Travel managers will not be needed within five to ten years, Alexander Stendal, consultant with the German purchasing association, Bundesverband Materialwirtschaft Einkauf und Logistik (BME), said.
Speaking at the Berlin forum of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, Mr Stendal said: “In five to ten years time, everyone who needs to travel will have a PC and if they have to go away for six days, the computer will do it and book the flights and hotel.
“You will not need a travel manager, just someone to do the negotiating.”
It was a view fully opposed by Jo-Achim Hamburger, corporate travel manager for AB Electrolux, who told the 70 delegates: “There will be an increasing need for companies to have a qualified travel manager because of the increasing complexities of travel.
“You will need them for negotiating big contracts and providing the right, safe and secure environment for employees to travel with the least pain and most comfort.
“There will be a big need for highly qualified and trained people who know the business well.”
Earlier the session moderator, Dirk Bremer, head of strategic procurement for Lilly Pharma, asked whether it was right that procurement departments were moving into travel.
Mr Stendal said the focus of procurement departments was on cost reductions and getting cheaper suppliers.
“From this perspective, we expect that travel management can become standardised, not only in getting from point A to point B but in hotels and car rentals. I have a feeling that the complexity is caused by the definition of travel.
“If the negotiations, the payments are standardised, we can imagine that travel management would be like buying into a consultancy service.”
Mr Hamburger admitted that travel management should long ago have adopted common approaches but there was only one solution and that was to be “best in class.”
But there was also another side to travel. “Business travel is a highly emotional event. You can die flying – plane crashes, terrorist threats, SARS. It is different from buying pins, or steel or aluminium.
“The human factor is much more involved in travel management than in buying stationery,” he said.