This is the question being contemplated by economists as this article is being authored.
Digital transformation was a hot button issue in travel procurement even before the COVID-19 crisis flipped over all the tables and made a mess of everything. However, now we are emerging into the post-pandemic world, the process of digital transformation is accelerating significantly.
Despite some ongoing spikes in infections, we are now hopefully past the worst days of the global COVID-19 crisis and experiencing a return to normal travel behavior.
For procurement departments, managing business travel can be a challenge—especially when budgets are tight. It can become even more challenging when the organization's business travel program has no set budget at all, or if travelers themselves don't have a budget.
Nonetheless, there are ways to keep costs down and ensure travelers still get the most out of your travel program. Even if you must manage business travel manually, you don't have to break the bank.
Here's how procurement leaders can empower travelers to make cost-appropriate decisions and use technology to keep costs low.
Businesses have a responsibility to reduce their environmental impact, and that includes reducing emissions from procurement and travel. Many companies are looking for ways to reach a zero-carbon future in these areas, and there are some key technologies and strategies they can use to make this happen.
In this article, we will explore the steps businesses can take to reach a zero-carbon future in their procurement and business travel programs. We will analyze key technologies for achieving this goal and examine what strategies companies can take now to work toward a zero-carbon future.
When operating a contingent staffing program, there are many moving parts to consider. Managers must define the scope of each employees’ role. They must also attract and vet candidates, just as they must track their contingent employees’ progress and performance.
Nonetheless, managers’ responsibilities must also include compliance. The role of contingent workers, freelancers, and contractors has come under intense scrutiny in recent years, and organizations that fail to categorize their employees correctly can be subjected to steep fines and penalties.
Business travel was upended at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. As it begins to return, many restrictions are still in place in certain travel destinations, and traveler safety is still an important topic for procurement functions. Nonetheless, most of the attention of procurement organizations' duty of care initiatives has been focused on international travel when domestic travel requires the same amount of vigilance.
In the age of the Zoom meeting, it may seem like meeting in-person is a counter-intuitive way to interact with people in different places or even a waste of resources. But business travel is essential to the way we do business. It's also an important part of America's economic recovery.
According to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), business travel is expected to surge over the next two years. Specifically, the GBTA expects global business travel spending to reach $1.4 trillion by the end of 2024—on pace with the spending analysts saw pre-pandemic in 2019. By spending money on technology now, organizations will be well-positioned to launch effective travel operations when the time comes to send more travelers abroad.
Sustainability is quickly becoming standard in the business world, and many analysts now view it as a corporate responsibility. The challenge for organizations is determining how they can achieve sustainability even as they manage hundreds of vendors and supply chains that stretch across the globe. Here's how companies—and the procurement department—can approach sustainable business moving forward.
The new distribution capability (NDC) was created by the International Air Transportation Association (IATA) in 2012. The goal of this new XML standard is to allow airline service providers to deliver rich content and ancillaries to their customers. Is it time for NDC to take its place in the travel industry? What does it mean for procurement?
Procurement departments strive to make sure business travelers have everything they need to stay safe, stay comfortable, and accomplish their goals while traveling. The COVID-19 pandemic made business travel much more stressful, and ongoing restrictions continue to make business travel a challenge. Now, procurement departments must find ways to improve the business travel experience in a post-COVID world.
The airline industry is developing New Distributions Capability (NDC) that will reshape the corporate travel industry for buyers and travelers alike.
Employees expect business travel to be as easy as personal travel. Is your technology providing that kind of experience?
From earthquakes to virus outbreaks to civil unrest, corporate travelers face a host of risks and hazards. Their employers have a duty of care to oversee the health, safety and security of employees while traveling for business. Some of that duty has a legal basis, while some of its a moral imperative regardless of any particular statute.
By knowing your travelers, a corporate travel program can generate travel cost savings while also improving the lives of its travelers. A travel-centric program is one that focuses on the needs of your company's travelers. Companies need their travelers to feel respected and valued while maintaining budgets, but finding the balance can be tricky.
Does your corporate travel policy support ride-share apps, fewer trip disruptions, new loyalty programs and seamless end-to-end travel to alleviate friction? Corporate policies can make or break the travelers' experience in terms of satisfaction and loyalty over the long term.
GameStop Hopes for the Best but Prepares for the Worst Subtitle: Duty of care is of utmost importance to GameStop, and it wants the people who choose to part with their hard-earned money to attend its events to feel their safety and security is being appropriately taken care of.
How LinkedIn Found the Best Way to Quantify the Satisfaction of Travelers Subtitle: LinkedIn needed to know who its travelers were, why they travel, and what information, services, and amenities they needed to best achieve their travel goals. To this end, the company launched a survey and asked all their traveling employees to complete it.
Given the highly preferential nature of travel, it has been hard to get corporate travelers into a program that meets both cost control criteria as well as the individual tastes of corporate travelers. Now, as travelers have grown accustomed to the convenience of options like Uber and Airbnb, another layer of difficulty is added to the management of travel spending.
If your company’s location is such that there is a significant restriction on your ability to leverage across multiple travel providers, all is not lost. If you have limitations – and your suppliers know that as well – you can still optimize within those limitations by getting creative.
You can leverage the goodwill of your office managers across the world by asking their help in establishing good relationships with nearby hotels and then leveraging those relationships to create a hotel program.
Most companies don’t have SLA’s in place for travel. Of those that do, most pay no attention until there’s a problem. Then there’s a mad dash to figure out what they are and if they can be used as leverage.
Corporate Travel is more than a ticket negotiation vehicle. It is an ENABLER of value to the firm, and it is important for the travel team to keep that aspect front and center.