Business Travel iQ
Nearly two-thirds (62%) of business travel buyers will have given travellers the freedom to book travel independently during 2014. This is according to The Business Travel Show's annual buyer survey. It's an interesting statistic on its own. But when you compare it to figures from 2013 and 2012, it's instantly clear just what a massive shift in attitude and policy this is.
This move towards more traveller freedom and taking a step back from mandatory compliance is in line with an overarching industry shift towards traveller rather than travel management - dubbed as Travel Management 2.0 - and an increasing focus on traveller well-being and responsible travel management
In 2013, just 36% of travel buyers allowed independent travel bookings. In 2012, this figure was 9%. Of the 62% of buyers mentioned above, 51% insist that their travellers book within policy guidelines. A more eyebrow-raising finding is that 11% do not. Despite this, the number of travellers who never book outside policy increased from 12% to 14% this year and 44% of buyers found it no more difficult to drive compliance in the last 12 months (42% in 2013, 40% in 2012).
Buyers are obviously still keen to drive compliance. Policies allow leverage, whether that's for better costs or better deals, and the top three methods used by buyers to drive compliance are:
- The adoption of preferred suppliers — 71%
- The use of online tools — 57%
- Educational awareness among travellers — 53%
It's not all carrot, though, as it would seem some organisations are also happy to use the metaphorical stick in the pursuit of perfect policy adoption as 9% of buyers issue penalties to travellers who do not comply (funnily enough, 9% of travellers regularly go rogue) and 26% incentivise travellers to book cheaper travel solutions with the budgets they are given.
Still, three-quarters of buyers claim travellers book outside of policy on occasion, which matched last year's 75%, and the main drivers behind this activity were 'personal preference' (31%) followed by price (21%) and the desire to go direct (14%).