Corporate travel tips

Marriott International expanded further into the business travel management space Tuesday, aiming to drive more direct bookings from road warriors and taking share from middlemen distributors.

Online travel company MakeMyTrip on Monday announced its acquisition of expense management platform Happay from Indian fintech company CRED. The deal would allow MakeMyTrip to deepen its foothold in the expanding corporate travel market.

Indian online travel agency Yatra continues to face headwinds with its consumer business – can the corporate travel side pick up the slack?

American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) said Tuesday it continued to pursue a two-pronged strategy as the world’s largest travel-management company: maintaining its lead in serving multinational corporations while aggressively expanding into the fragmented small- and medium-sized business market.

The Indian aviation sector is poised for significant growth, and civil aviation minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu believes the country might need 4,000 additional planes over the next two decades to cater to the demand. Currently, Indian airlines are operating around 800 planes and have an order book of over 1,200 aircraft. 

This episode of the Skift India Travel Podcast sets the stage for an in-depth discussion on India’s evolving corporate travel market. Avinash Chandani, partner at Deloitte India, talks to Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia about the growth potential of the Indian corporate travel market. Key topics include growth drivers, industry trends like blended travel, the impact of technology and data, and the role of travel management companies. The podcast provides an insight into how businesses are navigating high travel costs, geopolitical challenges, and shifting traveler expectations providing a comprehensive understanding of the opportunities and challenges in India’s corporate travel landscape, with a mix of data-driven analysis and expert commentary.

Business travel expenses are expected to steady next year, though at price levels surpassing historical averages, according to an industry forecast released Thursday.

Amex GBT (American Express Global Business Travel) has become a giant since spinning out from American Express a decade ago. Last year, it helped employees at about 20,000 companies book $6.3 billion in travel transactions. It’s probably the largest travel management company by sales, though many competitors don’t disclose their financials publicly, making comparisons tricky.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Friday, August 23, 2024, and now, here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Switzerland is trying to persuade business travelers to extend their trips through a new marketing campaign.

Gloria Gonzalez, a travel agency account manager in Fort Worth, used to fly back-to-back business trips as a travel manager before the pandemic.

Plex, a streaming company with a staff that’s fully remote, hosts a yearly retreat for more than 130 employees in locations from Mykonos to Tuscany to team-build and provide bonding opportunities. 

The top boss of SAP Concur, the most-used travel and expense management platform, said the company had made significant strides with its newest travel booking platform.

Business travel spending worldwide is projected to reach an all-time high of $1.48 trillion by the end of 2024, surpassing pre-pandemic levels for the first time, the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) said Monday.

Business travel spending by U.S. companies may finally exceed pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year, according to a Deloitte report released Wednesday. 

Corporate travel spending is on track to reach pre-pandemic levels by the end of this year, but the nature of who is spending looks very different.

The recent earnings seasons provided a glimpse into how the largest publicly traded travel companies are faring.

The big players in the world of managing corporate travel are gearing up to get bigger: Amex GBT’s $570 million bid for CWT and the sale of Direct Travel to an investor consortium are two of the latest examples of the race to bulk up through mergers. 

Business travel has always been unhealthy. If you were into wellness, business travel coordinators might identify local healthy restaurants and hotels with gyms. 

Dubai Business Events, part of the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism and the city’s official convention bureau, on Monday will announce its first-ever recognition program for Indian intermediaries for meetings, incentives, conferences and events business.

Corporations have largely maneuvered out of the workplace upheavals inflicted by the global pandemic. One issue continues to vex managers: How to handle business travel for newly remote employees.