Andrew Sheivachman

The more creative a meeting or event, the more impactful and memorable it is. Why don't more organizations prioritize making the most of their events?

Lola's new group management travel tools are useful for small companies that don't want to deal with the hassle of creating a heavily managed travel program. Its upcoming marketing push will likely prove crucial as the company looks to attract more customers in a crowded business travel booking sector.

Accor has no plans to follow Marriott International's lead with commission cuts for meetings, but then again Accor's relatively weak presence in North America means it has to focus on drawing in clients instead of pushing them away.

Creating a truly global business travel service has been an ongoing effort among the biggest corporate travel giants. As the Chinese market continues to grow in scope and importance, those with an edge in Asia-Pacific are well-positioned for the future.

Now that Hogg Robinson Group is out of the picture because of a merger, Australia's Corporate Travel Management is one of the largest public corporate travel management companies in the world. It's setting its sights on expansion in the U.S., but entering the market has its challenges.

Augmented reality, virtual reality, and holograms are all cool. But there's still a ton of work to be done to enhance marketing and event design before turning to gimmicks.

While augmented reality and holograms are the sexy new technologies in the event space, the overall integration of digital tools with physical events is still undergoing a period of transformation.

The foundational work is being done to help corporate travel catch up to online travel in terms of booking technology and service delivery, although no one is really sure when the foundational work will end.

Even big travel management companies, which usually resist change, are planning ahead to better anticipate traveler and travel manager needs. No one's quite sure when this more connected and insightful future will arrive, though.

Spending as a result of U.S. meetings and events has steadily increased since 2009, and it doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon, according to new research. Spending on food and beverage likewise isn't easing up at all.