Fixing most corporate travel programmes today is like adding modern technology to a 1960s television set. You might improve parts of the experience, but fundamentally, you’re still working with something never designed for how we operate today. So why do we accept this in business travel?

Fragmented content. Duplicated data. PNRs that don’t connect. Layers of legacy systems, added over time, until complexity becomes normalised as “just the way things are done”.

These compromises are familiar. For those newer to the industry, they’re often positioned as unavoidable and written off as “legacy issues” that can be improved, but never truly solved. But that assumption no longer holds.

Today, we don’t need to keep repairing what was built for a different era and managing workarounds. The combination of modern platforms, richer content and true connectivity means we have a genuine opportunity to step back, challenge what we’ve inherited and design something fit for business travel today.

This isn’t about another enhancement or incremental upgrade. It’s about a reset. The real question isn’t just “What if you could start again?”, it’s, “Why wouldn’t you?”

Having spent years working with travel leaders navigating exactly these decisions, one thing is clear: Modern platforms are solving the legacy issues and headaches we’ve all been facing. But that’s just the start. Resetting is about rethinking the fundamentals too: how you engage your business, who you bring into the process, what you prioritise, and how you create a programme that adds value. With modern infrastructure at the core rebuilding your programme with purpose is finally possible.

If you had a blank sheet of paper – or a magic wand – how would you rebuild your travel programme? What would you keep, what would you discard, what works, and what would you design differently?

Start with the business, not the tools

My first conversation would be with the people shaping the company’s future. I’d engage my CEO and C-Suite early, get buy-in and understand how they see travel supporting the business. I’d align travel with their objectives and goals. Then I would show how travel can add value, in their terms.

If travel wants to be a strategic function, it must start with a clear view of where the business is heading over the next three, five, or 10 years and support the business to get there. Ask these questions:

• What are our commercial objectives?
• How do we want to grow?
• Where are we investing, and why?
• What does good decision making look like five years from now?

Travel doesn’t sit outside those answers. It enables them.

Choose technology for where your business is going, not where it’s been

So many programmes are built around existing tools, rather than around business outcomes and needs. That’s how organisations end up having to manage workarounds instead of removing them.

With modern infrastructure at its core, a reset is an opportunity to design something intentionally connected, scalable and ready for the future.

That starts by engaging technology leadership. Travel should sit within an ecosystem that connects people, data and decisions across expenses, HR and duty of care, not work in silo, or as an add-on. You want one connected platform.

• Ask the bigger questions:
• What is our long term approach to technology?
• How do AI, automation and self-service fit in?
• What systems can connect?
• How are modern platforms using open APIs to connect databases and systems, and what are the benefits
• Where can technology remove friction, and where does human expertise add value?

Consistency matters

Multiple tools across regions create complexity for travellers, travel managers, and data visibility. That doesn’t need to be the case. One global platform. One set of data. One clear strategy.

This doesn’t mean ignoring local needs but designing a global programme with them in mind from the start.

Global alignment delivers a consistent experience, one place for bookings and data, and a unified travel programme.

When travel is consistent, measurable and aligned, it becomes easier to justify investment, demonstrate the value of manageed travel, and show impact to your organisation’s leadership.

Listen to the people who matter most 

Technology alone will not deliver change. Engagement will. Spend time listening to the people who use the programme most:  frequent travellers, senior executives, and those who regularly book outside of policy.

Understand where frictions exists and what “good” looks like now and in the future. Bring those voices into the design process early. Those most affected should help shape the change.

Own your content strategy

Rebuilding also means rethinking how content is sourced and delivered.

I wouldn’t rely solely on traditional distribution channels. I’d design a content strategy that brings suppliers closer through direct connections where they add value.

Done properly on open API, this gives travellers access to all content in one place, from negotiated rates to loyalty benefits, and a better user experience that will ensure they stay on programme.

The commercial impact is real too. Direct connections can unlock huge savings of around 10% for some hotels and airlines compared with GDS content, and eliminates GDS surcharges – often £16-£20 per booking. It’s about intelligently centralising content for better choice and better value.

Build momentum through pioneers 

Every organisation has early adopters willing to test and challenge new ideas. Bring them on the journey, use them to stress test ideas and let them help socialise change before it becomes mandatory. Pilot new processes and technology with them.

Transformation doesn’t happen by enforcement, but through advocacy. 

A moment to reset 

We’re at an inflection point for business travel. The tools available today mean we no longer have to accept legacy limitations. The shift is simple: we’re no longer fixing travel programmes – we’re rebuilding them.

So, take that blank sheet of paper and design for tomorrow, not yesterday.

Because when travel works properly, it doesn’t just move people around the world, it moves the business forward and puts you in the driving seat.

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