The corporate travel landscape is changing faster than ever. With new insights and emerging technology impacting the travel industry today, travel managers risk becoming “early adopters” or getting left behind all together. As technology evolves, shouldn’t the role of the travel manager evolve with it?
In an all-new Travel Manager 2020 report, we explored this issue with GBTA. We examined how travel managers spend their time today, their priorities, key metrics and uses of data, as well as what the role will look like tomorrow.
What The Research Shows
Travel managers and their teams are spread thin across a wide variety of activities, but anticipate becoming more strategic in the future. So how do you get there?
Technology stands to play a major part in not only overcoming today’s challenges, but also helping to position you for success tomorrow. According to the research there were three specific areas that jumped out as being especially important.
- Data – There is a big opportunity for improvement as it relates to data and analytics. Roughly 6 out of 10 travel managers cite data as one of their most time consuming activities with only 35% stating that they are satisfied with the capabilities currently available to them. Leveraging data to analyze and track program performance as well as supplier sourcing topped the list of uses for data and reports.
- Mobile – This should not come as a surprise, but 80% of travel managers expect mobility to become a higher priority in their roles moving forward. The key anticipated applications included mobile booking and itinerary management. Duty of care was also cited as a key priority with a strong belief that mobile would play an important role with security in the future.
- Payments – In the past, payment was more of a peripheral category to travel, but with the availability of virtual payment solutions today, it is another powerful tool for driving compliance. Two thirds of travel managers anticipate virtual forms of payment becoming a higher priority, especially for improving the reconciliation process and for driving policy compliance.
What This Means For You
There are a number of interesting insights in the full report, but the areas of data, mobile, and payments are three trends to pay special attention to. Is your program equipped with these emerging technologies?
To help you stay one step ahead of the travel evolution, we’ve created a dedicated microsite with everything you need to know about these three timely topics. Check back each week as we explore these and other related topics.
Want to join the discussion? Register now to join us and GBTA as we dive into the results of the Travel Manager 2020 research in a special free webinar, The Evolving Role of the Travel Manager.
