Buzzwords in travel management in 2012 included Google,
Concur Open Booking, fragmentation, direct booking and manifesto. All of these
words, and the concepts behind them, contributed to an overall identity crisis
across travel management that had travel agencies, travel buyers, travel associations
and pretty much everyone on the defensive.
What was the value of travel management?
Even a Global Business Travel Association survey of more than
1,700 travelers published
in May found that unmanaged travelers were spending less and having a
better experience than managed travelers. Those results were so dire that the association
decided by the end of the year to try
for a re-do as doubt about the role of managed programs proliferated….
