“We are team managers, marketing experts, business case creators, stakeholder managers and part of the digital workforce”
travel, event and fleet services director for Unilever Enterprise and Technology Solu- tions. She agrees wholeheartedly that the role is changing. “I think we need to realise and accept that the world has changed and we need to adapt,” she says. “We cannot sit back and relax, and just
think that everything will work as it has done for the past 20 years. The requirements for travel programmes, and for us as travel professionals, have changed.” Moya, newly appointed to the European
Council of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE), warms to her theme. “We are no longer travel experts as a stand-alone function, where it is simply sufficient to know the industry, know what a GDS [global distribution system] is and what a TMC does, or just to have some background knowledge of travel processes. We are now team managers, marketing experts, financial people, business case creators, stakeholder managers and part of the digital workforce. We had better get prepared for this and start to deliver brilliant basics in our category.” She continues: “The skillset will need
to change and we also need to look at the requirements of the travellers. All in all, it will be a really exciting time if we get it right, both as an industry and as individuals.”
EMPHASIS ON STRATEGY Lynne Griffiths, managing director of Sirius Executive Search, underlines the point that the old job description is, well, just old. “There has been a trend for some time that
has shown an emphasis on the ‘strategic’ travel manager, rather than the ‘operational’ travel manager,” she says. “There is no one- size-fits-all, but generally we see travel management positions sitting either within the procurement function or alongside it, perhaps in finance, for example. “Some organisations use procurement
to source travel suppliers and then pass the programme over for the travel manager to manage. Increasingly, the ‘traditional’ role is occupied by a TMC account manager, dealing with operational problems, assist- ing with communications, managing the programme and the suppliers, and so on.” However, a more complex picture
emerges when looking at the career paths of the senior travel buyers that make up
122 BBT January/February 2017
our panel of judges for the Business Travel Awards: Only three of the 13 profess to come from purely procurement back- grounds. Others have ‘graduated’ from British Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, United Airlines and Gulf Air, from HRG and American Express – and that’s just what they own up to. The changing nature of the ‘travel’ role is reflected in job titles – nowadays everyone is a ‘global category manager’ or a ‘source delivery manager’ – but it also means that there are inevitably fewer big fish swimming in a relatively small pond. Insofar as they change roles at all, are they simply swapping jobs, or is there much in the way of ‘fresh opportunities’ on the market?
“A combination of both – many procure-
ment professionals who are assigned to the travel category decide to stay in the sector,” says Griffiths. “We also see travel managers transition into other procurement roles within their organisation. “There also continues to be expertise
from the supplier side – particularly expe- rienced TMC account managers – who make the transition. This is particularly true when they are already working on the account, as understanding their travel programme and corporate culture enables an easy transition as they are a ‘known commodity’.”
CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT As any travel buyer will attest, the post comes with plenty of challenges, from renegade road warriors to tightwad chief financial officers, not to mention suppliers intent on screwing down white-knuckle deals – but the rewards aren’t shabby. Griffiths says: “Salaries range according to
the role, geographic remit and responsibil- ity. Starting salary for a UK travel manager would be around £50,000, progressing to significant six-figure packages for leading a global team with a major multinational.” Good, but no cigar. According to the latest Compensation and Benefits study from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) Foundation, entry-level salaries in the US average out at US$74,000, or around £60,000 per annum. Directors earn an average of US$161,000 (£130,000), over 60 per cent more than managers on an average of US$100,000 (£81,000). Across the board, average compensation
for US travel buyers saw a moderate 1.8 per cent year-over-year increase in 2016, reach- ing US$114,000 (around £90,000), according to the GBTA’s annual study. Whether it is worth the upheaval of crossing the Pond for a new life – and a few dollars more – is open to debate. “At a senior level, we tend not to move around much,” one senior level buyer told Buying Business Travel. “In the oil and gas sector, and probably in many others, there is always more to be done – the task is never finished. “On the exploration side, there are always new markets opening up, but on
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