One-third of corporates embrace tech-first TMC sourcing – BTN study

One in three travel managers (31 per cent) who have recently conducted a TMC RFP say they placed a higher priority on technology capability than on service, according to new BTN research, which also revealed an appetite for the integration of multiple tools and technology services.

The results of BTN’s September-October survey of more than 150 corporate travel and procurement managers in North America and Europe can be read in full in the newly published Ecosystem Play report.

Thirteen per cent of corporates surveyed by BTN said they are currently undergoing a TMC tender, a further 43 per cent said their organisations had conducted a TMC RFP in the last three years, and around half of those switched TMCs at the conclusion of that process.

Another 13 per cent of respondents said they plan to switch their primary online booking tool in the next 12 months and 22 per cent had recently done so.

The survey also revealed that buyers source a variety of technology and tools from third-party suppliers and often rely on their TMC to help stitch it all together, sometimes with the TMC’s own propriety technology, to build a travel programme.

The vast majority of survey respondents (85 per cent) source their expense management system direct from the supplier, while only 8 per cent rely on their TMC for this tech. Meanwhile, 40 per cent of travel buyers prefer to source meetings management technology via third parties compared to just 18 per cent who do so via their TMC.

There are fewer discrepancies between supplier-direct and TMC-provided arrangements for online booking tools (53 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively), mobile travel apps (38 per cent and 47 per cent) and off-channel booking-capture technology (13 per cent and 12 per cent). Air and hotel reshopping tools, however, are largely sourced via TMCs with 48 per cent and 43 per cent of buyers, respectively, doing so.

However, this growing appetite for tech-based solutions does not extend to start-ups. Only 26 per cent of respondents said their organisations had implemented a travel technology solution offered by what they consider a start-up, and on an ascending scale of one to five, the average score from respondents about their companies’ openness to doing so was less than three.