Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) has published its Travel Management Priorities for 2012 report, indicated that globally travel managers’ top priorities this year will be focused on cost controls: driving air and ground transport savings, improving travel compliance, optimizing hotel spend and growing online adoption. The report is based on an international survey of 290 travel managers.
There are geographic variations in the CWT research results. For example, travel managers in Asia Pacific place a greater focus on optimizing hotel spend compared to other regions, reflecting the challenges they face with particularly high occupancy rates in this market. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the number one priority is air and ground transport savings; one of the measures those travel managers are planning is a trade-off between air and rail as high-speed rail networks expand. Travel managers in Latin America also accord the highest importance to driving air and ground savings. Meanwhile, North American travel managers cite traveler compliance — an ongoing challenge — as the number one priority.
The CWT report also highlights key market trends affecting travel programs worldwide in the coming year, such as the continued growth in travel spend for Asia Pacific, the increasing use of mobile solutions in business travel and the sharp uptake in a strategic approach to meetings management.