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Business travel is coming back but—according to a new study from The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world’s largest business travel association, and made possible by travel and expense technology company, Serko—it might not be business-as-usual post-pandemic for corporate travel managers, programs, and policies. How will the pandemic and business travel recovery change corporate travel programs going forward? Are pandemic-related changes to company travel policies likely to remain permanent? Will the business travel ecosystem and travel programs in 2022 look vastly different than they did in pre-pandemic 2019?
GBTA CEO Suzanne Neufang
These topics are explored in the new report from the association, The Return to Business Travel: A New Paradigm on the Evolution of Buyers and Stakeholders Post-Covid. Based on survey responses from US and Canadian travel managers, the study outlines how the return of business travel might look post-pandemic from the lens of corporate travel managers and especially for managed online business travel bookings.
“Now is the moment that corporate travel managers are moving from triage and temporary solutions that may have been required to address business travel during the pandemic, to a longer range, more considered view based on new requirements—from technologies to policies to processes—that will be the basis for the next chapter and best outcomes for companies, business travelers, and managed business travel programs,” said Serko CMO Nick Whitehead.
“When the pandemic brought almost all travel to a halt there was a recognition of the important role of business travel in helping companies grow their revenue, workforces, and share prices. But as we get back to business travel, the landscape has changed. Travel managers are actively embracing evolution to determine what will be needed next,” said GBTA CEO Suzanne Neufang.
Survey highlights:
- Temporary tightening of travel policies? Seven in ten (71 percent) travel managers report their company’s booking-related travel policies have become stricter due to the pandemic—however, six in ten (61 percent) of those expect the changes to be temporary.
- Uptick in assisted bookings. Booking business travel via an online booking tool (OBT) has declined during the pandemic, forcing a greater reliance on agent-assisted bookings. Pre-pandemic, only 9 percent of travel managers said their company had a high-touch model where travelers typically made “managed” bookings directly with a travel agent. Now, one in five (20 percent) say their company has a high-touch model.
- To restore confidence in moving bookings back online, travel managers most pointed to the need for key features such as integrated destination health and safety information (85 percent), automatic ticket credits (77 percent), contextual policy applications (57 percent), and visually highlighted hotels that meet COVID safety protocols (53 percent).
- Approvals go manual and multiple. In the current environment, travel programs often require manual approval of business trips by multiple people. Of those that do, two in five (42 percent) respondents say most of their manual processing requires multiple approvers (e.g., employee’s manager and HR employee).
- Reeling bookings back in. Addressing leakage (i.e., business travel bookings made outside a company’s preferred channels) has become an even greater priority. Half of travel managers (46 percent) say reducing leakage is a “greater” or “much greater” priority than before the pandemic or equal priority (40 percent) today as before the pandemic. Travel managers identified OBT features that would help reduce leakage including rich airfare information and imagery and New Distribution Capability-enabled bookings.
- When it comes to OBT innovation, travel managers are seeking to streamline the booking process and ensure alignment with corporate policies and goals. OBT features of most interest include personalized itinerary recommendations (78 percent) and conversational chatbot booking (73 percent) using intelligent technology (i.e., artificial intelligence) as well as insights into the environmental impact of the travel itinerary (61 percent).
The survey was conducted from September 20-October 3, 2021, by GBTA with full or partial responses received from 161 corporate travel managers in the US and Canada. Those respondents indicated they were involved in managing or procuring travel on behalf of their company and whose business travelers used corporate online booking tools prior to the pandemic.
GBTA members can access the complete survey report and infographic in the GBTA Hub.
Visit gbta.org for more information.
[02.22.22]
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On Wednesday, February 16, the Minority Limousine Operators of America (MLOA) hosted its membership meeting via Zoom that featured the announcement of a new board of directors. To kick off the meeting, Darrell Anderson of A-National Limousine kicked off his final meeting as the association’s president by announcing the new 2022 MLOA Board:
President: Tiffany Hinton of Motev
1st Vice President: Travis Latham of Fellowship Fleet Limousine and Bus
2nd Vice President: Reggie Tymus of Capital City Limousine
Treasurer: Marlon McWilson of Bay Area Transport Services
Secretary: Maya Adrine of Golden Limousine
Darrell Anderson of A-National Limousine
Despite stepping down from his position as president, Anderson said he is still committed to the MLOA and sees a great deal of optimism in the industry as business bounces back from the COVID slump. He also credited the conference calls and streaming meetings held by MLOA for contributing to the survival of many of the association members during the pandemic.
Expressing a great deal of enthusiasm for her new position, Hinton said she is “grateful and honored” to be MLOA president and is looking forward to taking the organization to new levels.
Chauffeur Driven President Chris Weiss
Following a discussion about MLOA presence at industry conferences—representatives of the association will have a booth on the show floor at the upcoming CD/NLA Show on March 27-30—guest speaker CD President Chris Weiss was welcomed to discuss the show and provide an overview of the current state of the industry.
Weiss reported that he is seeing a sizeable uptick in business on every front of the industry, including corporate travel, which has been stalled for two years. He went on to describe the tremendous support for the show, saying that attendance has been tracking at 2019 levels. Next, he provided a description of host property Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, emphasizing the convenience of its location and layout, notably the ease of the conference space being so close to the hotel. After providing an overview of some of the sessions—including Hinton’s seminar on EVs and other low-emission vehicles—Weiss fielded some questions from the attendees.
The MLOA’s next Zoom meeting, entitled Marketing Your Business, is scheduled for April 27.
Visit mlooa.org for more information.
[02.21.22]
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Keep yourself informed and connected to other members of the industry by attending these important meetings. You can also view meetings for the rest of the year on Chauffeur Driven’s Industry Events page.
FEBRUARY
Greater California Livery Association
Spring Forward Conference (Long Beach)
2/22 (registration required)
United Motorcoach Association
Expo 2022 (Long Beach, Calif.)
2/23-2/27 (registration required)
Global Business Travel Association
Europe Conference (Berlin, Germany)
2/28-3/2 (registration required)
Virginia Limousine Association
General Membership Meeting (Richmond)
2/28 at 4:00 p.m. (registration required)
MARCH
Limousine, Bus, Taxi Operators of Upstate New York
Zoom Meeting
3/3 at 5:30 p.m. ET (RSVP to limocompanies@yahoo.com)
Greater New Jersey Motorcoach Association/Maryland Motorcoach Association
Sponsor Appreciation Dinner and Annual Spring Meeting (Bethlehem, Pa.)
3/14-3/15 (registration required)
Philadelphia Regional Limousine Association
Membership meeting (King of Prussia)
3/16 at 6:00 p.m. at Maggiano's (email johnny@sterlinglimoservice.com for more information)
Pennsylvania Bus Association
2022 Marketplace (Williamsport)
3/22 (registration required)
CD/NLA Show
2022 Las Vegas Show at the Paris Hotel
3/27-3/30 (registration required)
Did we miss your association meeting? Let us know! Email susan@chauffeurdriven.com or rob@chauffeurdriven.com to be included in our calendar.
[02.15.22]