Travel managers report expanded duties, more cross-department collaboration

The majority of corporate travel managers have seen their job scope expand in recent years, with a sharpened focus on stakeholder engagement and cost control, according to a global survey by BCD Travel.

The survey, which polled 187 travel buyers from around the world between August and September, showed that 79 per cent of respondents said the scope of their responsibilities has recently widened.

In addition to managing travel, 68 per cent of respondents are also responsible for travel sourcing, more than half (51 per cent) are involved in payment and expense management and 43 per cent also manage meetings and events.

About a quarter (26 per cent) handle procurement or management responsibilities outside of travel and 18 per cent also oversee fleet management.

When it comes to daily tasks, travel managers reported dedicating most of their time to managing relationships with their travel management company (53 per cent), followed by working on travel programme strategy (47 per cent), communicating with travellers (47 per cent), reporting and data analysis (44 per cent) and managing suppliers (44 per cent).

Most travel managers (71 per cent) also reported participating in cross-department projects, largely engaging with finance, sustainability and security teams. More than half (58 per cent) engage with procurement and 43 per cent connect with finance on a daily or weekly basis.

However, this may be indicative of reporting lines as most travel teams report to procurement (39 per cent) or finance (19 per cent) departments, while one-tenth report to human resources.

Additionally, the survey highlighted an increased focus on cost control (cited by 64 pe cent of respondents), data analysis (57 per cent) and more attention paid to ‘industry changes’ such as NDC and market consolidation (55 per cent). More than half (53 per cent) are focused on enhancing the use of technology, while 49 per cent are sharpening focus on sustainability concerns.

Nearly 60 per cent of travel managers said they have the necessary tools to effectively perform their roles, while 41 per cent said they some of the necessary tools. In terms of a dedicated budgets for travel technology and services, nearly half (46 per cent) said they do not receive an assigned budget for these needs.

When it comes to job satisfaction, travel managers reported their lowest satisfaction with career development opportunities (cited by 20 per cent of respondents), workload (10 per cent) and compensation (16 per cent).