know where he or she found it and, if there is still a reason not to allow it, that reason has to be communicated to the traveller, the budget-holder and, ultimately, the boardroom. “Travel management today is focused on ‘smarter’ travel, and even travel avoidance,” says Stone.
On the supply side, hospitality industry consultant Simon Scarborough, founder of Simon Scarborough Associates, whose career spans senior roles with Thistle Hotels and Peel Hotels among others, says: “There is no question the corporate travel manager’s role has changed beyond all recognition, largely because the hospitality landscape has changed beyond all recogni- tion as well. “Even just a couple of decades ago, while negotiations were inevitably centred on price, consistency of product was vital. Hotel brands that could offer the same rooms, with the same furnishings, the same menus, the same service levels, regardless of destination, were on to a winner. Corporate deals were almost exclusively volume-driven, and nobody paid much attention to travellers’ prefer- ences – they did what they were told, and they were told to be grateful for it. “The real revolution came with the advent of boutique hotels, which tore up the cookie-cutter rule-book and focused on quirky individuality. At the same time, the dramatic rise in the use of personal computers to access the internet gave those travellers a glimpse of what they were
missing and, unsurprisingly, they began to go off-piste.”
There are a number of other strands to the story, says Scarborough – 2008’s finan- cial meltdown and the introduction of more stringent duty-of-care legislation key among them. “Corporate travel managers needed to keep costs under control, and to do that they needed to bring travellers back into line,” he says. “Since the travellers wouldn’t change, that ‘line’ had to. More recently still, there has been a growing recognition among corporate employers that ‘productivity’ matters at least as much as, if not more than, ‘price’. A happy traveller works better – and more profitably – than a disgruntled one. If it costs a little more to keep that traveller happy, in most cases that’s a price worth paying.”
And these changes are reflected in the hospitality sector itself, he says, with mul- tiplying ‘lifestyle’ brands, the growth of the boutique sector, and growing corporate use of serviced apartments – none of this makes the travel manager’s life easier. He says a combination of these factors has made the travel manager’s job more complex and challenging. “That said, complexity and challenge bring their own rewards. A tough task well done is much more satisfying than a straightforward job that you just sail through.”
It gets more complicated still. One travel manager says that when she left her previ- ous role to move to a new position, her old
travel buyers often politely decline to comment. “What makes a good travel manager?” proves to be a rather touchy subject. “What if my boss sees it and decides I’m not good enough?” asks one individual in the utilities sector. “It would be like writing my own resignation letter.” However, anonymously
they are more forthcoming. One university travel buyer says: “There is no one job
job was advertised as requiring “technol- ogy skills” as a high priority.
“Employers are demanding more and more of employees on the road,” she says, “so they barely have time to make phone calls – unless something goes wrong – let alone have face-to-face conversations or attend briefing sessions. Everything has to be done via email, intranet and even social media. It’s all ‘in the moment’. Travellers who need information need it now, so constant contact is a pre-requisite.” The GBTA has a word of warning. “Travel management is still misunderstood and undervalued by some corporations today. Therefore, the role of business travel within the corporate structure must be placed in proper context so that its value can be measured and appreciated.” Then again, that was a month ago. It’s probably changed since then...
description, because it’s not one job – you have to be able to juggle a whole lot of things, every day. I’d say ‘communication skills’ would have to be top of the list.” Indeed, “communications”
are the most frequently referenced attribute, along with “dealing with people” (which is much the same thing) and “strategic thinking”.
One energy sector buyer says you need to be aware of the gaps in your knowledge whether your experience is
in the procurement or travel managing disciplines. He says while procurement professionals have a lot to learn about how travel is a complex and nuanced category, likewise travel managers need to learn best practice procurement skills to build valuable relationships with suppliers. A travel buyer in the engineering sector adds: “You have to be an effective facilitator in many areas of the role. For example, creating a travel policy means bringing
together your TMC with key stakeholders such as HR, finance, health & safety, IT, facility management, etc.” Another source says simply:
“There was a travel buyer job going earlier this year which went to an IT specialist. Travel technology – particularly mobile – is where we’re all going.” Top answer, as they say on
TV’s Family Fortunes, comes from a contact in the banking business. “What makes a good travel manager?” “Me. What more do you want?”
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