A JOINT study by ACTE and American Express Global Business Travel has found a majority of travel managers intending to tackle traveller behaviour to achieve savings.
The Evolution of Travel Policy: A Global View on the Future, which surveyed 350 corporate travel managers around the world, reported that 52 per cent of respondents said savings was the primary driver of their managed travel programme over the last one to two years, followed by duty of care (23 per cent) and traveller service (16 per cent).
However, the balance between savings and service is expected to change as corporate travel managers are looking to traveller behaviour, rather than supplier cost reductions, to drive savings.
Eighty-four per cent of respondents said savings would be achieved through demand management and compliance in the next one to two years. Yet, communications tools to drive compliance were often missing: 44 per cent of respondents have no formal systems for gathering traveller feedback.
While 75 per cent of respondents see improved traveller service as a route to savings, few organisations have measures to justify these improvements to procurement or finance leaders. Twenty-one per cent of them use traveller productivity metrics, nine per cent use work-life balance metrics and just five per cent use stress reduction metrics.
However, 12 per cent of corporate travel managers plan to introduce stress reduction metrics in the next one to two years.
Commenting on the findings, Caroline Strachan, vice president of global business consulting at American Express Global Business Travel, said: “Demand management is the bedrock of a strong managed programme so it’s significant to see that travel managers are embracing the traveller and traveller service. Clearly, they understand the future’s going to be traveller-centric. What’s less clear, is whether travel managers feel they have the right technology and tools needed to deliver this future.
“Communication is critical for building relationships, engagement and compliance. The research suggests there’s scope for travel managers to upgrade their communications systems and practice.”
Greeley Koch, ACTE executive director, said, “The report’s findings are consistent with ACTE’s Traveller Centricity education pillar, which puts the traveller and the traveller’s needs at the heart of policy.”
Koch pointed out that influencing traveller behavior and supporting the traveller in the field is far more conducive to meeting the primary objective – raising corporate revenue – than savings alone. “While savings remain a key driver, profitability is the objective of business travel.”
A copy of the study is available at www.amexglobalbusinesstravel.com/acte.
