Has your company adapted to changing travel patterns?

Companies and business providers need to ask themselves: did they cut travel in the right places and have they changed to support smart travel when the recovery begins later this year, suggests Amex.
 

“With the worldwide recession having fundamentally altered the business travel landscape, companies are adapting to a new operating environment. There is an opportunity to measure how prepared they are with adjustments made during the recession and in the face of travel demand coming back,” the site says.
 

American Express Business Travel announced the availability of an interactive scorecard to measure travel program effectiveness.
 

Research surveying attitudes and actions companies took to scale-back travel and plan for the future was conducted in tandem with the initiative and the findings released in a new eXpert insights report: “Managing Travel in the New Normal.”
 

“Companies are struggling to reorient themselves after arriving at the crossroads where aggressive cost-cutting and long-term company performance intersect,” said Charles Petruccelli, president, American Express Global Travel Services. He added:
 

“As the broader economy shows signs of stability, companies are realizing the importance of measuring the impact of changed travel patterns on both sales and growth opportunities. Companies need to ask themselves: did we cut travel in the right places and did we make the proper investments to support smart travel when recovery begins?”
 

Most respondents to the Managing Travel in the New Normal survey indicated they believe travel demand will come back in 2010, albeit not to pre-recession levels any time soon.
 

Amex’s report is said to be the first formal survey of its kind to examine how corporations have adapted their travel programs in response to the global recession and if their programs are optimized for when travel does pick-up.
 

The survey analysis provides insight into a variety of areas, including the traveler-centric future of managed travel, and a move toward mandating policy and supplier compliance, among others.
 

By David Wilkening