NBTA Report Shows Importance of Travel Management

Cites Recent Security Incidents' Impact on Business Travel

• 
  SAVE
• 
  SHARE
• 
  TEXT SIZE
• 
  PRINT
• 
  COMMENT
• 
  PDF

. December 11, 2008

ALEXANDRIA, VA, December 11, 2008. The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) - the leading association for the corporate travel industry -- today published results of a survey examining the impact on business travel of two recent security incidents in Asia: the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India and the airport closures due to protests in Bangkok, Thailand. The report is based on a survey conducted the week after those events took place, which garnered 191 responses from corporate travel buyers, and is available to NBTA members on www.nbta.org.

Key findings of the report:

Mumbai

-15% of travel management professionals polled had travelers or local employees directly affected in Mumbai.

-An additional 29% had travelers or employees on location who were not directly affected by the attacks.

-Nearly 9 in 10 respondents were able to utilize traveler tracking systems to locate affected employees and were able to contact them after the crisis in Mumbai.

-42% of respondents expect a decline in their companies' travel volumes to Mumbai, and 39% see a reduction to the rest of India.

Bangkok

-32% of respondents indicated that they had travelers flying to, from or connecting in Bangkok during the days when the two international airports in the city were closed by invading protesters.

-85% were able to locate and contact travelers affected in Bangkok utilizing their traveler tracking systems, and make alternative arrangements for them.

-34% of those surveyed expect a decline in their companies' travel to Bangkok and Thailand.

NBTA President & CEO, Kevin Maguire, CCTE, GLP, said, "The horrific attacks in Mumbai and the protests that closed major airports in Bangkok highlighted why it is so important for companies to have sophisticated travel management programs with risk management capabilities. In both incidents, the vast majority of companies were equipped to quickly identify and contact the travelers who may have been impacted. As business continues to globalize, travel risk increases, making travel management increasingly essential to meeting strategic goals."

The report points to several expected changes in how corporations manage travel as a result of these incidents:

-Greater emphasis on the importance of a well-managed travel program that is proactive and respected by travelers and upper management

-More proactive travel managers and more informed travelers through safety training and additional safety communications

-Increased value, importance and funding of a robust travel risk management program

-Closer working relationship between travel managers and other risk management professionals within a company

-Increased focus on hotel security and safety during the sourcing process

The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) is the world's premier business travel and corporate meetings organization. NBTA and its regional affiliates - NBTA Asia Pacific, the Brazilian Business Travel Association (ABGEV), NBTA Canada, NBTA Mexico, and NBTA USA - serve a network of more than 15,000 business travel professionals around the globe with industry-leading events, networking, education & professional development, research, news & information, and advocacy. NBTA members, numbering more than 4,000 in 30 nations, are corporate and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers. They collectively manage and direct more than US$200 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually on behalf of more than 10 million business travelers within their organizations. For more information, visit www.nbta.org.