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2012 Egencia, LLC. All rights reserved. Expedia, Egencia, and the Egencia logo and Get Ahead are either registered trademarks or trademarkso Expedia, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. CST #2083922-50866 328-0110 www.Egencia.com

The Voice othe Customer

Egencia Travel ManagersShare Insights and Challenges

C O N T E N T S

Background 1

Tech Savvy 2

Mandating 2

Top Issues 3

Safety First 3

Travel From A 4Single Source

What You Value Most 4In A Travel Program

Transitioning To 5A New TMC

Last Words 5

Summary 5

For those o you who think your travel management challenges are universal,youre right. And or you others who believe your obstacles and issues are wholly

unique, youre right as well. Such were the ndings o our recent poll o EgenciaTravel Managers who participated in our study, The Voice of the Customer.

Background

In an eort to learn the challenges andconcerns o travel managers across a broad

spectrum, we conducted phone interviews with

Egencia clients across North America rom a

number o dierent industries, including retail,

manuacturing, business communications,

utilities, and education. Their average air spend

ranged rom $1 million to $8 million. Their

annual revenue was between $23 Million and

$96 Billion.

The clients we interviewed all managed small

travel departments, comprised o one to threeemployees. Some managed their programs on

a day-to-day basis, while others managed travelstrategically. Some managed their programs

ull-time. Others had additional roles in other

departments o their organization, such as

Operations or Procurement. Titles ran the

gamete, rom the expected; Corporate Travel

Manager, t o the unexpected; Executive Director,

Strategic Sourcing/Contracts.

On average, those who managed travel on a

regular basis spent about 53 percent o their

time on travel. The majority said they planned to

spend about the same amount o time on travelin the coming year.

Time on Tra

55% of resp

travel daily a

average, 53%

45% manag

spend, on av

their time on

Managing T

5% of respo

spend more

travel in 201

20% plan to

75% plan to

same amoun

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Mandating

About 45 percen

companies we sp

that their traveler

travel policies. 55

This is where indu

really came in to

and more creativesuch as publishin

to rown upon ma

conservative indu

nancial institutio

mandate. At least

elt that her comp

to mandate had a

their low online ad

55% o respondentsdont mandate travel

18% o those said itwasnt in their culture tomandate

64% o those strongly

encourage their travelersto ollow policy and useonly their designatedbooking tool

Tech Savvy or Not So Much

As might be expected, many companies have gone mobile; its not just teenagers at the mall who are

madly texting and phoning, but executives at huge corporations as well.

While many companies still equip employees with Blackberries, quite a ew are azing them out in avor

o Androids and iPhones. Other companies let employees select their preerence or they use personal

devices.

Respondents said that their travelers were mobile hungry and excited to use travel phone apps.According to one travel manager, Mobile apps are very important in terms o fexibility and technology.

Travelers want to do it themselves. I it isnt easy to use, travelers wont use it, or will be rustrated.

While virtually all o our interviewees were onboard when it came to using mobile devices, the use o

Skyping and other types o technical alternatives to ace-to-ace contact varied widely. Few relied on

Skyping, but many more used phone conerencing as a means o communication. Externally, most

respondents met ace-to-ace.

The vast majority o those polled had not yet gured out how to make use o social media in their

travel program. While this may change in the uture, it seemed to be the case or now. One company

had created a blog in order to provide better one-on-one communication with travelers and hear their

eedback. They planned to use the blog to oer recommendations and training to their travelers.

Were just starti

video/web con

for internal mee

and weve teste

virtual internal m

Customer meet

still face-to-face

C O N T E N T S

Background 1

Tech Savvy 2

Mandating 2

Top Issues 3

Safety First 3




Last Words 5

Summary 5

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Your Top Issues Driving Change

One o the issues driving change in travel

programs came as no surprise, as it is a

challenge or just about everyone in these

recessionary times: cost containment. While

only 35 percent o respondents listed cost

containment as the number one issue driving

change in their travel management program,other issues selected by respondents were also

economy-related, such as the necessity o doing

more or less, reducing travel and expenses,

tracking airline ees, and learning to be more

innovative (in the interest o cost containment).

