immemorial travel managers have usually proved the supposedly cheaper fare fails to take extras charges into account or carries much less flexible conditions. However, Steinke believes that has changed. “The traveller does know better now,” she says. “They have the tools to hand.” Another advocate of change quoted in the white paper is Lori O’Connell, who heads up US travel and meetings programmes for PWC (Pricewaterhouse Coopers). “What is making us pause to reflect is the emergence of mobility along with new ways to capture data,”
Since time immemorial, travellers have irritated travel managers by claiming to find a better fare through unofficial channels
company booking tool. “The older ones contact me to say: ‘I can’t log on’. The younger ones ask questions like: ‘Can I get the tool on my iPad?’ ‘Can I use the app that I like?’ and ‘Can I book elsewhere?’” she says.
WHO KNOWS BEST? Since time immemorial, travellers have irritated travel managers by claiming to find a better fare through unofficial channels, and since time
says O’Connell. “The average age of our travellers is 27. They are very accustomed to smartphones and tablets, and they want more independence in how they manage their own travel. Three years down the line, our travel programme may be about making sure corporate discounts are available beyond our usual booking channels and aggregating the booking information regardless of how the reservation is made. It would be a mistake to remain stuck in the current position of requiring travellers to use the official booking channel and comply with a rigid policy. I’m thinking more about the carrot than the stick.” In sharp contrast, Bruss detects no restlessness among the natives, even the digital ones. “Neither I nor my
MANAGED TRAVEL 2.0 THE KEY ELEMENTS
• Shop anywhere • Book anyone – so long as the supplier is safe • Book anywhere – so long as the employer gets the data fast • Book anything – so long as the trip is in budget
Source: Scott Gillespie and Evan Konwiser, 2012
colleagues in human resources are receiving complaints or suggestions for improvement on this issue, and I don’t see any more travellers saying they can find a better rate than usual,” he says. “Every time we look into it, we find the travellers’ fare is not comparable or that the travel management company [TMC] can also find the fare or an even better one.”
TOEING THE LINE A survey of 305 ACTE buyer members for the Airplus/ACTE white paper proves that Bruss’s views align with the overwhelming majority of travel managers. Only 15 per cent of respondents are dissatisfied with their current levels of policy compliance. What is more, 53 per cent believe their travellers have become more compliant over the past two years and 48 per cent expect compliance to improve over the next two years. Only 8 per cent have experienced deteriorating compliance over the past two years, and just 15 per cent anticipate any weakening over the next two years. Since buyers believe the situation
ain’t broke, it is little surprise they see no need to fix it – at least not through greater policy flexibility. Only 8 per cent expect to have fewer rules in two years. Instead, 32 per cent believe they will have more. Yet another travel manager quoted in the white paper, Veolia Environnement corporate transport director Abdelaziz Bougja, explains why MT2.0 would be disastrous. Bougja believes it would undermine corporate strategy on every major point, starting with duty of care. Veolia employees travel heavily to developing nations and the official reservations process is used to create vaccination alerts. Bougja also says corporate deals would be destroyed, as would hard-won process efficiencies, such as using a centrally billed payment account (lodge card) to pay for flights booked through the TMC, which is then uploaded as a single monthly invoice into the company’s accounting system.