Robert Daykin, senior partner in CTP, envisions a future with travel managers as category advisers to procurement

‘‘There will be fewer and fewer travel managers and small companies will be outsourcing the role totally in the future. The role of a travel manager is being absorbed, or just not being replaced. You won’t see the end of the travel manager but the role is changing. It’s not going to be full-time and it will reside within procurement. The former travel manager will be a ‘technical’ or ‘category’ adviser to procurement.

You find me a strategic travel manager; there aren’t many. There’s just not enough strategic travel management. But why aren’t the TMCs filling the void? I think it’s because there is still a trust issue surrounding TMCs. And it’s not easy to get good account managers; they are few and far between.

A lot of people cursed when procurement started to take over travel but procurement people do understand numbers and they are professionals in their field. They know and understand the role of RFPs, KPIs and SLAs. But a lack of in-depth knowledge and under-standing of the nuances of the travel category and the art of the possible have led them to make some, shall we say, not so bright decisions.

As a consultancy specialising in solutions for effective travel purchasing and management, we‘re increasingly getting shorter-term, highly-paid contracts or longer-term full-time contacts.

With the former we’re going in for a few days per month to companies to fulfil the role as a travel manager on an outsourced basis. In the main this is to keep the programme at a good practice level, continuously improving the programme so that it does not deteriorate over time.

With the latter we’re going in full time on an ‘interim manager’ basis to manage the entire process as a category manager, combining the traditional travel manager role with that of the procurement professional.

In this case we are typically re-engineering the entire programme from end-to-end or optimising a significant part of the programme that was not functioning effectively.

Procurement people have data but in many cases it's just raw data that needs to be structured into what we call ‘meaningful management information’ that show where opportunities exist and what needs to be done to realise them. Our job initially is to go in for a few days to scope the project and identify the requirements, so that together we can work out how best the company can achieve its objectives.

A key part of our role when working with organisations is ‘skills transfer’. It’s not just about the skills but also our knowledge and experience, helping travel managers to better understand where the real opportunities lie, what is actually possible, and how best to optimise the programme as a whole.

There are so many responsibilities now placed on an organisation, from corporate and social responsibilities to duty of care to employees, not to mention the ever increasing costs associated with travel. Therefore, managing the travel category effectively and maintaining it at an optimum level is really very important and can deliver significant benefits for the organisation.

Combining the knowledge and understanding of the category of a well versed and experienced travel manager with the skills of the procurement professional is the way of the future. This will lead to the development of highly skilled and knowledgeable category managers. Some will be capable of managing the entire category for SMEs, others will specialise in key sub-categories on a global scale for multinationals.

All in all, the changes taking place will deliver even greater benefits to those who take on board the need to manage the travel category effectively and who are committed to optimising the entire programme, from decision to travel through to the numbers entered into the general ledger.

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