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Posted Jul 13, 2010
I was in London a couple of weeks back to attend the Business Travel Market, a conference and trade show for the UK and broader European corporate travel market. In the opening remarks, Jon West, HRS's Commercial Director for the UK and Ireland, posed the following question to the audience comprised mostly of corporate travel buyers:
“Do you make your travel program easy for you, or for your travelers?”
Posted Jun 15, 2010
It has been quite a few years now since globalisation, or should I say attempted globalisation, became the trend. Travel management companies amalgamated, acquired and re-launched just so they could offer a solution that crossed all geographical boundaries.
Posted May 28, 2010
MacNair Travel Management, a privately owned American Express Representative Office in the Washington, DC area, announced today a complimentary Webinar titled “Travel Management Solutions for Association Staff, Committees and Members” scheduled for Thursday, July 22nd at 12pm EST.
Posted May 21, 2010
Regarding Management.travel's interview with Sapient global travel manager Michelle De Costa:
Deltek has also implemented a new social media program where travel shifted from the company intranet to a company Sharepoint blog. We are the first department to begin using Sharepoint in this manner. All content was moved regarding travel and the corporate credit card program.
Posted Apr 16, 2010
Technology innovation and the shifting economy are prompting ongoing, significant changes to the field of travel management. There are alternatives to traditional travel, such as virtual office arrangements and temporary or permanent relocation of employees to minimize the disruption of travel. Companies are also choosing to place employees geographically closer to clients, which increases investments in business driving and decreases commercial air travel spending.
Posted Apr 7, 2010
You're quite a masochist if you choose to squish four kids into a minivan for a 15-hour road trip to Cooperstown, NY, an adventure to the Baseball Hall of Fame. That is, unless you've made a wise investment to "pimp your ride" with a DVD player. It's one instance when I fully advocate turning my kids into mindless drones, to replace the whining, fighting and constant ringing of "are we there yet," with bug-eyed blank stares that are mesmerized by a sea-dwelling sponge that wears pants. The return on investment (ROI) for a moving movie theater is my sanity. Let's just say that I hit a positive ROI with this investment before we even hit the freeway onramp.
The ROI of business travel
Whereas I measure my return in terms of peace and sanity, most corporations look to revenue and ultimately profits.
Posted Apr 5, 2010
Business travel is the second-largest controllable cost for the average U.S. organization and in 2010’s "new normal," procurement managers are preparing for: more travel using the same if not smaller budgets (56% of NBTA's 2010 Business Travel Forecast respondents cautiously reported that they expected their spending to increase - 31% expected flat spending*); the fact that air, hotel, and car rental rates will go down (between 1% to 8%*); negotiated deals remaining prevalent for those who can control and direct spending (70% of travel managers reported that they think they will negotiate better hotel rates, 30% think they will get better car and air deals*); increased pressure to leverage more of their travel and meeting spend to reduce costs and enhance benefits; virtual travel to play a larger role as well a mobile tools; miscellaneous costs to continue to rise; and lastly that national, world and emergency situations will require support and communication systems.
Posted Mar 25, 2010
Growing up, I was an unruly kid. I had every trick in the book up my sleeve, and when my folks tried to get me to do something against my will, let’s just say that I could put Ferris Bueller to shame. Despite my magical talents, I was SOL when my mom made pasta faggioli (or as we called it pasta fazool) for dinner. There I was picking out the pasta from the beans, and unfortunately, my old man would have none of that. You either ate it all, or went hungry because there were no substitutions on Mom’s menu. Being even skinnier than I am now, it was a sad day when Little TD was forced to go to sleep without eating dinner.
Posted Mar 24, 2010
In my position as general manager of client services for Travel and Transport, I traveled significantly last year and have been on an airplane 12 weeks in a row in 2010. Okay, I have to admit, one of the weeks out of the 12 was a vacation to Mexico with the family.
Posted Mar 9, 2010
In Part One I gave my view as to who should buy travel within a corporation. To recap, I pointed out that no one person should do it. Instead an alliance of procurement and operational management was required pulled together by the influence and gravitas of a hands-on board sponsor.
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