Are travel managers not guided solely by the quest for profit?savings ? Behind this - purely ironic - question perhaps lies the end of certain prejudices that sometimes weigh heavily on a particular group of people. profession of travel manager in the throes of changeAnd it is precisely in this last area that one of the major battles of the coming year will be waged, according to the results of a study published at the end of January by Traveldoo. Upstream of the Business Travel Show - the London show, which opens on 20 February next - the business travel specialist has surveyed UK travel managers to identify their priorities for the coming months. And it appears that the issues linked to the safety and well-being of business travellers far outweigh the search for savings.
As withother surveys in recent months, the duty of care is the number 1 priority for companies (73%). The security of business travellers is therefore the focus of attention, as is the protection of their dataoften sensitive. For example, the data security (65%) is in third place in the Traveldoo rankings, proof if any were needed that travel managers are becoming aware of the importance of the cybersecurity issues. But perhaps one of the key findings of this report is the attention paid to travellers' well-being, a notion cited as a priority by 70% of travel managers. " Several organisations have appointed a "Chief Happiness Officer an enviable title that reflects the growing importance attached to the well-being, morale and, of course, retention of staff "says the Traveldoo study. Indeed, while companies claim to be focusing on the well-being of their travellers, they still need to know who is responsible for this, and how to make progress. On the first point, the Traveldoo study points out: "This responsibility falls mainly on the teams dedicated to travel management (69%), rather than on the Human Resources department (30%), or the finance department, which is not involved at all (0%)". As for ways of improving the condition of the business traveller, Traveldoo cites in particular the integration of the bleisure in the travel policy : " More and more companies (60 %) are actively encouraging and supporting leisure extensions as part of their business travel programme, and more than 13 % are planning to make this an additional benefit. ". The full Traveldoo report will be unveiled at the Business Travel Showto be held on 20 and 21 February at London.
The priorities of UK travel managers according to Traveldoo :
- Duty of care (73 %)
- Traveller well-being (70%)
- Data security (65%)
- Technology and innovation (57 %)
- Cost reduction (56%)
- Comprehensive content (55%)
- Sustainable development (30 %)
- Ancillary services (22%)
