Business travel has bounced back more quickly than expected and organizations are seeing the value of bringing people together again. “Whether it’s your colleagues, or your customers, or seeing prospects, or tending to the supply chain, the importance of face-to-face connection is really coming back to the fore,” says Mark Hollyhead, President of Egencia.

As our customers get back on the road for business trips, we’ve been seeing some interesting trends in the business travel industry. Here’s a snapshot of where business travel is headed.

Seeing business travel as a cultural force

Business travel is being used for more than just getting people from A to B nowadays. “Of course, businesses have to consider the economic value of bringing people together,” says Hollyhead. “But organizations also have to consider the social impact as they develop their company culture.”

Impromptu meetings in the hallway, chats by the water cooler, even the design and vibe of company headquarters – these were all big parts of forging company culture. Now, with so much of the workforce remote or hybrid, companies need to find different ways to foster company culture and nurture relationships. Business travel is emerging as a key way to do that.

(Read why business travel is the new center of company culture) 

Committing to sustainability

Across the board, we’re seeing more and more customers committing to sustainable business practices. And that includes their travel programs. “We’re starting to see customers creating travel policies and setting up their travel programs around sustainability and emissions,” says Nour-Eddine Zaoug, Senior Director of Global Account Management for Egencia.

While there’s not a direct relationship between the pandemic and sustainability, “The shake-up has led clients to rethink, reboot, and reset their travel programs,” says Manuel Brachet, Vice President of Multinational Global Strategic Accounts for Egencia.

“One thing we’re seeing with this reset is the attribution of a carbon budget to internal departments, in the same way you’d attribute an expense and travel budget. Along with optimizing overall travel spend, clients are now looking to optimize a whole other set of spend – carbon spend. And we’re investing heavily at Egencia to enable that for our customers.”

Recognizing the importance of data

A key benefit that comes from working with a travel management company (TMC) is having consolidated travel data from across your organization. The critical nature of data became even more pronounced during the pandemic.

“Whether it’s enabling duty of care or helping with overall program management, data is something that’s seen as even more important now,” says Zaoug. “Because of that, as with the role of the travel manager, the impact of a TMC on a company’s ability to do business has been emphasized.”

Empowering employees

As corporate travel comes back from a halt and nears pre-pandemic levels, we’re seeing companies strongly encouraging their travelers, bookers, and arrangers to self-service online as much as possible. The pandemic put a fine point on how essential it is for travelers to be able to take care of their needs the moment those needs arise, especially when circumstances are changing by the hour.

“Over the last two years, we’ve put significant investment towards empowering bookers, arrangers, and travelers,” says Brachet. “So enhancing the mobile app with online ticketing modification, cancelation, credit redemption, chat functionality. All of those have been significant investments that were not necessarily born of the pandemic, but were accelerated because of it.”

Amping up support

On the flipside of self-serve, we’ve also seen an increasing need for agent support. “As we see corporate travel restarting we see volumes increasing and more pressure on the oil industry. Airlines are canceling more flights, prices are increasing, and the overall supply environment is in flux,” says Zaoug.

In response, Egencia is hiring 1,300 new travel agents in 2022 to help customers work through bigger issues. We’re taking a leadership role in empowering our customers’ teams too. “We’re investing heavily in education and communication to travelers, travel managers, and the overall booker community,” says Zaoug.

Looking ahead to the future

“I’m just excited about bringing people back together again in all forms,” says Hollyhead.“ That’s such a powerful thing we’ve missed. Whether it’s the laughs we have, or the in-person meetings we have, or the impromptu sessions. When we bring people together, we’re driving forward progress economically, socially, and responsibly. Those are the things that really matter about face to face contact, and bringing people together to do those things is key.”

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