Direct Travel

Reporter’s Notebook: At GBTA, New Airline Distribution Disenchants

Education sessions at the Global Business Travel Association’s annual convention last month had a few main themes, with risk, sustainability and payment getting lots of attention. Distribution also enjoyed significant airtime, but not the hotel or car rental kind. Airline distribution sessions were packed.  For many, the prevailing feeling was that the industry had picked…

Hotel Service Is Still Below Par, But Execs Say It’s Improving

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…

With Pana Out Of The Picture, Some TMCs See Non-Employee Travel As A Discrete Revenue Line

Arranging and purchasing travel for guests, interns, recruits and other non-employees is perceived by some to be challenging enough that focusing on it helped the entrepreneurs at Pana build a company interesting enough to be acquired. Spend management firm Coupa had other reasons to pay $48.5 million plus stock for Pana, and some customers now are…

Amex GBT Claims ‘Highest’ Net Promoter Scores Based On McKinsey Survey It Won’t Share

Among the materials made public last week by American Express Global Business Travel was a chart showing how the Net Promoter Score for Egencia and Amex GBT exceeded those of some key rivals, in some cases by quite a bit. GBT didn’t conduct the study; McKinsey & Co. ran it in July and August for…

Concerned About Cross-Border Fiascos, Travel Management Professionals Preach Flexibility, Patience And Preparation

Corporate travel professionals are concerned that the apparatus of international travel won’t be ready for an expected uptick in businesspeople wanting to cross borders in the coming months. Processes for documenting inoculation and negative tests remain works in progress, while international transit rules are tremendously complicated and often change with little notice. Corporate travel buyers…

Polls Show Signs Of Optimism As Corporate Travel Remains Off By Roughly 70 Percent Versus 2019

The latest in a recurring survey by the Global Business Travel Association showed growing optimism among corporate travel buyers regarding their colleagues’ willingness to travel. Seventy-five percent of 290 buyer members from around the world last week indicated their companies’ employees were “very” or “somewhat” willing to travel for business “in the current environment,” according…

CWT, Direct Travel Join Travel Management Company Coalition Advocating For Reopening Borders

A little over a year ago, as the pandemic ramped up, five of the largest corporate travel management companies banded together and hired a Washington lobbying firm. They wanted to ensure their sector’s plight was understood by lawmakers debating early relief packages. Now focused on easing international travel restrictions, the effort recently welcomed two more…

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