Getting on the Same Page
EDITOR’S LETTER
No one ever said getting back to business travel would be easy. We always knew the gears would be rusty, travel volumes and industry dynamics would have changed and servicing travelers would be challenging. Small and midsize companies are no different in this mix, even as they have led the pack in business travel recovery, sending travelers on the road in significant numbers over the past year.
In this issue, Business Travel News explores many of the complexities SME travel managers have been facing, but also brings in new challenges: skyrocketing travel costs, inflation, labor shortages and how those variables are beginning to create uncertainty in SME’s business travel strategies as we approach the traditionally busy fall travel season. The pessimists say this segment will hold back given some tough economic indicators. The optimists, who seem to have evidence with actual bookings, say the fall is looking as busy as ever, despite the headwinds.
No one ever said getting back to business travel would be easy. We always knew the gears would be rusty, travel volumes and industry dynamics would have changed and servicing travelers would be challenging. Small and midsize companies are no different in this mix, even as they have led the pack in business travel recovery, sending travelers on the road in significant numbers over the past year.
In this issue, Business Travel News explores many of the complexities SME travel managers have been facing, but also brings in new challenges: skyrocketing travel costs, inflation, labor shortages and how those variables are beginning to create uncertainty in SME’s business travel strategies as we approach the traditionally busy fall travel season. The pessimists say this segment will hold back given some tough economic indicators. The optimists, who seem to have evidence with actual bookings, say the fall is looking as busy as ever, despite the headwinds.
We can talk [with customers] about anything now. We have to be transparent if we want to work through this.
- TMC Executive
Whether your business travel outlook takes the half-empty or half-full view, what I like about what I’m seeing in the managed travel industry right now is the central place dialogue and communication have taken in the business travel recovery.
You’ll see it in this special SME-targeted issue, with BTN editors and reporters talking to buyers and suppliers from coast to coast in the U.S. as well as key players in the European market. On both sides of the equation, our interviewees echoed each others’ experiences and told us, “Hey, we’re all being honest with each other” about rate increases, service issues and even how long it might take for volumes to return or service desks to get back up to speed.
I was talking to a senior TMC executive at the end of June, and he said the same thing to me. “The best thing about the pandemic in terms of managed travel is that all the gloves have come off in our conversations. We can talk about anything now; we have to be transparent if we want to work through this.” He was right, and I see the small and midsize programs engaging deeply at this level. It will be for everyone’s benefit as they blaze the trail toward full business travel recovery.
Whether your business travel outlook takes the half-empty or half-full view, what I like about what I’m seeing in the managed travel industry right now is the central place dialogue and communication have taken in the business travel recovery.
You’ll see it in this special SME-targeted issue, with BTN editors and reporters talking to buyers and suppliers from coast to coast in the U.S. as well as key players in the European market. On both sides of the equation, our interviewees echoed each others’ experiences and told us, “Hey, we’re all being honest with each other” about rate increases, service issues and even how long it might take for volumes to return or service desks to get back up to speed.
I was talking to a senior TMC executive at the end of June, and he said the same thing to me. “The best thing about the pandemic in terms of managed travel is that all the gloves have come off in our conversations. We can talk about anything now; we have to be transparent if we want to work through this.” He was right, and I see the small and midsize programs engaging deeply at this level. It will be for everyone’s benefit as they blaze the trail toward full business travel recovery.
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