Forty-nine percent of travel managers indicated that tightening travel policies in efforts to contain costs within their companies was "a fact of life," while an additional 24 percent expect policy-tightening to become "more relevant" to their organizations in the future, according to a new AirPlus International survey. In the United Kingdom, 64 percent of travel managers indicated policy-tightening is an "established trend."
2HM, on behalf of AirPlus, surveyed between September and November 2013 a total of 958 individuals responsible for travel management in 24 countries. AirPlus specifically broke out respondents from the United Kingdom, which included 70 travel managers.
Fifty-five percent of travel managers indicated they practice benchmarking to understand how they compare with other companies with similar travel patterns, while 21 percent expect benchmarking to become more relevant to their organizations in the future, the survey indicated. In the United Kingdom. 64 percent of travel managers benchmark costs.
Forty-two percent of surveyed travel managers have consolidated their travel programs to a regional or worldwide structure from a country-by-country arrangement, according to the survey. Managers noted economies of scale and consistent processes as benefits and reasons for their transition, according to the survey. In line with the global average, 41 percent of U.K. travel managers acknowledged consolidating their programs. "The figures could reveal that travel programs are more mature in the U.K., or simply that U.K. companies are more likely to operate international subsidiaries," the survey said.
More than half, 55 percent, of the individuals surveyed indicated they are trying to manage such additional travel costs as taxis and dining by consolidating them, the survey found. The figure is even higher in the United Kingdom, where 56 percent of travel managers said they do so. Unconsolidated supplier bases, inconsistent payment methods and a lack of centralized booking systems make managing such costs challenging, the survey claimed.
While there can be some synergies between managing travel and fleet, 37 percent of respondents said integrating fleet with travel will not become a "relevant" trend to their organizations in the future, the report concluded. However, 32 percent of the travel managers said fleet integration already happens within their companies, and an additional 20 percent expected integration to happen in the future, according to the survey.
Technology
Less than half, 43 percent, of travel managers said their organizations use corporate booking tools. The figure in the United Kingdom was even lower, 23 percent.
Calling that figure "a big surprise," AirPlus in the report noted that "there is no obvious reason why the U.K. figure is significantly lower than the Western European average of 34 percent. However, even the Western European average is lower than might have been anticipated. Booking tools are claimed to reduce travel management company transaction fees, reduce average fares and hotel rates and improve compliance control. The figure suggests booking tool providers have not yet fully won the argument."
Overall, the larger the organization, the more likely it was to use such tools. For example, only 39 percent and 43 percent of "low-" and "medium-" sized companies respectively reported using the tools, compared with 59 percent of "high spenders," according to the survey.
"Smaller companies also book online, but [allow] travelers to use public websites of their choice instead of a managed booking tool," according to the report's analysis.
Reflective of the quick rise to prominence of mobile payment technology, 35 percent of travel managers indicated the technology is used within their organizations, while an additional 31 percent said they expected the technology to become more relevant to their organizations in the future, the survey found. Thirty-three percent of U.K. travel managers said that at least some payments in their organizations are made via mobile devices, while 37 percent of respondents said the technology would become more relevant to their organizations in the future.
Thirty-six percent of travel managers said they have travel management mobile applications, used for such tasks as expense reporting or itinerary sharing, while 35 percent indicated such mobile apps will become more relevant to their organizations in the future, according to the survey. Likewise, 33 percent of U.K. respondents indicated their companies are deploying travel management mobile phone apps.
Social media technology use also is gaining adoption, as 36 percent of global respondents indicated the tools have become the norm to exchange views. "Some travel managers believe that since travelers will use social media anyway, it would be better to control the issue by creating managed in-house social media tools," according to the survey. A total of 34 percent of U.K. respondents said their travelers already are using social media for travel-related purposes.