From commission cuts to regulatory enforcements to mega mergers, 2018 was full of seismic changes to the business travel industry. Here are the most-read BTN stories of the year, based on Google Analytics page views.
#1 EY Overhauls Hotel Procurement
For the 2018 hotel sourcing season, EY decided to do something radical: Throw out the annual RFP process and build something new to meet EY's unique needs. The program uses dynamic rates, market rate caps and Airbnb. The result? A hotel sourcing season, the bane of so many travel programs, that shrunk from six months to six weeks. Keep Reading
#2 Microsoft’s Travel Manifesto
It's the second time in less than a decade that industry provocateurs have issued a manifesto. This time, the voices were led by Microsoft global director of travel, VenueSource and payment Eric Bailey, who engaged at least a dozen technology companies, supplier partners and like-minded travel buyers to join his team for a corporate travel innovation summit to map a vision of the corporate travel future. Keep Reading
#3 Marriott Will Reduce Group & Meetings Commissions
On Jan. 24, 2018, Marriott International announced it was cutting the commissions it pays to group intermediaries from 10 percent to 7 percent beginning March 31, 2018. Other hotel companies followed suit, causing meetings professionals to start resetting and rethinking their programs. Keep Reading
#4 BTN Releases List of 2018 Most Influential in Business Travel
BTN revealed the 25 Most Influential People in Business Travel in 2018 at the BTN Group's Business Travel Trends & Forecast conference on Monday, Dec. 3rd. Find Out What Each Did to Make the List
#5 Hogg Robinson to Sell HRG to Amex GBT & Fraedom to Visa
The number of mega travel management companies shrunk when American Express Global Business Travel and Hogg Robinson Group, two of the world's largest, agreed to merge. Keep Reading
#6 CWT CEO Kurt Ekert’s State of the Industry
Carlson Wagonlit Travel president and CEO Kurt Ekert talked with BTN about the competitive landscape and the digital innovations his mega travel management company is working on for customers. Keep Reading
#7 Should You Worry About Real ID?
By Oct. 1, 2020, individual travelers must possess a Real ID to pass through TSA checkpoints at U.S. airports. Jan. 22, 2018, was the deadline the Department of Homeland Security gave for states to start issuing Real IDs. BTN constructed a list of the states and territories that were compliant with the deadline, had received extensions until Oct. 10, 2018, or were not compliant. Keep Reading
BONUS: BTN issued a follow-up on Sept. 20.
#8 What Will Happen to Travel Prices in 2019?
BTN charted Carlson Wagonlit Travel's forecasts for changes in airfare, hotel rates and ground transportation prices across world regions and key U.S. cities, plus American Express Global Business Travel hotel rate forecasts around the world. Check Out Our Charts
#9 GDPR Blocking & Tackling
A deep dive article into what the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, for which enforcement began May 25, means for travel managers and their programs. Keep Reading
#10 Savings Is Travel’s False God
In this op-ed, tClara managing partner Scott Gillespie said,"Among the things travel buyers care about, savings is arguably the most essential, the most visible, the most measured." He also argued, however, that this narrow focus on savings guides travel managers down the wrong path. Keep Reading & Check Out the Chart
RELATED: BTN's 10 Most-Read Stories in 2017