New GBTA research: The perfect trip

Spotnana, Direct Travel, and TROOP recently partnered with the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) to learn more about the most important corporate travel pain points that buyers need solved to bring their travelers the perfect trip.

Below are three key highlights from the research. You can download the full report here.

Friction and rising prices lead travel manager concerns

Travel managers highlighted the following areas as the top drivers of friction for their travel programs:

• Online booking experience for unprofiled guest travel (57%).
• Managing travel disruptions (55%).
• Managing expense reports (50%).
• The travel management company (TMC) servicing experience (50%).
• The online booking experience for meeting and event travel (50%).

When it comes to the challenge of managing travel costs, travel programs experience the most pressure from rising prices.

Among the travel managers polled, 89% ranked rising airfare and hotel rates as the greatest or second greatest challenges in managing travel costs. Inability to predict or control dynamic pricing (55%), limited negotiation power with suppliers (30%), and lack of compliance with travel policies (23%) rounded out the list.

Leakage remains a major source of increased costs for travel programs, as well. Hotel leakage is about the same or growing for 82% of travel managers polled, while air leakage is the same or increasing for 71% polled. The top causes of leakage for travel programs are better pricing available outside the online booking tool (OBT), the inability for travelers to make self-service changes in the OBT, and the lack of content availability in the OBT.

Key takeaway: Leakage and other areas of friction continue to be obstacles to the perfect trip for most travel buyers. Modern travel platforms can help to address leakage by providing access to a wide range of content sources, including NDC integrations, which reduces the ability for employees to find better deals outside of corporate booking tools. 

Buyers blame lack of NDC support on their TMC and OBT

If travel managers are struggling to bring affordable and diverse content to their travelers, why aren’t more embracing NDC?

According to the travel managers polled, it’s often the case that their TMCs and OBTs do not yet provide effective support for NDC fares and servicing. On average, buyers estimated that NDC bookings account for just 6.3% of their programs’ air bookings. More than half (59%) are not currently making NDC bookings or are not sure if their program has access to NDC.

For programs in which NDC bookings account for less than 10% of air volume, buyers cited the following as the primary reason NDC adoption has been so slow:

• 28% said their TMC cannot adequately support NDC.
• 26% said there are not a lot of NDC flights available through their TMC or OBT.
• 17% have chosen to suppress NDC or give preference to EDIFACT bookings.
• 12% said their key airline partners do not offer NDC.
• 17% cited another reason for a lack of NDC-based bookings.

Travel managers with access to NDC indicated they often do not yet have access to advanced functionality from their OBT and TMC. A small number of respondents reported access to the following capabilities: 

• 25% can view search results for NDC fares alongside EDIFACT fares.
• 19% have access to continuous pricing.
• 17% can access free or discounted seats based on loyalty status, or redeem unused ticket credits on a self-service basis.
• 16% can determine lowest logical fare (LLF) across NDC and EDIFACT fares.
• 13% can be serviced by the airline or a TMC and have all parties stay in sync, or have the ability to make self-service exchanges and cancellations.
• 12 % can filter reports based on NDC fares, while just 11% can view integrated reports with NDC and EDIFACT fares.

38% of respondents indicated they did not have access to any of the capabilities mentioned above.

Key takeaway: For programs that haven’t embraced NDC, choosing partners with strong support for NDC functionality can lead to wider adoption, reduced costs, and better traveler experiences.

Many travel buyers are thinking about switching TMCs

When asked if they plan to switch TMCs in the coming year, 58% of travel buyers indicated they might make or consider a change.

The key things travel buyers are looking from their TMC are:

• Better integration between customer service and booking platforms (63%)
• Greater transparency in issue resolution (50%)
• Faster response times (49%)
• AI-driven assistance for simple queries (39%)
• More personalized service (33)

When it comes to innovation, travel buyers want to see TMCs drive improvements in the following areas:

• Proactive disruption management (54%)
• Risk management and duty of care capabilities (46%)
• Real-time data insights (31%)
• End-to-end trip automation (27%)

Key takeaway: When it comes to realizing the perfect trip, travel buyers are struggling with gaps related to their current TMC partners and the technology solutions they use. TMCs that make investments to modernize their technology and offer what travel buyers are looking for will be in a strong position to win new customers.

To learn more about how travel managers can bring their travelers the perfect trip, download the full free report or get a demo of Spotnana today.