Advantage Travel Partnership is noticing a clear divide in the way corporates are approaching travel decisions amid the ongoing Middle East crisis and rising air fares.
It says while there has been a “marked softening” in sentiment among corporate travel buyers, organisations are responding differently depending on who is paying for the trip.
“In the legal or consultancy sectors, for example, where travel costs are being covered by external clients, travel is largely continuing to operate on a business-as-usual basis,” said Andrea Caulfield-Smith, Managing Director, Global Business Travel.
“But in the servicing model, where travel budgets sit internally, or where it’s a conference for personal development, the approval process has been tightened and there is a stronger focus on purposeful travel.”
Speaking to The Business Travel Magazine at the Advantage conference in Madrid this week, Caulfield-Smith said she was confident the situation in the Middle East is a “temporary blip” and said once it’s resolved, travel will quickly open up again.
She said the current crisis was also an opportunity for TMCs to win the accounts of SMEs with unmanaged travel who are struggling to navigate the current disruption, complexities and travel risks.
The situation has shone a spotlight on the importance of proactive duty of care tools that can identify traveller locations in real time and enable swift engagement between TMCs and client security teams, she explained.
“We have also noted that recent events have exposed gaps in both tool capabilities and TMC response protocols and areas the industry must urgently address,” she added.
The consortium has signed a partnership with AI and data specialist Domo and is working with other tech innovators who can help TMC members provide disruption management to their clients.
“There are tools now available which can manage disruption, so that travellers are rebooked and a solution is found before they even know their trip has been disrupted,” she said.
