After a decline in 2009, average total compensation for travel management professionals this year increased 5 percent to $96,851 but remained below peak levels reported in 2008, according to an NBTA Foundation survey of 250 National Business Travel Association direct members.
Respondents also reported year-over-year growth in corporate travel budgets, which this year increased 10 percent on average. Larger companies represented in the survey restored travel budgets to a greater extent than their smaller counterparts. Respondents whose organizations reported sales volumes of more than $5 billion saw travel budgets increase on average by 14 percent, versus the average 7 percent increase among respondents whose companies generate less than $100 million in sales.
The NBTA Foundation, which fielded the survey in September and October, also found travel professionals who work for companies with larger sales volumes generally earned larger salaries, consistent with findings from previous years.
While average total compensation (including bonuses and commissions) did not return to 2008 levels, the base salary component this year grew to $87,835 from last year's $83,973, which was 2 percent higher than in 2008.
Sixty-three percent of respondents characterized themselves as satisfied with their current compensation levels, up from 56 percent last year. "The industry is breathing a sigh of relief as we begin seeing and experiencing the long-awaited business travel recovery, which is demonstrated by this year's respondents who observed considerable increases in their travel budgets and reported a bump in their own salaries, as well," according to a statement attributed to NBTA president and CEO Craig Banikowski.
Meanwhile, this year's report indicated that "the vast majority of respondents reported spending their time on a variety of strategic responsibilities." However, compared with last year's study, fewer travel management professionals indicated involvement in nine of 11 strategic areas--though generally only by a percentage point or two. Those areas included negotiating with travel vendors (93 percent of this year's respondents versus 95 percent last year), strategically developing the travel program (90 percent versus 92 percent in 2009) and administering the corporate travel program (86 percent versus 92 percent in 2009). The biggest drop in came in developing and administering travel policy, a responsibility held by 82 percent of respondents this year, down from 92 percent last year.
Evaluating and applying new technologies (cited by 88 percent of respondents) and benchmarking travel operations (cited by 82 percent) were among the few strategic areas in which more respondents indicated responsibility this year, each up from last year by 1 percentage point.
The average respondent reported 15 years of experience in managing travel, with an average of seven years at his or her current position. The median respondent age was 47, and 74 percent of the respondents were female.