Getting With the Program - Carlson Wagonlit Travel

More documents

Recommendations

Info

10 How Companies Can Improve Travel Policy and ComplianceCurrently, travel policies vary widely in terms of coverage (the key travel rules which areincluded) and precision (how clear and detailed instructions are for travelers):Advance booking for airfares: well covered but not precise enough. Companiesgenerally recommend advance booking in their air travel policy but rarely specify aclear timeline.Restricted fares: too often forgotten. Only 4 percent of policies require travelersto use restricted fares, compared with 59 percent that recommend their use and 37percent that do not mention them at all.Preferred suppliers: well covered and precise. Ninety percent of companies referto preferred airlines and 89 percent mention preferred hotels. But there isconsiderable room for improvement. For example, only 29 percent of companiesrequire travelers to always use preferred airlines, which appears to be the beststrategy for savings.Travel class/category: well covered and precise. Ninety-nine percent of policieshave class rules for air travel, mainly based on flight duration, but fine-tuning theserules can often bring further savings. For hotel bookings, the category is implicit inthe choice of preferred properties, but policies often omit guidelines on what to dowhen properties are unavailable.In addition to better defining their travel policy, companies have significant scope forimproving compliance with the key rules, except class of air travel, which travelersgenerally respect. In fact, at least 45 percent of the transactions analyzed by CWT breakone or more of the rules.Non-compliance is a problem across the traveler population, although the majority ofcases are linked to a small minority of frequent travelers. (In one company studied, 25percent of all travelers—frequent travelers—make 60 percent of all late bookings.)Although travel managers generally believe that personal preference is the main reasonfor non-compliance (i.e., travelers want to exploit a frequent flyer program or have thefreedom to choose their hotel), the travelers themselves say that practicality and pricingcome first, as shown in the chart below. This implies a problem of perception for bothparties and/or a poor fit between travelers’ needs and the travel policy, whichcompanies should investigate further.
CWTvIsIon Issue 3 - January 200811Travelers rate practicality and pricing before personal preference as reasons for noncompliancewith travel rulesImportance of reasons behindchoice of non-preferred airlineImportance of reasons behindchoice of non-preferred hotelTravelers'viewTravel managers'viewTravelers'viewTravel managers'viewHighPracticalityPersonalpreferencePracticalityPersonalpreferenceMediumBetterpricingBetterpricingBetterpricingPracticalityLowPersonalpreferencePracticalityPersonalpreferenceBetterpricingSource: CWT Travel Management Institute - Based on a survey of travel managers (50 responses) and travelers (4,879 responses) in 2007.Note: Personal preference includes use of frequent flyer card, comfort and overall preference. Practicality includes proximity ofhotel to business destination, scheduling and flights availability.Key finding 4: Companies can maximize benefits by requiring travelers to bookthrough the travel management companyResearch shows that booking through the travel management company offers tangiblebenefits in terms of savings, service and security.Savings. Prices obtained by booking through the TMC are significantly lower thanthose obtained through Web intermediaries. A 20 percent difference in hotel rateswas observed in the CWT study, while a 15 percent difference in average air ticketprices was found by corporate travel consultancy Topaz International in a pricebenchmark published in 2007. 2 In addition, TMC agents can help companiesmaximize savings by promoting traveler compliance at the point of sale. For example,CWT reported 6-12 percent more compliance with preferred airlines and 15 percentmore compliance with preferred hotels for travelers using the TMC instead of otherchannels. Online booking can further enhance savings, as explained in the CWTresearch booklet Toward Excellence in Online Booking.Service and security. Travel managers recognize the service and security benefitsbrought by booking through the TMC. The majority of those surveyed by CWT statethat using alternative channels causes travelers to waste their own time and makestracking less effective in the event of an emergency.2Topaz International publishes regular comparative studies of corporate travel airfares booked by TMCs and those available onpublic Websites and airlines’ own Websites.
Page 1: Insights into Effective Travel Mana
Page 4 and 5: 2 ContentsEDITORIAL5 Looking AheadH
Page 6 and 7: 2008
Page 9 and 10: CWTvIsIon Issue 3 - January 2008INS
Page 11: CWTvIsIon Issue 3 - January 2008The
Page 15 and 16: CWTvIsIon Issue 3 - January 200813S
Page 17: CWTvIsIon Issue 3 - January 20081Ac
Page 20 and 21: 18 Priorities for MobilityWe have a
Page 22 and 23: 20 Priorities for Mobilitycontribut
Page 24 and 25: 22 Priorities for Mobility“The mo
Page 26 and 27: 24 Priorities for MobilityQuestion:
Page 29: CWTvIsIon Issue 3 - January 20082Op
Page 32 and 33: 30 Open Skies: Opening up Opportuni
Page 35 and 36: CWTvIsIon Issue 3 - January 200833L
Page 37 and 38: CWTvIsIon Issue 3 - January 20083As
Page 39 and 40: CWTvIsIon Issue 3 - January 20083Ho
Page 41: CWTvIsIon Issue 3 - January 20083Ex
Page 44 and 45: 42 Ten Business Travel trends for 2
Page 46 and 47: 44 Ten Business Travel trends for 2
Page 48 and 49: 46 Smart Solution: Program Complian
Page 50 and 51: 48 Smart Solution: Program Complian
Page 52 and 53: 0Ground Transportation: Worth Anoth
Page 54 and 55: 2Ground Transportation: Worth Anoth
Page 56 and 57: 4In BriefIn Brief54 Snapshot56 Soun
Page 58 and 59: 6In BriefSOUNDBITE“Air travelers
Page 60 and 61: 8In BriefNumerous airlinesunveiled
Page 62:
60 In BriefINDICATORSEvolution of a
show all

Getting With the Program - Carlson Wagonlit Travel

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?