Being a good travel manager is far from easy. It’s a position that enables others in the company to conduct their role better, but they themselves are often stretched thin across various activities. From negotiating supplier agreements and setting travel policies, to tracking travellers internationally – travel managers are responsible for multiple priorities at any given time.

 

 

Even with recent rapid technological developments, face-to-face meetings remain a business necessity that has resulted in an increased demand for controllable corporate travel.

 

 

However, with change comes new opportunities. For travel managers, this means assessing what they do today and showing where they can add value to their organisations. Crucially, it’s also determining what success in the role will look like in the future.

 

 

If you were to look at a travel manager’s key objectives today, their strategies would revolve around:

 

 

• Travellers: Liaison, Engagement, Risk Mitigation


• Suppliers: Relationship Management & Deal Negotiations


• Policies: Creation and Communication, Compliance Monitoring


• Payment Systems: Act as card administrator, and oversee the potential integration of an expense management system


• Finance: Support budget control and forecasting


• Technology: Maximise use for improved productivity, Cost Reduction, Traveller Safety


• Data Management: Ability to record and make recommendations based on business intelligence.



 
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Some travel managers are naturally talented for the role, but our research has shown that people tend to fall into the position of travel manager, and must learn and develop the necessary skills to achieve their targets.

 

 

Whilst there are many skills that a travel manager requires, we believe that the following 5 are the most crucial attributes necessary to make the role of travel manager a success within their organisations.

 

 

1. Interpersonal Skills

 

 

The catalyst for success or failure of a travel manager is dependent on how well they have engaged with their internal stakeholders.

 

 

Each department within a business will have an involvement in the process of procuring, delivering, and paying for travel for their team members. Travel managers must ensure that they have the correct personnel involved from the beginning, and that they can identify what differing objectives they require to meet corporate targets, as it will encourage greater collaboration and compliance from their colleagues.

 

 

2. Industry Knowledge

 

 

In a role as diverse and complex as a travel manager’s, the breadth of challenges facing them means that they must be well versed in all matters to enable them to compete in the ever-changing travel industry environment.

 

 

Being educated in the latest tools, services, practices, and processes will allow them to better overcome challenges, improve the efficiency of their programmes, and increase the safety of their corporate travellers. 

Sources useful to keep your knowledge and training up to date include: The Institute of Travel Management, Buying Business Travel, The Business Travel Magazine, and GBTA.

 

 

3. Negotiation and Influence Expertise

 

 

An ability to negotiate and influence stakeholders, vendors, and suppliers will ensure that these dealings are beneficial to everyone involved. 

Creating and enforcing travel policies is one of a travel managers’ key responsibilities. Unless they get the full support of senior managers to mete out the consequences of non-compliance, then leakage could become an escalating issue.By ensuring that they influence the key personnel from the beginning, the more likely that their hard work in creating travel policies will be rewarded. 

When dealing with suppliers, effective negotiations can provide their travellers with better deals and more comfortable accommodation, resulting in better travel experiences. It will also lead to a higher satisfaction with you as their travel manager.

 

 

4. Analytical Decision Making

 

 

Today, the corporate travel environment is changing so fast, it has become increasingly volatile. Thus, travel managers must be ready to reconfigure their strategic priorities at speed, and with certainty. In order to make critical business decisions, they need to be able to mine the data and information at their disposal and drive rapid decision making.

 

 

As analytical experience grows, travel managers can optimise their travel processes over time, and learn to innovate and operate in ways that result in their key objectives becoming more achievable.

 

 

5. Adaptable

 

 

In a fast-paced environment, travel managers must be ready to adapt and react to external situations quickly. In considering the PESTLE framework (Political, Economic, Social, Technology, Legal, and Environmental) for potential challenges, travel managers should be aware of the impacts that each of these may cause, and how best to overcome them.

 

 

About ITM

 

 

The Institute of Travel Management is the leading association for business travel buyers and suppliers. Representing over 3,500 members in the UK and Ireland, ITM has been the “go-to-place” for business travel professionals as a source of information, career progression, and toolkits for more than 60 years.