Skift Take
Innovation used to be hard to come by in corporate travel. Today, these startups are doing the hard work of moving the industry forward -- and major players are paying attention.
Editor's Note: A year ago, Skift expanded its coverage of corporate travel with more frequent stories and a dedicated newsletter. The Corporate Travel Innovation Report focuses on the future of corporate travel by examining the big fault lines of disruption for travel managers and buyers, the innovations emerging from the sector, and the changing business traveler habits that are upending how corporate travel is packaged, bought, and sold.
In this series of stories and one-on-one interviews, we explore some of the latest trends, technology, and external forces causing corporate travel to evolve. You can read the rest of the articles in this series here.
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The corporate travel ecosystem, historically, has been extremely resistant to change. The very nature of the business model maintained by corporate travel management companies tends to make experimentation seem risky; If you're making money from both business travelers and travel providers, why change anything at all?
But one thing did change: Traveler behavior. Trained by consumer booking tools and other technological innovations, road warriors began taking control of their business itineraries, posing new challenges for companies looking to restrain spending, and travel management companies began losing bookings they expected to have.
The ubiquity of smartphones and mobile booking have accelerated the need for change in corporate travel, since many travelers simply would prefer not to have to phone a corporate travel agent to book a trip.
Today, travel management companies and travel technology companies are looking to crack the myriad problems in corporate travel; many are starting with making life easier for business travelers themselves and giving them a reason to book travel in policy.
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