Amadeus study reveals need for corporations in Asia Pacific to enhance travel management systems
30.6% considering use of Self Booking Tools to cut travel costs
Bangkok | Research released today by Amadeus, the leading global distributions and technology partner to the travel industry, has revealed that while corporate travel in Asia-Pacific is growing rapidly, travel management policies in many companies have not reached the level of sophistication needed to handle large volumes of business travel in a productive and cost-efficient manner.
In a recent survey commissioned by Amadeus and conducted by Intercedent Asia, it was found that, despite considering travel management a medium to high priority, Asia-Pacific corporations are lagging behind their European and U.S. counterparts, where Travel Management Companies (TMCs) and Self Booking Tools (SBTs) are widely used to efficiently manage employee travel, particularly in streamlining corporate travel costs. SBT penetration in Asia-Pacific was even lower, with one-eighth of respondents (12.5%) using an online SBT. However, a significant number of corporations (30.6%) are considering changing their internal travel policies to mandate the use of online SBTs to take advantage of their cost cutting potential.
David Brett, President, Amadeus Asia-Pacific, said, “Corporate travel has increased significantly throughout the world, with 2008 forecasts of the corporate travel industry predicting that business travel is expected to grow to an all-time high. In the past decade, the Asia-Pacific region has seen strong economic growth and heavy investment from global companies, particularly in the powerhouses of China and India. This is resulting in more corporate travel with an ensuing pressure to reduce travel costs, and many companies are now taking a second look at how to make travel more efficient and cost effective.”
At present, companies reported that they do face difficulties in initiating new policies for travel management. This is often because most companies still do not have a designated department to explore and implement methods to improve travel processes, while other regional offices are constrained by the policy dictated by their head office.
The most popular tactics to reduce travel costs include negotiations with suppliers (94.4%), followed by increased use of phone and video conferencing (83.3%), and travel agency consolidation (80.6%). More than a quarter of respondent companies had not engaged the services of a TMC, nor were they interested in doing so.
Other steps that the respondent companies are considering to improve travel efficiency include:
- Demanding greater transparency from suppliers,
- Greater use of automated administrative procedures
- Enforcing stricter company travel policies
- Consolidation of travel agents
- Greater usage of budget airlines
“Despite the fact that many companies in Asia-Pacific are still missing out on the significant benefits that SBTs afford to organisations in terms of time and money savings, strong competitive pressure means that it is only a matter of time before companies here catch up with their counterparts in Europe and the U.S. in terms of travel management efficiency,” said Brett.
“As a global leader in the development of corporate travel management solutions, Amadeus is constantly analysing the benefits of technology in the daily business environment, and research findings like this help to spread the knowledge that these solutions can offer drastic savings and streamlining of processes. Amadeus, with our ‘think global, act local’ approach and strong understanding of markets in the region, is ideally placed to support Asia-Pacific companies in harnessing the benefits of SBTs and other corporate solutions,” he added.
The research study was conducted among a broad range of international companies in Asia Pacific with an average yearly travel spend of US$7 million, with some respondents reporting up to US$100 million in corporate travel expenditure.
The company is owned by WAM Acquisition, whose shareholders are BC Partners, Cinven, Air France, Iberia and Lufthansa. Amadeus employs nearly 7,600 employees worldwide, representing 95 nationalities.
More information about Amadeus is available at:
Amadeus’ vision is to provide next generation travel technology that encourages collaboration amongst all players within the travel industry. To realise this we are investing in a range of technology solutions and components that will allow the seamless integration of content, data and systems whether they are part of Amadeus or whether they are from third party suppliers. Over the next years, Amadeus will expand its unique approach to corporate travel. By providing the technology solutions that span before, during and after all travel steps, the existing online booking tool will evolve beyond trip booking to provide the Total Trip Experience for corporate travellers. The move towards mobile technology is an integral part of the vision of what the travel experience should be.