Do rigid, frugal travel policies jeopardize employee performance? It’s debatable. Tripbam CEO Steve Reynolds is in the cost-control camp. His argument goes like this: It’s not the airplane seat or the hotel that makes for an effective trip. Get employees to their destinations safely and let their job training and specific skillset take it from there. “The cost… Read More »
Popularized by Tripbam and Yapta, hotel reshopping offers savings as rates fluctuate after initial bookings. But who controls exactly what gets reshopped and rebooked? Whose best interests are served? Microsoft’s recently released corporate travel manifesto raised these and more questions. The document alluded to conflicts of interest when travel management companies actively bias toward hoteliers in order to earn… Read More »
Travel management always has been about communication. Today it’s called engagement, and it’s crucial. Collecting feedback from travelers, coordinating with various departments and getting the right messages to the C-suite can be daunting. Repositioning the travel manager’s role may help. A recent job posting at Tesla reflects today’s thinking. The corporate travel manager for the Americas region that… Read More »
Sabre said its previously announced chatbot has gone into pilot with Travel Services International USA. Using Microsoft technology, the chatbot can help travelers with self-service support requests, allowing agents focus on more complex needs, noted Sabre Studios director Chad Callaghan. TSI clients will reach a white-label version of the chatbot through Facebook Messenger or TSI’s mobile app. “Travelers… Read More »
About five years ago, Microsoft created an internal carbon tax of sorts. Since then, business units have been responsible for carbon emissions associated with their electricity use and air travel. This year, the company began estimating the carbon footprint of its business travelers’ hotel stays. It will assess whether to include that information in calculations for the carbon… Read More »
Traveler engagement is an area of opportunity, but translating touchy-feely principles for a procurement mindset of compliance and savings is problematic. Many practitioners remain in the earliest stages of a more robust engagement program, studying and planning. According to an Association of Corporate Travel Executives/American Express Global Business Travel September 2016 survey of 254 corporate travel managers, 90… Read More »
Microsoft has avoided “significant disruptions to stakeholders” since deploying in May 2016 a travel management outsource model that pushes the frontier of process over people. While the client continues to “own” strategy and sourcing, American Express Global Business Travel handles day-to-day travel manager tasks previously assigned mainly to travel department contractors. The setup freed Microsoft’s own travel professionals… Read More »