From late August through mid-September 2010, travel and meeting decision-makers completed an online survey so Procurement.travelcould better understand the roles and responsibilities of the travel buyer today, as well as the emerging future trends. A total of 294 "qualified" respondents completed the online questionnaire. Unless otherwise noted, all survey results presented in "The Buyer" are based on that total.
We determined qualification by whether the respondent said his/her responsibilities included any of the following: sourcing or contracting of travel suppliers, managing corporate travel, setting corporate travel policies, selecting or recommending business travel suppliers, or planning/arranging travel for individuals.
Participants provided details about their job titles, reporting structures and responsibilities for and involvement in managing an extensive list of traditional and emerging areas.
Those who said they were not responsible for certain categories answered follow-up questions about whether they thought they might gain such responsibilities or if they thought they should be responsible for specific categories. Respondents who said their companies didn’t manage a category similarly responded to follow-up questions about whether they thought their companies would begin to or should manage any such categories.
Separately, respondents indicated their involvement in negotiating with each of the following travel supplier types: airlines, hotels, car rental firms, chauffeured cars, travel management companies, rail, payment cards, mobile phones, mobile software apps, social networking technology, global distribution systems, self-booking tools, data reporting systems, expense reporting technology, teleconferencing/videoconferencing/telepresence, intranet travel sites/portals, corporate/private/shared jets, corporate housing, car fleet, travel security/risk management services and restaurant/dining programs.
Respondents also provided the number of employees who reported to them, the number involved in the travel program and any responsibilities they had beyond travel.
Respondents additionally provided demographic information about their companies' primary businesses, headquarters locations, number of employees, and annual travel and meetings spends.
Respondents also indicated how long they had worked in travel management/procurement/sourcing in their current positions, if they had ever worked as industry suppliers (and, if so, for what categories and for how long), as well as relevant industry certifications they had obtained.
Independent market research firm Phoenix Marketing International helped us conduct the quantitative study.
ProMedia.travel emailed subscribers invitations to participate in the survey. We conducted follow-up interviews through October with some of those who agreed to be contacted as well as with external sources. We shared preliminary research with some interview subjects to help us interpret and present the results.