GTMC COLUMN PAUL WAIT Look both ways
Recruiting young talent is key to a new generation of successful travel management
W
HEN IT COMES TO THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS TRAVEL, conversation tends to move quickly
to the impact of technology and its continuing advancement. At a time when travel management companies (TMCs) are increasingly aware of the need to adapt their business models in a digital age, it’s also essential we factor in the impact that the changing business traveller profile will have on the way we work. According to the GTMC’s
research, 46 per cent of business travellers were under 45 in 2013. Just three years later, this figure has already rocketed to 73 per cent. So it stands to reason that company mentalities also need to evolve to accommodate the fast-changing profile of our customers. Key to this will be ensuring that TMCs invest in employees from Generation Y and increase their number of millennial travel managers
MOVERS & SHAKERS
to better reflect this demographic’s differing priorities.
Paul Wait is chief executive of the Guild of Travel Management Companies (
gtmc.org)
Like many of my peers, I’ve experienced the huge variety of technology developing at incredible speed that now forms part of my day-to-day job. So having tech-savvy team members who were born into the digital age and have innate technological confidence can prove an unbeatable asset. This is all the more apparent when demonstrating to clients that you understand their younger travellers’ specific – and often more spontaneous and self-reliant – expectations. What’s more, as the sharing economy and the idea of ‘bleisure’ breaks become accepted parts of our marketplace, the future of many TMCs and their adoption of emerging trends may well depend on the calibre of candidates they can recruit and nurture.
Two years ago the GTMC People Strategy Group sought to attract more young people into our sector by supporting the Travel Consultant Apprenticeship from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Since then we’ve continued to encourage our members to offer the apprenticeships that will develop the next generation of business travel professionals as part of their growth strategy.
Amid all the talk of a technological
revolution, it can be easy to forget that cultivating relationships is still at the heart of business travel, and the two are far from mutually exclusive. Our job now is to ensure we collectively find the best way to recruit the right talent to ensure both coexist for the good of our industry.
CHARLES FORBES Hillgate Travel UK has appointed Charles Forbes as chief operating officer. Most recently, he was operations general manager and director of operational support at Capita Travel and Events and head of business implementations at Expotel.
94 BBT November/December 2016
ALISON FITZGERALD London City Airport has appointed Alison Fitzgerald as chief operating officer. She joined the airport in 2014 as chief information officer (CIO). Before that she was CIO at the Financial Times, and spent 16 years at Abbey National/Santander.
DAVID BISHOP Portman has appointed David Bishop as sales director. Bishop returns to Portman after two years working as global business development director at Atriis Technologies. Before that, he was senior vice-president of sales at Portman for five years.
MARC RODLEY Marc Rodley has been named as GTMC’s new sales manager. Rodley comes from REL Field Marketing, where he spent three years as regional sales manager for the UK. Before that, he spent three years as merchandise manager with Limelight Group.
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
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