UNMANAGED TRAVEL NOT A FAVOURITE: CWT

New research by Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) reveals that most travel managers remain skeptical of unmanaged travel — an approach to corporate travel that allows travellers to book through any channel. Only 9% of travel managers surveyed said they’re in favour of unmanaged travel, compared to 62% who are against the idea. Perhaps more strikingly, 87% said their companies have not tried unmanaged travel and have no intention of doing so. Of those who do intend to pilot a more relaxed booking approach or have already done so, most stated it was to increase traveller satisfaction. CWT’s research also showed that 45% of its global bookings are for complex, multi-segment trips and 45% of its European reservations are changed before or after ticketing, indicating the need for close traveller support. David Moran, CWT executive vice-president, enterprise strategy and marketing, said: “We do expect to see consumer trends continuing to influence corporate traveller behaviour and expectations, with a clear emphasis on increasing traveller choice. However, recent feedback from our customers has shown that while this migration toward increased choice is steadily taking place, today’s solutions are not yet robust enough to allow them to relax their booking channel policies.” Go to http://www.carlsonwagonlit.com for more.