travel tech insights

Bleisure: On Merging Business and Leisure Travel

With more advancements in mobile technology and the ease at which people can communicate, the line between work and play becomes more and more blurry. In today’s world, it’s not uncommon for people to respond to work emails on their smartphones or tablets while on holiday, nor is it uncommon for travelers to add small vacations onto their business or corporate travel bookings.

This merging of business and leisure travel, also known as bleisure travel, is a somewhat recent development in the market share of today’s travel industry customer, though it’s a segment that’s growing exceptionally fast with great potential impact on how travel companies position products and services. According to a recent study by BridgeStreet Global Hospitality, more than 60 percent of travelers reported merging business and leisure travel in the last year, with 30 percent of respondents adding at least two additional days to their trip.

Topics: Business Travel travel trends Bleisure Leisure Travel trends

Business Over Pleasure: Top Needs for Today’s Corporate Traveler

If there’s one emerging trend in today’s travel industry, it’s that business is exceeding pleasure.

recent report issued by the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office found business travel from top overseas markets increased by more than 15 percent in 2015, a growth rate much higher than that of leisure travelers. The report estimates leisure travel from top markets grew at a rate of just 9 percent, a figure that undercut projections from industry analysts.

But it’s not just the U.S. market that experienced an increased of business travelers at the expense of leisure travel during the last year. European countries such as France and Germany also saw sharp increases in the number of business travelers, as did markets further east such as Japan and Australia. 

Topics: Business Travel travel business travel trends Corporate Travel

3 Ways Travel Management Companies can improve their business

It’s clear 2016 has become something of a pivotal year for travel management companies and the corporate travel world in general - and, if the first half of the year is any indication, the second half is poised to be just as impactful. At least that’s the feeling expressed by a host of travel and tourism industry experts at the annual Global Business Travel Association Conference in Denver, Colorado this past week wherein analysts concluded the corporate travel industry is still lagging behind the leisure travel sector in a number of key areas.

While conference presentations and lectures highlighted the steps travel management companies are taking to cater more closely and specifically to the needs of today’s modern business traveler, the consensus was the corporate travel industry is still in catch-up mode when it comes to a number of back office and customer-facing operations which may in fact be preventing the corporate travel industry from reaching its full growth potential - a revelation that’s particularly worrisome given the rapid growth of commerce and business in several key emerging markets.

Topics: Travel Management Company Business Travel Business Traveler travel trends Corporate Travel

How a Travel Management Company controls Business Travel Costs (Part 2)

Part 1 of this series explored why controlling the cost of employee travel is difficult due to issues that cannot be eliminated and are not easily handled. Part 1 also discussed why these difficulties often lead organizations to use travel management companies (TMC) for their business travel -  with their responsibilities ranging from administering corporate travel policies to booking employee business trips.

Topics: travel technology Travel Management Company Business Travel TMC Travel Policy Travel Costs Corporate Travel

How a Travel Management Company controls Business Travel Costs (Part 1)

Business managers often find the challenges of controlling business travel costs to stay top of mind for two reasons: 1) travel costs often appear deceptively easy to manage and control – only to turn out to be quite the opposite; 2) travel is expensive, meaning these costs can quickly become significant if not controlled.  Travel costs appear easy to control because the amounts almost always require a formal approval mechanism. However, travel approval procedures in most companies tend to stumble in two ways.

Topics: Travel Management Company Business Travel TMC Travel Policy Travel Costs Corporate Travel