Managing Corporate Travel in Today’s Complex Environment

Summary

Corporate travel, i.e., the need to travel to trade, has been around since ancient times. And while its big brother, tourism, has developed in leaps and bounds to cater to the ever-increasing demands of leisure travelers, the wheels in corporate travel have been moving much more slowly. But change is coming and it’s coming quick: Travel programs are morphing into strategic solutions to enable business growth.

Business travel is about trade, development, innovation and sharing information. Sadly, this is often lost in travel programs and policy. But when raising travel from a tactical to a strategic function, these core reasons come to the forefront again to help businesses succeed – wherever their business takes them.

As travel programs become more complex, the role of the travel manager must expand as well. Travel managers need to focus not just on traveler safety, cost and compliance, but on travel’s impact on the company’s overall goals. No longer order takers, travel managers also play a key role in enabling the strategic direction of the company.