In corporate travel, sourcing is all about negotiating deals with airlines, hotels, car rental companies and other suppliers. Of course, organizations want to get the best value, but travel procurement is about more than price. It’s also about using data to monitor performance on both sides, working with intermediaries, building deeper relationships and exploring new technologies that improve processes.
Startups are not the only travel management providers trying out new pricing models. Thirty-six-year-old family business ProfessionalTravelService.com, a Travel Leaders Group affiliate, is based in Minneapolis but lives online. Using Deem or SAP Concur, clients don’t pay online transaction fees as the TMC relies on supplier commissions and incentive payments. Services include traveler tracking through…
Consultant, auditor and GBTA-Australia & New Zealand deputy director Tony O’Connor raises interesting questions for corporate travel buyers as suppliers build a new basis for business travel commerce. The supply side is driving the personalization of online booking tools. I have never heard a travel buyer advocating for it. Perhaps it’s worth asking why suppliers…
Since before Lyft and Uber created programs for business, travel purchasing pros have been approaching them about volume-based benefits. Hard-dollar encouragement would help Uber and Lyft attract more managed corporate clients, especially those that effectively direct employees to one or the other. For now, though, the ride-hailing business programs barely register. Lyft in its pre-IPO…
Supplier revenue is important to travel agencies. Marketshare and incremental volume are important to airlines. A startup wants to provide both sides a platform for examining and optimizing airline incentive programs. There are many of those. Some are front-end commissions and others are back-end override deals. They can include overall volume goals and targets for…
New research by Morgan Stanley analysts suggested the prolonged period of strong corporate travel demand may hit speed bumps this year. After surveying 203 corporate travel managers last month, Morgan Stanley concluded that “travel budget expectations are the lowest they’ve been in recent history.” The March survey updated Morgan Stanley’s findings from a November poll….
Thanks for your interest in our new audio series in which we interview the industry veterans at GoldSpring Consulting about developments in travel management. In this second installment, recorded March 18, 2019, GoldSpring partner Will Tate talks to The Company Dime’s Jay Campbell about Southwest Airlines’ upcoming requirements for using credit cards online, supplier promotions…
Ground transportation entrepreneur David Litwak of Mozio makes a case for corporations to bring ridesharing services into the fold using traditional, consolidated travel purchasing strategies. The methods are familiar; it’s the will that’s missing. He argues it’s not too late. When the major rideshare players decided to make a move into corporate travel, they came…
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