Travel Policies and Evaluation

Recently, I posed a question on a LinkedIn group I am part of: ACTE (Association of Corporate Travel Executives)
How often do travel managers evaluate their travel programs and travel agencies? How do they perform this evaluation?

Since I posed the question almost three weeks ago there have been numerous responses. Many people from different sectors of the travel world (travel managers, agents, consultants, suppliers) have given their insight into the question. After reading all of the responses so far it seems there are a couple of common points that people brought up. Here is a summation of the responses:

-Numerous corporations (even large ones) still don’t have travel policies in place.

-Many corporations who have travel policies in place, do not enforce them.

-Vendor contracts are reviewed quarterly or annually, using several different methods.

-People are looking towards technology to help book travel and analyze travel spend/performance

-Real time analysis is the most important analysis a travel manager can perform because it allows for immediate recognized savings.

-Travel programs differ and are enforced very differently depending on companies various cultures.

-Enforced travel policies and analysis of these policies is necessary whether you’re a small or large company.

-Many employees do not understand, are scared of, or abuse travel policy.

All of the analysis people have given has been very insightful. I hope to continue to pose questions that people are interested in discussing. To join the discussion, join the ACTE group or the Topaz International Group on LinkedIn:

ACTE: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=789767

Topaz: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=1833037