The amount and pace of digital innovation and transformation is staggering. In this environment, the greatest damage to a corporate travel program lies not in inertia, but in trying to protect current practices and preserve legacy models.
That’s the warning from Advito Managing Director April Bridgeman in a recent Out Front blog post. She notes that the end of 2016 also marked the end of the status quo and the old way of thinking about managed travel.
“We’ve never before experienced this rate of change and there’s no indication that it will slow down soon,” Bridgeman writes. This means three things for travel programs:
- Every company will transform into a digitally driven company.
- Every industry is facing tremendous disruptive pressure.
- And every travel program will be impacted by digital innovation—whether the company is accustomed to aggressive transformation, methodical shifts or traditionally has stayed on the periphery of change.
“Digital transformation introduces entirely new opportunities to engage with suppliers, travelers, customers and partners,” she writes. “Forward-thinking travel managers move quickly, adapt rapidly, innovate continuously and test frequently. Less progressive travel managers recognize the need to adapt but revert to using the same legacy thinking, rules and practices that drove success in the past to current day dynamics.
“Unfortunately, most will not see much improvement. This is because they do not have a clear understanding of how the ‘old’ impedes a program’s future success and can actually be more risky to your company in today’s rapidly changing environment.
“It’s important to foresee how some of travel’s standard practices may be misaligned with the real-time changes happening in business and the industry,” Bridgeman writes. “But beware, new thinking is required.”
