That the world is getting smaller is a notion that has
settled into cliché, as even many small companies today must align their travel
management practices with the multinational needs of their businesses. But the
global landscape with which business travel buyers must contend continues to
evolve, not only in terms of their policies and philosophies but also the
stances taken by suppliers, which continue to explore and establish new models
for multinational operations.
Buyers are assessing—and sometimes reconsidering—whether and
how to develop and deploy multinational travel polices, whether to seek global
or local services from travel management companies and other third parties, and
how to deal with a still-fragmented supplier base that nevertheless is
furthering multinational joint ventures, alliances and negotiating strategies.
It's instructive to examine their opinions of the multinational travel
management climate.
It's to that end that BTN developed a special
research issue, A Global View, based on a new survey of strictly multinational
business travel buyers and designed to elicit the latest sentiments concerning
the structures of their programs, their use of intermediaries, their approaches
to contracting and their opinions of their suppliers' ability to meet their
global needs.
Read up on:
Structuring a Program: Developing A Truly Global Travel Program A Truly Challenging Task
Incorporating Intermediaries: A Rule Of One For Global TMC Structure, But Exceptions Aplenty
Supplier Sourcing: Multinational Buyers Focusing On Supplier Consolidation
Methodology
The BTN 2015 Global View report includes a survey
designed to examine the behaviors and opinions of qualified travel buyers. BTN
in February and March 2015 conducted the online survey through SurveyMonkey. A
direct link to the survey was emailed to appropriate members of The BTN Group
Advisory Board and Research Council, as well as qualified subscribers of BTN
Group publications, including BTN and Travel Procurement magazine.
Responses to the survey were tabulated only if respondents
indicated their organizations manage travel volumes originating from world
regions other than North America and if the respondents indicated they were
decision-makers for organizations that buy travel and/or meetings.
In all, 186 qualified respondents representing small and
midsize enterprises answered at least some of the questions. Not all
respondents answered every one. Percentages in charts in this issue may not
total 100 due to rounding.
BTN thanks all who participated in the making of this issue, including all survey respondents and those who participated in interviews for the following reports.
This report originally appeared in the April 20, 2015, issue of Business Travel News.