How Low Can You Go?

When BTN compiled last year’s Corporate Travel 100, it was hard to imagine a year in which business travel volumes would go even lower for the marquee travel programs that in previous years had been the industry’s most robust and most heavily invested. But we all know by now, that’s exactly what 2021 visited upon the business travel industry—an environment in which many of the world’s largest corporations remained in bunker mode for an entire year in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, as travel restrictions and regulations reduced the business travel value proposition and technology solutions continued to bridge the gaps whenever possible. 

Among the 99 companies listed in BTN’s 2022 Corporate Travel 100—only 99 due to our pandemic-era adjusted methodology (see box at right)—nearly 75 percent ended 2021 with travel volumes at least minimally reduced from the prior year, and many of those companies reduced travel spending significantly. That was a gut punch to an industry that in 2020 had only one active quarter of business travel under its belt before shutting down.

But somehow even an ostensible travel shutdown in 2021 didn’t translate into copious time on travel managers’ hands. To the contrary, the travel that did happen in 2021 was critical, and travel managers were all-hands-on-deck figuring out how to facilitate. Tales from the travel management trenches detailed long waits at immigration and in required quarantine as elements of heroic efforts to achieve critical in-person connections, sometimes representing life-or-death situations, especially for in-demand sectors like pharmaceutical and energy companies. Some of those companies were among the few that actually increased their business travel spending in 2021 from 2020.  

As travel management companies regrouped from their own devastating losses in 2020, there were precious few resources to go around in terms of traveler support. But the clients who did travel very much needed that support, as travelers muscled through unclear and changing government regulations layered with additional corporate restrictions and approvals and on-the-ground confirmations that basic travel infrastructure in the receiving market was, in fact, operating and able to handle travelers.

Those dynamics have changed. Surging leisure travel paved the way toward fully reopening the travel ecosystem. More and more TMCs report active recruitment campaigns and record hiring and re-hiring levels as business travel ramps up, yet finding equilibrium between travel volumes and service resources continues to be a challenge. Some companies have reported investing in dedicated agents to support their programs—either configuring that structure for the first time or adding more resources to that team.

These challenges have contributed to some key trends threading through the programs of 2022 Corporate Travel 100 companies.

Active TMC tenders – Anecdotally, travel management companies have told BTN that the TMC tender environment has been fairly steady. Among the Corporate Travel 100, however, BTN notes a number of changes over this year and last, signaling some discontent among larger corporates that are looking to improve that supplier relationship. Even so, buyers have noted to BTN that nearly all TMCs had similar challenges as business travel ramped up—particularly, in the late April and May timeframe—with a perfect storm of increased airline disruptions colliding with reduced travel agent levels.

Focus on traveler experience – Reading through the 2022 Corporate Travel 100, the concept of the business travel experience looms large. While it includes the on-trip element of travel, CT100 companies are looking very much at what happens before and after the trip to smooth all the processes surrounding business travel. This includes reducing the “number of clicks” required to book travel through online booking systems, reducing the friction associated with getting travel approvals (often by increasing automation around those, or dispensing with them altogether) and implementing traveler-centric mobile technologies and chatbots that can support travelers with just-in-time information. That said, CT100 companies are looking for human-supported services as well. A number of companies introduced 24/7 agent service desks for global programs, including mobile chat communications. Google, for one, introduced the “Ally” service desk for travelers needing extra assistance.

Travel safety and wellness – The ‘experience’ element threads through the CT100 in addition to traveler safety and wellness, which is also a priority. While most companies have eased many of their hardline restrictions around travel, quite a few are holding fast to travel approvals. This is largely tied to risk management but may also do double duty as a demand-management strategy as many companies try to hold on to some of the cost savings that came from not traveling as well as the carbon emissions reductions they achieved in 2021.

Sustainability – The CT100 as a whole shows more inclination toward sustainability than it ever has before. Many companies have committed to the Science-Based Targets initiative and are looking intensely at emissions that ride along with every business traveler. They are also looking for travel partners that can help them track travel emissions or count toward greening their supply chains. A significant number have invested in schemes to stimulate demand for sustainable aviation fuel. Some are counting those investment in the future against their current emissions levels.