Benchmarking Tools Blossom
<B>Benchmarking Tools Blossom</B>
By Megan Hjermstad
Responding to corporate travel managers' need for customizable benchmarking tools, the National Business Travel Association and the Association of Corporate Travel Executives last month announced separate online benchmarking products. Travel management companies also are providing clients with new tools so they can benchmark against one another.
NBTA's proprietary online benchmarking tool--beta tested by the 100 travel managers that participate in NBTA's Travel Management Exchange Forums--now is available to all NBTA direct members through its Travel Vault Web site. The product, called B2B Advantage, allows travel managers to submit information in a confidential atmosphere and compare that information against company revenues, number of employees and air volumes of other participating NBTA members. B2B Advantage allows a travel manager to search for the average airline fare for select city pairs based on all companies, as well as other companies with similar volume.
"It will give me much more realistic numbers than something coming out of American Express or Runzheimer," said NBTA member Marge Gordon, travel manager at Lexmark Corp. of Lexington, Ky. "I'm really happy to see professional organizations doing this." Gordon is interested to see how the NBTA product differs from ACTE's, which will be available in the third quarter.
ACTE has partnered with TravelManagement.com to offer its Web-based benchmarking product TravelStat to ACTE members via a hot link from the ACTE Web site. For a reduced subscription fee, ACTE members will be able to access the TravelStat national database, which contains information in 11 different categories from all participating companies including non-ACTE members. ACTE members will be able to aggregate data by company size, geographic location and industry type in a graphic format.
"Although there are other attempts with benchmarking products, and a number of people are doing it, this new one will be capable of being pretty widespread," said Earl Foster, director of global travel management at Joseph E. Seagram & Sons Inc. in New York.
Travel managers will be required to enter at least 50 percent of the information requested before viewing benchmarking information, and update the data every six months. "We have tried to give integrity and continuity to the data so the answers don't get skewed," said Laura Lane, director of business development for San Francisco-based TravelManagement.com.
ACTE also is developing a section with questions for its members only. After the initial launch of the customized product, ACTE will work with TravelManagement.com to develop a global application, due out early next year.
TravelManagement.com recently partnered with Milwaukee-based Adelman Travel Systems, New York-based Advanced Travel Management and Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Casto Travel Inc. to provide their clients with TravelStat. Sabre BTS, too, will offer a link to TravelStat from its travel manager Web site. TravelManagement.com also is in discussions with three mega agencies to come on board in the next month. "The important thing about benchmarking is critical mass," said Lane. "We are going to be able to provide that."
Meanwhile, American Express Consulting Services this month launched the Business Travel Monitor, a subscription-based online benchmarking tool updated monthly with global air, international hotel, U.S. car rental and telecommunications costs. The tool is an update to Amex's Business Travel Review.
Travel managers can compare air travel costs on 329 North American city pairs and 160 routes between U.S. and international destinations for three fare categories--first class, full coach and "typical business," or minimally restricted, fully refundable coach. On hotels, buyers can benchmark average room rates in 41 North American cities and an equal number of international cities. Users also will be able to separate room rates at downtown versus airport hotels.
Other data will include average daily car rental costs in the top 10 U.S. business travel destinations, and spending in four categories of on-the-road communications--wireless, long distance, Internet access and paging services.