Business Travel News - Procurement Practices 2010 - (Page 4)

BTNonline.com NORTHSTAR Procurement Practices Letter From The Sponsor The recent global economic recession has clearly had profound effects on business as well as business travel. As we enter 2010 with expectations that demand will slowly return and suppliers will gain pricing confidence, companies are challenged with strategically managing travel in a new operating environment. It is a new normal where budgets will remain reduced, controls need to be stronger and there is an emphasis on measuring the return on investment in each business connection. As we move ahead in this new landscape, strategies and solutions that deliver more insight into travel spending and help companies make better decisions will be critical to making effective travel decisions in the year ahead. This year’s Procurement Practices survey will be especially helpful for companies in guiding travel program enhancements and changes necessary to keep up with the changing times. Procurement best practices will be shared which when applied can help generate cost savings and increase the effectiveness and efficiency of corporate travel programs. As outlined in the following pages, new technology investments, including virtual technology and online travel tools, will be crucial to a successful travel platform in this new operating landscape and will strengthen overall business connectivity. We are pleased to partner with Business Travel News on the 2010 Procurement Survey as a part of our overall commitment to “eXpert insights” research this year from our Global Advisory Services group. We hope the results offer the desired insight into the best practices, performance measures and key strategies for successful managed travel programs, which deliver a greater return on all business travel investments. DAVID MEYER Editor-in-Chief (646) 654-4431 (dmeyer@btnonline.com) CHRIS DAVIS Executive Managing Editor (646) 654-4437 (cdavis@btnonline.com) JAY BOEHMER Airline Editor (646) 654-4434 (jboehmer@btnonline.com) MICHAEL B. BAKER Hotel, Expense/Payment Editor (646) 654-4433 (mbaker@btnonline.com) JONATHAN CHAN Art Director (646) 654-7338 (jchan@ntmllc.com) • CONTRIBUTING EDITOR AMON COHEN +44 (0) 1963-351-219 We welcome your letters, comments and feedback. Please contact the editor at dmeyer@btnonline.com. For breaking news and original research, and to search articles since 1996, visit BTNonline.com. Follow Business Travel News on Twitter at twitter.com/BTNonline HERVÉ SEDKY Senior Vice President / GM, Global Advisory Services, Maxvantage and Global Meeting Solutions American Express Business Travel There is no denying the value of measurement, even in a time of favorable negotiating conditions and high compliance with corporate travel policy. Measuring the return on the company's investment in travel, focusing attention on key travel performLETTER ance indicators and service levFROM THE els, reducing travel through EDITOR videoconferencing and pre-trip reporting, and focusing on communications and data management have helped drive savings and support business requirements. Year-over-year comparisons can provide useful information for judging performance and making decisions, and yet they must be seen in the context of market conditions and long-term trends to fully grasp what the data mean. Last year's huge drop in travel demand drove business travel use of procurement practices to new heights. Indeed, in many companies the deep cuts in travel spending were made using those practices. While use of some of those techniques has receded slightly this year, other measures continued to show growth in the use of procurement practices for travel management. For instance, there is a rise in the number of companies that use demand management measures this year. Fortunately, the economy is no longer falling down. As confidence grows that we already have reached the bottom of the Great Recession and are beginning to come out of it, businesses are returning to the road. Business Travel News appreciates the responses and support that allowed us to generate these findings. For this fourth anuual examination of the use of procurement practices in managing travel, Business Travel News again gives thanks for the participation of its readers, American Express Business Travel procurement customers and Institute for Supply Management members for providing data. BTN also thanks Equation Research for securing and processing the results and American Express Business Travel for making this research possible through its support. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES (847) 763-9050; (800) 697-8859 Fax: (847) 291-4816 Business Travel News PO Box 3601 Northbrook IL 60065-3601 (nbtn@omeda.com) LIST RENTAL/POSTAL INFORMATION JULIUS SINGLE (845) 731-2731 E-MAIL INFORMATION WAYNE NAGROWSKI (845) 731-3854 CUSTOM REPRINTS OF 500 PIECES OR MORE: KRISTI FULKERSON, The YGS Group (800) 290-5460, ext. 144 (BTN@TheYGSgroup.com) BTN EDITORIAL & SALES OFFICES 770 Broadway New York, NY 10003-9595 Editorial Fax: (646) 654-4455 All Rights Reserved DAV I D M E Y E R Editor-in-Chief Business Travel News 4 April 19, 2010 // www.BTNonline.com // BUSINESS TRAVEL NEWS http://www.BTNonline.com http://www.BTNonline.com http://www.twitter.com/BTNonline http://www.BTNonline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Business Travel News - Procurement Practices 2010

Business Travel News - Procurement Processes 2010

Contents
Letters to Our Readers
Ebbing of Procurement Tide
Reining in Disciplinary Measures
Managing Demand and Structure
Evaluating 2010's Travel Outlook
Negotiating the Role

Business Travel News - Procurement Practices 2010