The Hindu Business Line : `Response lukewarm to corporate travel policy'

Eye-opener
40% of business travellers believe their company does not have a corporate travel policy.
82% travel managers more optimistic about travellers' awareness.
Managers satisfied with their outsourced travel services provider.

Bangalore , Aug. 26

Even as business travel management is getting increasingly important for companies to reduce costs, the lukewarm response of business travellers to corporate travel policy has put paid to cost savings.

A survey commissioned by Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), a travel management company, has found that while 99 per cent of the travel managers said their company had a corporate travel policy, the travellers' level of awareness and understanding of it was often limited, as was the knowledge of the ramifications of non-compliance.

Gap in understanding

The CWT Business Travel Indicator, a global survey of 650 travel managers and 2,100 business travellers in the world's top 12 business markets, found that there was often a gap in understanding between the two parties.

Forty per cent of business travellers believed their company did not have a corporate travel policy or they were, at best, only somewhat familiar with it. More than half of all business travellers (56 per cent) who acknowledged having a corporate travel policy viewed their policy as a guideline, while a majority of travel managers (64 per cent) said it was mandatory.

Forty-eight per cent said there were no ramifications for them or for their company when they booked outside of the company's travel policy.

Managers optimistic

Travel managers, however, were more optimistic about travellers' awareness. When they were asked if travellers understood the ramifications for booking outside of the corporate travel policy, 82 per cent responded in the affirmative, while 16 per cent said "no".

In this context, as many as 24 per cent of business travellers admitted they booked outside of the policy five or more times per year, with another 31 per cent doing so one to four times annually. Only 44 per cent said they never booked outside of the policy.

Performance evaluation

More than half the travel managers interviewed cited cost savings when asked what the company management most expected from them followed by traveller compliance with corporate travel policy. Traveller safety was mentioned next.

In-house travel managers stressed customer service as the most important measure by which travel managers evaluated their outsourced travel services provider, with 89 per cent of them designating it very important.

Experience (82 per cent), access to all airline inventory (80 per cent), data reporting (74 per cent), price (70 per cent) and traveller tracking (61 per cent) were the other indicators.

Travel managers expressed satisfaction with their outsourced travel services provider, 92 per cent of them indicating they were somewhat satisfied with basic customer services and 77 per cent said the same with regard to strategic services, including supplier negotiations, access to airline content and consulting services. Compared to basic customer services, however, the performance of outsourced travel service providers is uneven in this area.

Seventy-six per cent of business travellers think that online booking would be the most effective way to drive consistent policy compliance.

More Stories on : Travel & Places | Marketing Research

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Import of another 20 l tonne of wheat cleared

Carbon credits: It's advantage China

Mylan close to taking Matrix

`Response lukewarm to corporate travel policy'

Gujarat floods cost diamond units Rs 1,800 cr

DoT extends wireless operating licence validity to 5 years

`CSE report on pesticide residue inconclusive'