For at least five years (if not longer!), corporate travel managers have been saying that "this is the year I will get a handle on our meeting spend." Unfortunately, the hot fires travel managers are dealing with on any given day (defining and implementing travel policy, negotiating supplier deals, integrating new travel technologies, reviewing agency reports, dealing with service issues etc.) end up precluding a concerted effort to get a handle on meetings-related activities. So while capturing the meeting spend tiger is always on the "to do" list, in too many cases it gets put aside until next year.
Forces ConvergE to Make 2006 The Year to Take ActionLooking at the corporate travel landscape, many travel buyers might conclude that planets are aligning against them for a synchronized attack. Hotel rates are soaring, in many cases up by 10 percent or more. Car rental firms are writing stricter basic contracts that increase corporate liability in the event of accidents or acts of nature. Airlines, even with two majors in bankruptcy, are asserting themselves at the negotiating table and are driving tougher deals.
Travel managers are anticipating the downdraft from global distribution systems concluding content-for-discount deals and forging new agreements with agencies. Everyone's margin is getting squeezed, and it is conceivable that travel management companies may ask corporate customers for a fee increase, especially if they aren't aggressively using technology to increase their efficiency.
When you add in the reality that more buyers are reporting to CFOs who are taking an increasingly sharper pencil to travel expenses, the pressure to find and deliver cost savings has never been higher.
More Meetings This YearFutureWatch, an annual research study commissioned by Meeting Professionals International in partnership with American Express, recently announced its 2006 forecast after surveying 16,900 MPI members. According to the report, client-side planners anticipate the number of meetings they hold to increase by 7 percent, with suppliers looking at a 10 percent jump over 2005.
What's more, industry observers generally believe that ad-hoc meetings—for example, a regional sales meeting or a client review—account for the majority of corporate meetings and meetings spend. PhoCusWright reported in 2005 that 80 percent of an average company's meeting expenditures are ad hoc. With a healthier business climate in 2006, it is likely that ad hoc meetings will grow this year as well, even with advances in videoconferencing and other Web-enabled services.
The Technology is ReadyWhile travel buyers, agency executives and technology suppliers have been managing issues such as online adoption, accessing content and traveler security in recent years, the talented people who build and deploy meetings management technologies have been hard at work.
Advances, such as database synchronization, that markedly reduce registration errors and linkage to policy-compliant online travel booking make it easier than ever for corporate travel buyers and administrative staff to plan and manage meetings. The tools are far more intuitive and simple to use since you last looked. We believe the technology is ready for corporations to implement on a nationwide basis.
To more effectively manage these costs and ensure travel policy compliance, more businesses are implementing online meeting planning tools. According to PhoCusWright in 2005, 73 percent of businesses were using online meeting planning tools, an increase from 48 percent in 2003. More than eight in 10 meeting decision makers have used some type of online meeting function. Transitioning corporate travel and meeting planning to online services enables tracking of both planned and ad-hoc meetings, as all meeting functions are coordinated through an online tool, from site selection and invitations to registration and complete travel booking.
A number of forward-thinking travel buyers have implemented these technologies, and the results are overwhelmingly positive. Just two months ago, BTN published a story detailing how Nancy Garner of Extreme Networks has sliced 15 percent of her annual meeting expenses via use of an online tool
(Meetings Today, Jan. 23).In addition to saving copious amounts of time, the most important benefit of using these tools is the increased leverage buyers can bring to the table as they craft supplier agreements for 2007 and beyond. Adding meeting statistics to transient travel data can truly bring some weight to your use of preferred suppliers and potentially drive your per-segment and per-room night costs to a figure that even your CFO will appreciate. Finally, the direct integration of meetings technology with a company's online booking tool increases the likelihood that the traveler will choose the company's preferred suppliers.
It is clear to our team at Sabre Corporate Solutions that the time is right for travel managers to investigate the tools that are out there, and work with their agency or online booking tool provider to determine what system and/or service can best serve their companies' meetings management needs.
Ellen Keszler is president of Sabre Corporate Solutions.