Much of the rationale for a managed travel program is providing appropriate and satisfactory service to corporate travelers. That means working with airlines, hotels, ground transport firms, travel management companies, tech providers and others to optimize each step of a trip, from booking and planning through to post-trip reports and surveys.
Negotiating a discount off floating market rates is the prevailing model in airline corporate deals and a component of corporate hotel agreements. Is car rental the next sector to take this plunge with its medium-sized and larger accounts? There’s talk, but most observers don’t see that happening in the near term. “Hertz has always maintained…
Travel manager Brad Seitz touched a nerve in his June 22 Op Ed cautioning travel suppliers not to blame corporate clients for failing to precisely project when and to what degree booking volumes would recover. In his response below, CWT chief customer officer Nick Vournakis doesn’t make excuses for insufficient TMC service. He knows providers…
Everyone is swamped and emotions are running high in travel. Industry veteran Brad Seitz, now head of travel, facilities and sustainability for workforce management firm Pro Unlimited, is not alone in accusing travel suppliers, particularly travel management companies, of playing a blame game in laying responsibility for some service woes at the feet of their…
Holes in staff coverage are causing a corporate travel meltdown. For business process outsourcing firms, this may represent an opportunity even though they are not immune to many of the same issues. EXL Services, a $1.1 billion New York-based firm that supports an undisclosed portion of American Express Global Business Travel’s operation, dealt with the…
TakeTwo Travel Solutions, the new international travel management company founded by former Corporate Travel Management exec Chris Thelen, hired veteran TMC leader Patrick Fragale as president of the North America region. Fragale’s résumé includes three years as an executive vice president at Valerie Wilson Travel (now part of Frosch), two years as president of Protravel…
The hospitality industry’s labor issues make it hard to provide the services many corporate travelers expect. According to hotel company execs, service levels are recovering but at different paces depending on location. Travel buyers understand the staffing dilemmas facing many properties and try to ensure travelers know what they’ll encounter. Beyond the immediate term, some…
Business travel is back but management infrastructure is not, creating a stressed-out industry. For now, corporate travel professionals are doing whatever they can that’s within their control. That includes managing expectations among the traveling population and with senior execs, retraining employees on policies and procedures, updating profiles and preaching patience. A little finger-pointing is going…
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