Corporate travel policy

At Wednesday's Market Place, Egencia unveiled the results of its internal study "The Impact of Corporate Organisation on Travel Purchasing Behaviour": a global assessment of business travel management that differs greatly on both sides of the Atlantic.

The world of European business travel is getting a new player: five leading associations - including the AFTM (Association Française des Travel Managers) and ACTE (Association of Corporate Travel Executives) - initialled the birth certificate of the European Network of Associations for Corporate Travel (ENACT) on Monday 3 March. The stated aim is to "influence the European debate on all issues relating to the organisation and management of business travel". Duly noted. 

The French branch of the GBTA (Global Business Travel Association) has just celebrated its first anniversary, and passed the one hundred member mark at the the KDS Now 2014 event.

From the "all-car" to the notion of mobility, from the "bagnole" to car-sharing in electric vehicles, our relationship with the automobile is changing. Welcome to the world of the intelligent car.

CWT is simultaneously publishing a fun infographic and a video with the stated aim of finding the "winning strategy" for 2014 and identifying new optimisation levers. Roaming, mobile strategy, gamification: the business travel agency is targeting the new trends to be taken into account in the world of travel management.

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) has appointed the first president of its African branch: Kovilan Naidoo, Travel Manager at Cummins Inc, is taking over as head of the international business travel association in a rapidly changing market.

The great supersonic thrill or the praise of slowness: the future balances between an airship taking the time to travel the world and a rocket plane crossing it in less than two hours.

While the majority of business travel players are looking to 2014, AirPlus is looking (much) further ahead and is already projecting itself into... 2060. Socio-economic and environmental contexts, transport infrastructures, new technologies, new practices, and changes in the 'travel manager' profession: the Business Travel 2060 white paper, written by Mark Harris on behalf of the specialist in means of payment, compiles on around thirty pages the various changes that the business travel sector is likely to face over the next fifty years.

As the boundaries between work and personal life become increasingly blurred, hotels will continue their lifestyle transformation. With recipes that are already proving successful: cutting-edge design, the latest technology and striking architecture.

Rainer von Wrede is Head of Engineering and Environmental R&T at Airbus.

Reporting will be the most crucial aspect of a travel programme according to European and American travel managers. Cost control is also the focus of attention for business travel players around the world. These are just some of the conclusions to be drawn from the study "The Evolution of Business Travel Management" published on Tuesday 26 November by Egencia and the GBTA Foundation.

Generation Y business travellers are said to spend more than their elders, who are said to be making fewer and fewer business trips as the years go by. These are some of the conclusions to be drawn from the "Future of Travel" study published by Egencia and Expedia, following a survey conducted by Harris Interactive in 24 countries.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions assessments have become mandatory for large companies and public authorities. Although the legislative framework is not very restrictive, a 'sustainable' travel policy nonetheless holds great promise in terms of savings and a positive image for companies.

Despite the empowerment of business travellers enabled in particular by the development of mobile applications, travel managers have no intention of giving up control over bookings. Quite the contrary: the study published on 11 July by Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) highlights clear opposition to unmanaged travel.

Unlike air travel, hotels are still a difficult budget item for companies to understand. But the joint efforts of travel agencies, technology suppliers and travel managers are paving the way for optimisation. By Arnaud Deltenre