No mobile strategy in majority of business travel programs

Much of the business travel community, as it gears up for autumn, will turn to mobile for various tasks such as itinerary management and perhaps some simple bookings and expense management.

A fresh study from the GBTA Foundation and Carlson Wagonlit Travel reveals that 69% of 'travel professionals' say their program does not have a strategy for mobile.

It is on the way however, with 64% saying their organisation plans to implement one within two years and a further 26% say within three years.

The study entitled 'A Mobile Effect: Setting A Clear Mobile Travel Strategy', also lays out some of the opportunities of putting a mobile strategy in place:

Increased traveller engagement is top of benefits for 78%
Increased compliance say 55%
And, reduced off-program bookings say 43%

Then, there are the challenges:

IT security comes top of the hurdles at 41%
Traveller owns their own device say 32%
There are too many decisions say 21%

Corporates are clearly taking their time to assess the impact of mobile on their policies and program but a little more haste might be in order as the most business travellers see their mobile device as a necessity.

Perhaps the more recent focus on the traveller experience might prove the driver for mobile strategy implementation.

Here are the charts from the study: