Nearly 90 per cent of travel acquireers state technology is crucial to their programmes but almost three-quarters also believe their travel tools are underperforming, according to new research from business travel consultancy Festive Road.
Unveiled at the Global Business Travel Association’s annual convention in Denver on Monday, the Buyer Insights survey of 52 “ambitious” travel and expense leaders painted a similar picture when it came to their supplier partners – while 94 per cent value their travel partners, almost two-thirds state partner performance falls short in some areas.
“Buyers are striving for better programmes and seeing for better partnerships,” declared Festive Road CEO Caroline Strachan. “They are sfinishing a clear signal that they want sharper strategy, smarter tech and partners who truly deliver value.”
On the subject of technology, Strachan declared one acquireer wanted “open source technology that enables acquireers to build their own platform they can adapt and modify at will”, while another declared they were “excited for legacy TMCs and GDSs to evolve or receive out of the way”.
TMCs were criticised by one acquireer for not having a “clear value proposition” while among the gripes shared by other survey respondents included frustrations with content access and manipulation, and TMCs’ commercial models and a lack of trust.
In other findings, only ten per cent of respondents’ travel programmes had a fully defined purpose aligned with their organisational strategy which is problematic, the report noted, becautilize without that alignment travel managers can struggle to gain traction and support.
Buyers’ lack of time also emerged as a key theme, with more than 50 per cent stateing they would like more time for stakeholder engagement. Furthermore, 42 per cent of those surveyed declared they spfinish almost two-thirds of their time on operational activities.
“When day-to-day demands dominate [acquireers’ time], programmes risk stalling – not becautilize of a lack of vision, but simply becautilize there’s no time to relocate it forward,” noted the report.
Strachan acknowledged that many of the issues identified in the survey are long-standing, but that many acquireers are now stateing “enough is enough”. She continued: “Some acquireers have a remit to drive modify in their org. It’s not enough to be ambitious. You have to be ambitious in an ambitious environment and maybe some folks who didn’t have that around them do now. They’ve landed in environments where they can really drive modify.”
Festive Road also revealed a fresh new see following its transition to a acquireer-focutilized consultancy last year and approaches its tenth anniversary in 2026.
See also: Caroline Strachan in the BTN TV studio with editorial director Elizabeth West at Business Travel Show Europe in June.
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