travel tech insights

If there’s one segment of the global travel industry that has continued to show potential for growth and development during the last five years, it’s corporate travel. As more countries emerge as hubs of international business and the global business community continues to align, the sheer number of corporate travelers and their impact on the travel industry has been a truly disruptive force pushing travel companies to modernize their practices and tailor products and services to this new breed of traveler.

In today’s travel industry, numbers don’t lie. Facts and data points are taken as gospel when evaluating the strength of the travel industry and what industry trends may have the biggest impact on what the travel landscape looks like six, nine, or 12 months in the future. For example, a recent survey from the Global Business Travel Association projected the total revenue generated from international business travel would reach  nearly $1 trillion dollars.

One of the most disrupted segments in today’s travel industry is corporate or business travel. Because business moments and opportunities are no longer restricted to what happens in the office or boardroom on a 9 to 5 basis, corporate travelers are having to travel and engage in business activities in more unconventional, unprecedented ways. For example, a business executive could begin a business transaction on a conference call in the morning and then fly to a partner’s headquarters to finalize the deal the very next day. This rapid acceleration of business practices means corporate travelers need more agile, responsive, and visible products and services from the travel companies with which they choose to work.

This is where new technologies has become a core driver in efficiency for both corporate travelers and the travel companies that service this burgeoning demographic.

It’s clear 2016 has become something of a pivotal year for travel management companies and the corporate travel world in general - and, if the first half of the year is any indication, the second half is poised to be just as impactful. At least that’s the feeling expressed by a host of travel and tourism industry experts at the annual Global Business Travel Association Conference in Denver, Colorado this past week wherein analysts concluded the corporate travel industry is still lagging behind the leisure travel sector in a number of key areas.

While conference presentations and lectures highlighted the steps travel management companies are taking to cater more closely and specifically to the needs of today’s modern business traveler, the consensus was the corporate travel industry is still in catch-up mode when it comes to a number of back office and customer-facing operations which may in fact be preventing the corporate travel industry from reaching its full growth potential - a revelation that’s particularly worrisome given the rapid growth of commerce and business in several key emerging markets.

Like every other sector of the travel industry, steady growth in business travel doesn’t necessarily translate into increased sales for every travel management company (TMC). The travel sector is challenging because the business model is complex and competition is fierce.

There are several audiences for this question and at least as many possible answers. The audience which likely first comes to mind is the business person - finding his seat on an early Monday morning, then monitoring connection times as he makes his way home on Friday.  Invisiblein that mental picture is a second audience: the traveler’s corporate travel policy. Then there is a third one – the corporate managers responsible for the execution and outcomes of that policy.  It’s impossible for any travel agency to arrive at a good answer to the question unless it thinks in terms of managing travel rather than simply arranging travel.