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Tackling Meetings Spend

Posted in Blog, The Wire by AirPlus Editor
Tags: travel manager

Travel Managers get involved as economic woes and public scrutiny push corporations to improve meetings visibility.

Corporate travel managers have meetings on the radar in 2009, according to a recent survey of 148 corporate travel professionals conducted by AirPlus International. More than 52 percent of respondents indicated they were “very involved” or “involved” in planning or sourcing meetings, while slightly more than 33 percent said they assisted other departments in planning such activities.

The going may prove to be tough for a good portion of these individuals as their involvement in managing meetings is likely ad hoc . Compared to the 85 percent of corporate travel professionals who touch meetings, only about 35 percent of respondents said that their company enforced a meetings policy. In contrast, more than 60 percent revealed that either the meetings policy was not enforced (23.8 percent) or there was no policy at all (38.8 percent). These numbers are likely to change in the near future.

Recent outrage over extravagant meetings and incentive programs hosted by AIG and other U.S. companies that received government bailout funds has shoved an unlikely industry into the public perception hot seat. The backlash derailed legitimate meetings business throughout corporate America, delaying business decisions and further damaging the hospitality industry already reeling from the economic downturn. According to the AirPlus survey, more than 31 percent of companies cancelled at least a portion of their existing or planned meetings as a direct response to the public scrutiny. More than 20 percent have placed new restrictions on acceptable meeting locations.

In those companies moving toward meeting planning best practices, corporate travel professionals are likely to be tapped as an important resource. Their diverse backgrounds in policy and compliance, travel management tools, travel procurement strategies and data reporting will serve them well. While the challenges to meetings management can be significant, the 85 percent of corporate travel professionals already involved in meeting planning activities will be a step ahead of the game.