Safety And Security Concerns Prompt Traveler Tracking Programs

Traveler comfort may have taken a back seat to cost savings, but companies do not seem to be skimping on safety and security measures that help provide important support at a time when the ups and downs for today's corporate jet setter can be very high and very low.

In these economic times, it may be no surprise that the bottom line comes first for those in charge of travel programs. Cutting the total cost of travel eclipsed both traveler satisfaction and traveler safety and security on the prioritization scale in Advito's BCD Travel client survey last year. ( 1). Respondents to an AirPlus International survey also put cost savings ahead of traveler welfare. ( 2)

This emphasis impacts traveler comfort and potentially productivity through, for example, restricted premium class use or mandates to consider connecting flights. But among "corporate social responsibility" priorities, "duty of care and security" outranked both "work-life balance" and "on-trip productivity" according to Advito. ( 3)

Source: Procurement.travelAugust-September 2008 online survey of 473 qualified travel decision-makers

Procurement.travel's "State Of The Practice" research found that 69 percent of organizations track their travelers (mainly using booking data) for safety and security reasons, including 89 percent of large organizations.

Many travel decision-makers do not stop at setting up tracking systems, as corporate travel and corporate security teams cooperate on communications strategies and risk avoidance. PricewaterhouseCoopers, for example, implemented an approvals process for travel to high-risk places, and schedules monthly security-related conference calls with members of its global travel steering committee. ( 4) Meanwhile, there is always room for improvement on traveler use of the travel management company, online booking tool or global distribution system channels that provide tracking data--although travelers sometimes have justifiable reasons for booking outside the program.

Beyond safety and security, such other elements of traveler support as work-life balance and productivity may require more attention as firms try to squeeze more value from fewer trips.

"While we are still very focused on savings, and we get judged on our savings ... there is also a very important aspect of what we do: serving our travelers and getting them where they need to go, safely and on time, and helping them if they need help," said Verizon Communications senior specialist for travel Debra Goldmann in October. "The service aspect of what we do has become more important lately."

Even as organizations try to protect employees against travel-borne risks, profitability pressures mean they're trying to get more for every dollar invested in both travel and labor. Higher productivity means a more competitive position in the global marketplace and--atop economists' minds today--a possible stimulant for emergence from recession.

Source: Procurement.travelAugust-September 2008 online survey of 473 qualified travel decision-makers

Still, nearly 70 percent of travel managers polled by AirPlus said "supporting travelers while also managing costs is becoming more of a challenge." ( 5)

Balancing cost savings with traveler comfort has always been a rub. "A business trip seems to be a dual experience, consisting of hassles and uplifts, losses and gains, all impacting the well being of travelers." ( 6) Although many say they enjoy the more thrilling parts of (especially) international travel, a sizable chunk of travelers don't like travel at all or feel it intrudes too much on their real lives. One-third of U.S.-based business travelers in an early 2008 Egencia poll admitted that they "have trouble balancing work responsibilities with personal obligations." ( 7) Eighty-six percent of business travelers surveyed by Orbitz for Business in 2007 said business travel was "as or more difficult" than it was two years earlier. ( 8)

"We are all more stressed by the fight to chase ever-higher levels of income," said Global Insight executive vice president and executive managing director for travel and tourism services Kenneth McGill. "When the economy does begin to improve, productivity will rise because output, and sales even, will begin to rise before firms start to rehire."