Among the effects of the Covid-19 crisis is more dialogue about the efficacy of the prevailing transaction fee pricing structure used by travel management companies. Based on his experience in the technology services industry as it adopted the Software-as-a-Service approach, Fox World Travel chief information officer Sam Hilgendorf makes a case for subscriptions and other…
Rocketrip has been crunching TSA data to create projections on the pace of the rebound in air traffic. As vice president of marketing Liam Moroney explains, such projections can be useful for travel companies rebuilding operations and considering future staffing needs. The internet is awash with predictions about when travel will return and what new…
Covid-19 came out of nowhere and the economic rebound is going to take much longer than previously anticipated. AmTrav president and co-founder Craig Fichtelberg is optimistic about the travel industry overcoming the challenge. In this guest post, he argues for an improved federal stimulus package and a consensus behind return-to-business and return-to-travel plans. Businesses need…
A few years ago, Cornerstone Information Systems CEO Mat Orrego wrote the first installment of this editorial. From his perspective, recent events have illustrated some exceptional, successful cases of the kind of problem-solving in action that he had discussed. For some, according to Orrego, it’s now about pivoting or perishing. This pandemic has forced us…
Amid deteriorating macroeconomic conditions, cash is crucial. Global VAT reclaim from international business travel is a way to recover some. ProKonsul Consulting’s Gaurav Sundaram provides pointers on maximizing the opportunity. Global VAT reclaim (GVR) is today the single-largest untapped savings opportunity inherent in business travel programs. The opportunity is twofold — monetizing both past and…
Louise Miller, managing partner in the Americas for Areka Consulting, sees opportunity for suppliers and buyers to reorient their thinking and emerge from the pandemic crisis with improved products and programs. For travel management companies, the key is to recognize the forces behind innovation. Over the past five years, we’ve seen unprecedented investment in the…
Travel buyers are three to five weeks into navigating the Covid-19 emergency. Those first weeks were dominated by crisis response, cancelations, repatriations, internal communications and ensuring continuity of service amid changing travel management company configurations. With those immediate needs met and some hopeful signs on the near horizon, GoldSpring Consulting partner Neil Hammond’s thoughts turn…
Airlines around the world are facing an unprecedented cash crunch, with more canceled and changed itineraries than new bookings. As a result, carriers are pushing vouchers and other ways to bank credit in lieu of refunds. BCD Travel director of research and intelligence Mike Eggleton explains the approach and speculates on what it means for…
Strong leadership skills are never more important than during a crisis, and that includes staying connected with the people who make up an organization. First as the head of global sales for American Airlines and then with multiple executive search firms, Frank Morogiello learned a thing or two about the topic. Throughout my career and…
Prof. Robert Quigley, M.D., is SVP and regional medical director in the Americas for International SOS Assistance and MedAire. Here he stresses a conscientious approach to the spread of the coronavirus and offers guidance for organizations and their travelers. The continued increase of confirmed cases of Covid-19 globally, as well as in the United States,…
Expanding global business travel programs to India, and in particular bringing in the operations of travel management company used in other markets, can prove challenging. As laid out by Gaurav Sundaram, president of India-based consultancy ProKonsul, a well-researched strategy, strong executive endorsement and a clear go-to-market plan can be the keys to your success. As…
Travelers don’t care how service providers get all the travel purchase options in front of them, just that they do. AmTrav CEO Jeff Klee discusses how to chart progress toward that goal, which in his mind is all that matters in NDC development. So here we are in 2020, the year when New Distribution Capability…
There’s been a lot of confusion since the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) emerged a month ago in Wuhan in China’s Hubei province. This week, several companies stopped or curtailed travel to China, including Facebook, HSBC and LG, according to published reports. Many travel managers are looking for information to make sound decisions and help travelers. Kevin…
Keesup Choe of PredictX suggests that targeted selling algorithms using artificial intelligence can help buyers control spend and create leverage for supplier negotiations. As modern-age consumers, we have more or less accepted we are being monitored through our devices, search history, online shopping activity and use of social media. We know there are algorithms in…
Actively managing the largest proportion of spending possible is a primary goal for buyers across various categories. The corporate travel category presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities. Areka Consulting’s Louise Miller explains. Many procurement professionals tell me they consider the percentage of spend under management as one of the top metrics defining procurement’s…
