Ground transport
costs. Strangely, however, one item of outlay tends to slip under the bean counters’ radar and that’s ground transportation. Cost-cutting attention is focused on air
T
fares and hotel bills, with staff despatched on their travels in economy rather than business class, and having to stay in a lower grade of hotel on arrival. Ground transportation traditionally gets
a cursory nod, with executive expenditure often unchecked and unmanaged. This is despite the fact it is a major element of corporate travel outlay, covering everything from car rental and taxis to the use of chauffeur-driven limousines, coach hire and company cars. Like many of his peers in travel manage- ment, Brian Merry, director of ancillary products for the Hogg Robinson Group (HRG), finds the oversight incomprehensible. “Ground transportation is the last bastion of unmanaged travel,” he says. “The industry has mastered expenditure on airlines and hotels but, critically, most companies keep no record of their spend on ground transportation. They could be forking out £3million without knowing it.” But times they could be a-changing. A
recent survey by Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), revealed a growing acknowledge- ment of the importance of integrating ground transport into travel budgets. The company asked 800 travel managers around the globe to list their priorities for 2013, with savings on air and ground transport coming top of the list. Says Nigel Turner, CWT’s director of
programme management and business development, UK & Ireland: “Our research shows that currently, on average, seven per cent of a company’s travel budget is allocated to car rental, for example, and in 2012 we saw a year-on-year increase of 1.29 per cent in clients’ use of hire vehicles. So suppliers who are able to offer a simpler process are likely to reap the rewards. “The more data customers have access
to, the better. If a supplier can show information on the total cost of travel –
➔ THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE 57
ravel buyers won’t need to be reminded they have been in the vanguard of post-recessionary attempts to find ways of reducing
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