Mediaboss Marketing

Gurgaon, Sep.30 (ANI): Travel professionals are playing an increasingly large and influential role in shaping and controlling business travel policy, a new report on Asia Pacific (APAC) trends by the GBTA Foundation has opined.

According to the report, this has been made possible with the help of online booking tools, as well as a growing focus on cost-saving efforts.

"As recent studies by GBTA indicate, we expect double digit growth in business travel to Asia. With companies eager to capitalize on business expansion opportunities in this thriving region, corporate travel departments will be critical to their success," said Welf J. Ebeling, regional director of GBTA Asia.

Ebeling added: "This study shows that travel managers are gaining more control over budgets to help contain costs and ensure that road warriors can be as effective as possible."

This third annual study, "Travel Policy Trends: 'Control' - What Does it Mean and Who Has It", surveyed nearly 1,500 travel professionals in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America to determine, for the first time ever, what "control" over travel policy means to them, and how travel professionals are adapting to new and evolving business travel requirements.

The majority of travel professionals worldwide, i.e. 60 percent, indicate that they have more control over travel policy compared to a few years ago.

"Our study shows that in Asia Pacific, social media and technology, such as mobile devices, is reshaping both the traveler experience and travel manager's role in simultaneously supporting traveler needs and corporate objectives," said Cecilia Routledge, managing director of Egencia APAC.

Routledge added: "We set out to understand how travel professionals can better apply travel policy to make sure their travelers have the important information they require to manage travel details without losing sight of policy compliance."

More than half (54 percent) selected "driving savings and controlling costs" as one of the most important definitions of travel policy control.

The report reveals the top ten most important definitions of travel policy control, worldwide and across key regions. They include the following:

View post:
Travel experts gaining control of travel policies in Asia-Pacific: GBTA-Egencia study