Travel managers remain savings-oriented, despite slight improvement in the economy
The pressure on companies to save on travel continues unabated, despite the fact that the economic outlook in Spain is not as bad as it was a year ago. This has been confirmed by travel managers gathered in Madrid by Forum Business Travel (FBT), which has analyzed the main trends for this year in terms of transport, accommodation, means of payment and intermediation.
Spanish travel managers are facing negotiations with the companies in a difficult environment, due to the reduction in supply. According to Mar Hernández, travel manager at Amadeus IT Group, “the current trend is to globalize agreements with suppliers” and, in this sense, “alliances aéaén are taking steps to present en bloc the services of their companiesñías”. In any case,“in practice there is still a long way to go in this area”, as Isolux Corsá Sandra Andradas, travel manager at Isolux Corsán, recalled.
Negotiation is becoming more and more complex every day as the practice of taking concepts such as preferred boarding, seat selection, payment method or baggage check-in conditions out of the fare becomes more widespread. Depending on the needs of each company, these concepts can significantly increase the price of the ticket.
Travel managers are looking forward to the liberalization of rail transport and are convinced that competition will moderate prices, as underlined by Jorge Fernández, purchasing manager at Roche Farma.The train is going to gain market share to approach the situation in Europe, where it is used more than the airplane on many routes, Fernández predicts. The integration of Renfe's offerings into the self-booking tool, recently initiated by Amadeus, will encourage this trend.
OTHER TRANSPORT
With respect to the rent-a-car, the managers of trips of company emplaced to the companies that offer this service to look for f fórmulas so as not to increase prices, with new and more flexible rental modalities or through agreements with other suppliers, such as airline companies or hotel chains, to create combined products.
Travel companies are looking for ways to optimize other means of locomotion and some of them are already incorporating in their travel policies instructions on how to use the service;
Public transportation or cab sharing into their travel policies, but they recognize that these moves are still very time-consuming.
TRIP
The Forum Business Travel session, held at the Innside Suecia hotel in Madrid with the presence of about a hundred business travel managers, also analyzed the situation of the hotel industry.The travel managers are aware that accommodation rates cannot go down any further in this country, because they have been doing so for more than four years," said Sandra Andradas.
In any case, it seems necessary that, if there is any increase, the chains “open the negotiationón and put on the table added services, such as free wi-fi, parking or other facilities”, accordingón recommendedó Jorge Fernández. For Mar Hernandez, it is also essential that prices are guaranteed in negotiated agreements up to the last available room. Spanish travel managers are in favor of pricing in net prices, not commissionable.
TRAVEL AGENCIES
Travel managers defend the importance of the intermediation of travel agencies, especially in companies with a certain volume of travel turnover.Without their intervention, the work of the travel manager would be unfeasible, said the travel managers on the panel of experts almost unanimously during the conference.
The agency remuneration model in 2014 will continue to be based, as a general rule, on a transaction fee, which travel managers consider to be more transparent. In any case, they insist on a precise definition of this concept, to avoid surprises. FBT managers are more in favor of hard models and suggest innovative formulas such as shared savings to travel agencies.
According to Óscar García, founding partner of FBT, “there are agencies that only issue documentation, but many companies need consulting, data analysis and many other services that add value”. Although the relationship between companies and agencies is a medium- and long-term one,
Today there are no longer captive clients, said Garcí Garcí.
MEANS OF PAYMENT
In addition to the convenience and administrative control provided by credit and debit cards, companies also value the insurance that comes with them. Travel managers believe that the coverage will improve as companies travel to more remote and complicated countries. In some cases, as Mar Hernandez pointed out, additional insurance is necessary because it is very difficult to cover all the assumptions for all users around the world.
/p>In some cases, as Mar Hernandez pointed out, additional insurance is necessary because it is very difficult to cover all the assumptions for all users around the world.
In some cases, as Mar Hernandez pointed out, additional insurance is necessary because it is very difficult to cover all the assumptions for all users around the world.