Other change drivers mentioned were mergers

and acquisitions, shiting to a global ootprint,

and mobile options.

Safety First

Virtually every person we queried worried abouttheir travelers saety. In act, or those who

chose to mandate, some said they did so or the

sake o saety. I we didnt, there would be a

risk that i something happened, we wouldnt be

able to nd them, said one respondent. Another

client said simply, Travel saety is a BIG issue.

Some respondents restricted the locations

where travelers were allowed to travel. Several

said that their primary concern was being able

to reach travelers in an emergency. A ew said

they kept a handle on it through online reportsand special emergency services that help track

travelers during an emergency.

35% o clients stated

that cost containmentwas the number

one issue drivingchange in their travel

management program

C O N T E N T S

Background 1

Tech Savvy 2

Mandating 2

Top Issues 3

Safety First 3




Last Words 5

Summary 5

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Travel from a Single Source

The majority o those we interviewed elt it was important that they work with a single travel partner,

or the reasons o ease o use, reporting, and simpliying things administratively. Others elt i t was not

important as long as their travelers got a good price.

What You Value Most in a Travel Program

Account Management was the number one element our survey respondents valued most, with

technology coming in a close second. Ease o use and that ever-present issue o saving costs were

also mentioned.

Perhaps one o our interviewees said it best: I dont know how you dissect and say one thing is

more important than another. Service is a big deal. Cost is a big deal. Technology is signicant to us

because i you really want to drive cost down, you have to use the technology. Theres no doubt about

that. The more technology you are able to bring to the part y, and improve the nancial model to us,

and incorporate things travelers can enable (because they will i you provide it), then thats a good

thing. Cant take each one separately. You have to have all o those elements to have a successul

travel program.

45% o res

Account M

was what

most in t

pro

40% o res

technolog

they valued

travel

C O N T E N T S

Background 1

Tech Savvy 2

Mandating 2

Top Issues 3

Safety First 3




Last Words 5

Summary 5

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Transitioning to a New TMC

When asked why they thought some companies struggled with their change to a new travel

management company, respondents oered a variety o answers: being araid o rocking the boat,

getting executive support, and making the cultural change rom a legacy agency.

Several cited the diculty o change itsel. People avoid change and have no condence change

will happen eectively, said one travel manager. With us, it s hard to make a change when we want

because there are so many other changes taking place, said another.

Those who overcame challenges to have a successul travel program gave credit to training and

getting buy-in and support rom upper management.

Last Words

We asked our interviewees to provide advice or those who are new to corporate travel and rst

embarking on managing a travel program. While several joked, Run Away! there were some legitimate

suggestions, including:

Mandate(orbepreparedfortheworst)

Learnthesystemandmakesureyouarefullytrainedonitpriortolaunch

Communicateregularlywithyourtravelers

LeanonyourAccountManagers Educateyourtravelarrangersandtravelers

Bepreparedfornoteveryonetobehappy

Summary

In summary, it would seem that corporate travel managers are dealing with many o the same

challenges that managers in other corporate departments may be acing: budget cutting, getting buy-

in rom upper management and employees, the diculty o making transitions. These are universal

challenges that your online travel partner should be willing to address. At the same time, your needs

are distinctly your own. A travel management company that oers a solution which will not only help

you save money but also cater to your own unique needs with top notch customer service seems to be

the winning ticket to an outstanding travel management program.

About Egenc

Launched in 200

Corporate Travel,

become the th

management com

as a result o our

to delivering a hig

o corporate trave

innovative techno

directly attributed

ability to move the

ahead, through th

relationships with

more importantly,

C O N T E N T S

Background 1

Tech Savvy 2

Mandating 2

Top Issues 3

Safety First 3




Last Words 5

Summary 5

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