The corporate travel landscape is being shaped by trends
such as a focus on partnerships, artificial intelligence (AI) and changing traveler
expectations.
During an executive panel at The Phocuswright Conference in San
Diego last month, executives from American Express Global Business Travel,
Festive Road and Spotnana discussed these current and future trends in the
sector.
Steve Singh, executive chairman and CEO of Spotnana,
highlighted three big shifts coming in the next five years: how travelers
search, how content is distributed and how trips are serviced in light of
agentic AI developments.
His comments were timely given a partnership Spotnana has
just announced with Booking.com, providing partners and
customers with direct access to the online travel agency's full inventory.
The aim of the partnership is
to help travel managers reduce leakage by offering travelers content they might
want while also increasing savings and boosting the traveler experience.
Amex GBT chief product and strategy officer Evan Konwiser and
Festive Road CEO Caroline Strachan stressed the need for more integrated
solutions improving data access as well as the traveler experience—a
challenge that has long hampered progress in the corporate travel sector.
Panelists touched on attitudes towards AI as well with some
organizations pushing its use through, for example, mandatory training, while
others are anxious about its potential impact.
Changing traveler behavior, particularly the drive from
younger cohorts for “Instagrammable” consumer-grade experiences even while on
business trips, was also discussed. However, the challenge remains in balancing
their expectations with corporate travel policy and cost efficiency.
See below for the full discussion moderated by Phocuswright’s
director of research Alicia Schmid:
Executive panel: Business travel's next move