Corporate social responsibility (CRS), risk management and traveller safety are likely to become major issues when Mark Avery takes over as chairman of the UK and Ireland Institute of Travel Management (ITM).
Mr Avery, head of business services for PricewaterhouseCoopers, said he thought how travel impacted on the environment would also become a major issue.
In his role at PwC, Mr Avery this year launched a strategy for a greener approach to travel.
This including more videoconferencing, efforts to "carbon-neutralise" air and car travel by
tree planting schemes, taking suppliers' green record into account and putting rail travel higher up the agenda.
He told a press briefing in London that he expected issues like duty of care, risk management, including occupational road risk and traveller safety to become increasingly important in 2006.
Others topics he earmarked for extra attention included compliance and consolidating transient and meetings spend into travel budgets.
"The whole issue of compliance is a key area we wish to address with our members so we can see hoe travel management both delivers and adds value to the corporate as opposed to having a free for all that could deliver all sorts of things," Mr Avery said.
Paul Tilstone, the new executive director of ITM, said the organisation planned to produce a series of monthly reports on topical issues to the industry, starting next January with a report on either crisis management or compliance.
The Institute, which has more than 1,000 members, is also planning to set up a travel clinic at the Business Travel Show in London in January where experienced travel managers can help newcomers to the role, broaden its education programme and hold halt yearly business travel summits.
It will also seek closer relationships or alliances with other associations in business travel management.
* Four new members have been elected to the ITM board: Derick Shaw, travel contracts manager for Norwich Union, Nicola Spence, commercial manager - travel for Smith and Nephew, Caroline Allen, sales manager - international markets for Cendant and Fay Sharpe, sales and marketing director for Zibrant.