Survey: Travel Management Salaries Down In 2009

After years of increases, travel management professionals this year saw their total compensation cut and their staff sizes reduced despite heavy workloads, according to a recent NBTA Foundation survey.

"Compensation in this weak economy seems to be stagnating. While base pay has slightly increased, additional compensation--such as bonuses or commissions--has declined, despite the fact that corporate travel managers are taking on more responsibility than ever," according to a statement from NBTA foundation chair Fay Beauchine. "And still, more than half remain satisfied with their return. We know that corporate travel is crucial in conducting business around the world, which is why despite recent hardships, travel managers are optimistic about their careers and satisfied with their levels of reward."

Based on responses submitted in September and October by 274 corporate travel and meetings managers working in the United States and Canada, the National Business Travel Association's education and research foundation determined that respondents' average base salary this year increased 2.1 percent, to $83,973, compared with 2008, while total compensation--including salaries, bonuses and commissions--declined 5.6 percent, to $91,954.

"Much more stress, many more duties involved and the pay levels are below what they would be in most other types of professional roles," said Kevin Maguire, travel manager for intercollegiate athletics at University of Texas and NBTA's immediate past president. "You will see a large number of travel managers who are leaving their jobs because they just don't want to do it anymore or because companies or consultants are coming in and saying, 'We can do what your travel manager is doing at much less cost to the company.' " Maguire contended that such statements are almost always "untrue."

Management Alternatives president Carol Salcito said, "There are so many travel buyers right now who are no longer on the payroll of the corporations; many of them are on the payroll of the travel agencies and they are paid lower salaries. You still have the high volume corporations that still have true travel managers that are only working for the corporations, thus serving only one master."

Though average total compensation increased among the vice president and supervisor subsets of the survey base, NBTA cautioned that those two categories had small sample sizes. The larger subsets (managers, directors, coordinators/specialists) each saw declining average total compensation, including a 14 percent drop among coordinators and specialists.

Bigger Companies, Professional Degrees Equal Bigger Paychecks

While average compensation unsurprisingly was higher for those at higher levels in the corporate hierarchy (vice presidents on average took in well more than double that of coordinators/specialists), it also "showed a clear correlation to sales volume," according to the survey report. Respondents working for companies with annual sales of less than $100 million made 39 percent less on average than those working for companies with more than $5 billion in sales.

On average, travel manager respondents who hold professional certifications made more in total compensation (Certified Corporate Travel Executives earned $94,546, and those with a Global Leadership Professional designation took home $95,721) than those without such certifications ($86,835).

"[The accreditations] are becoming recognized within the industry," said NBTA foundation executive director Daphne Bryant. "Those certifications have set [travel management professionals] apart in the job search process and helped them secure positions."

As in years past, survey respondents were typically female (81 percent) and continued to earn less than their male peers, with average total compensation of $87,477 (versus $109,956 for men). That $22,479 disparity narrowed from last year's $30,000 gap.

Paying For Perks?

Corporate travel management professionals not only are feeling the pinch in their salaries, but also are losing some of their career development and personal benefits. For example, those who said employers fully paid for professional association dues dropped to 93 percent this year from 99 percent reported in the 2006 NBTA foundation survey. Other such reductions were reported for mileage reimbursement (91 percent in 2009 versus 96 percent in 2006), convention attendance (89 percent from 96 percent) and professional publications (79 percent from 93 percent). However, employers were more likely to fully cover cell phones (68 percent from 60 percent) and child daycare (6 percent from 1 percent).

Meanwhile, "80 percent or more of the respondents reported that their employer offered all of the major types of insurance," according to the survey report. "The only exceptions being long-term care and professional liability insurance."

Doing More With Smaller Staffs

Though 22 percent of respondents indicated that their departments had been downsized in the past 10 months, many of the surveyed travel management professionals are holding onto their positions longer. In 2009, respondents on average had 15.2 years of experience, including seven years at their current positions, compared with 13.3 years and 6.2 years, respectively, as reported in the 2006 survey.

Meanwhile, some travel management responsibilities continue to change. Developing and administering travel policy, administering corporate card programs, managing T&E expense reporting and managing travel reservationists are growing areas of responsibility, compared with results from past surveys dating to 2006.

Evaluating travel technology, benchmarking, overseeing corporate aircraft, emergency evacuation and crisis management are areas of declining responsibility since 2006.