Corporate Travel Trends You Need to Know

As a corporate travel service, it is our job to stay on top of the latest trends when it comes to business travel. Fortunately, recent innovations in technology and customer service are finally starting to penetrate this market, which are making the lives of travel managers and road warriors alike much easier. Here’s what the next six months of 2018 will look like.

Increased Flexibility for Corporate Travelers

In Asia, 69% of business travelers are given the freedom and autonomy to book their own flights and hotels, allowing them to make arrangements to their liking. This can be done with the help of a corporate travel service, a travel manager, or by the employee. Additionally, mobile booking is on the rise for business travelers, and many of them want to book without having to use their own credit card.

Although hotels were the traditional accommodation of choice for business travelers, it is now becoming increasingly common for them to stay in economy sharing spaces as well. As you may have guessed, the new generation of business travelers is demanding a lot of convenience and flexibility, and travel managers are inevitably required to keep up.

Corporate Travel’s Rise in Artificial Intelligence

At the mention of artificial intelligence (AI), it may seem like there is no human interaction when it comes to booking flights, but that isn’t quite the case. AI, created by humans, is frequently being implemented into mobile travel apps. Travel managers and passengers harness the power of an AI-backed travel app, which offers personalized help (as it learns what you like). This technology can predict the best times to buy certain flights, saving the business money and making the booker’s life easier.

AI is also being used to enhance the user experience (UX) of business travel, making the travelers happy, as opposed to just meeting the travel demands imposed by their superiors. This means that customer service and UX are becoming more of a focus for AI, which focuses on the end-user’s happiness.

CFOs Want Travel Data

Corporate travel often suffers from a lack of financial visibility, which can be a headache for CFOs. Unless you’re using a comprehensive corporate travel service which keeps detailed records, then the receipts of travel-related expenses are scattered across different platforms and companies. CFOs know that travel expenses are the second-highest expense a business incurs after salaries, so companies are increasingly being expected to supply CFOs with in-depth and comprehensive financial data. You can expect more data to become readily available as the year progresses, and for it to be delivered in an easy-to-consume fashion.