Small and midsize companies are showing more interest in using managed travel programs to improve duty of care and better track spending, said BCD Travel’s Kathy Bedell.
Bedell, a senior vice president for the travel managed company, recently talked to Mike McCormick, executive director and chief operating officer of the Global Business Travel Association, about the trend. During their conversation, filmed at the GBTA Toronto conference in May, Bedell explained that as online booking tools and other automation become more affordable, small and medium enterprises are taking a fresh look at managed travel. She outlined three drivers for SMEs:
- The need to better understand and control on-the-road spending
- Concerns about employees’ well-being—linked to duty of care compliance and employee retention
- A desire to use real-time data to quickly influence travelers and improve business travel experiences
In a separate interview with Business Travel News, Bedell said SMEs are looking to “create compliance and change behavior” through traveler engagement enabled by a managed travel program.
Learn more about how traveler engagement can boost savings and traveler safety for companies of any size by reading Get Engaged: Empowering Travelers to Make Smart Buying Choices, a white paper from BCD Travel.
