Business travel is on the rebound but, according to a new study, it might not be “business as usual” post-pandemic for corporate travel managers, programs and policies. The latest report, “The Return to Business Travel: A New Paradigm on the Evolution of Buyers and Stakeholders Post-COVID” from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), collected responses from travel managers in the U.S. and Canada and outlines how the return of business travel might look post-pandemic from the lens of CTMs and, especially, for managed online business travel bookings.
Key findings on the future of post-pandemic corporate travel management reveal that the pandemic forced many corporate travel programs to introduce more booking policy restrictions. Seven in 10 (71 percent) travel managers report their company’s booking-related travel policies have become stricter due to the pandemic; however, six in 10 (61 percent) of those expect the changes to be temporary.
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 nine 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 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-19 safety protocols (53 percent).
In the current COVID-19 environment, travel programs require manual approval of business trips, besides many requiring manual approval by multiple people. Of those that do, two in five (42 percent) respondents say most of their manual processing requires multiple approvers (for instance, employee’s manager and HR employee).
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 NDC-enabled bookings.
A significant number of travel managers are open to changing their company’s OBT in the next two to three years. Four in 10 report they are likely (13 percent) or considering (31 percent) changing their company’s OBT. Key features of most interest include enhanced user experience and innovations, enhanced content, easier management and increased traveler satisfaction.
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), besides insights into the environmental impact of the travel itinerary (61 percent).
The survey was conducted from September 20 through October 3, 2021 by GBTA with full or partial responses received from 161 corporate travel managers in the U.S. 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.
Source: GBTA
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