Centralised booking or traveller autonomy: this is the question highlighted by Egencia's worldwide study. The business travel management company (TMC) found that two-thirds of European companies have opted to centralise reservations, an approach which sees more than 60% of reservations entrusted to assistants or a travel office. Conversely, two out of three American companies favour a decentralised model, in which the traveller, who is autonomous, makes his or her own reservations. The study published by Egencia goes further, pointing out that the rate of decentralisation reaches 100% in American multinationals.
Another finding of the study is that decentralised booking management significantly increases the number of flexible tickets, to a greater extent than the business traveller himself seems to need. In fact, due to "a lack of visibility on travellers' requirements, assistants book more flexible no-fee tickets than independent travellers and fewer non-cancellable and non-refundable reservations", the study points out, indicating that "independent travellers book 40% fewer flexible no-fee tickets and 50% more non-cancellable and non-refundable tickets". The study is available on the Egencia website.
