Business travel professionals show optimism and commitment to their career prospects for 2024

Work-life balance, contentment and industry opportunities in their roles drive loyalty – Global travel buyers and suppliers also report continued knowledge gaps, desire for clarity and implementation challenges related to New Distribution Capability

As the business travel industry continues to show strong indicators heading towards a projected $1.5 trillion in spending by 2024, the latest sentiment survey released today by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) reveals a workforce industry team made up of experienced and engaged professionals who lead the business travel sector. path.

GBTA has revealed its April 2024 Business Travel Outlook Survey, which provides valuable industry-wide perspectives. Based on responses from more than 800 buyers, suppliers and other business travel professionals in 41 countries, this 34th edition of GBTA’s ongoing survey series reveals the current state of the profession, including assessing the latest sentiment around the implementation of New Distribution Capacity (NDC).
Survey results show that a significant majority of global business travel professionals enjoy or love working in the sector, reflecting a sense of optimism and job satisfaction in the sector. Many respondents predict they will remain in their current roles into 2024, and professionals from outside the industry will continue to join. A quarter of industry respondents expect promotions next year. Travel buyers remain in charge of making important decisions for their organization, especially in relationships with travel management companies (TMC), hotel and flight contracts. And when it comes to navigating NDC – a technology standard that will transform the way airlines sell flights through multiple distribution channels – many business travel professionals continue to express challenges in terms of education, information, clarity and details of Implementation.

“GBTA research paints a picture of an engaged workforce in the business travel industry. Professionals are focused on core functions and there is a healthy sense of optimism regarding career expectations and opportunities in the coming year. We are also benefiting from those who are new to the industry – with almost 20% of professional suppliers and 10% of professional buyers coming on business trips from other sectors,” said Suzanne Neufang, CEO of GBTA. “The findings also underscore the importance of continuous learning and collaboration, especially in managing changes like the potential impact of NDC on travel programs.”

The current state of the global professional business travel industry

• The travel buyer as a decision maker
  When asked about various functions and the role of their travel program, travel buyers are most likely to be the key decision makers to oversee their organization’s travel management company (TMC) relationship (67%), sourcing of hotels (55%) and air sourcing (54%). ).€¯Additionally, an average of 18% of their time is spent on meeting and event tasks by respondents (66%) who have these responsibilities as part of their role.
• For Business Travel Professionals, Passion Fuels Commitment
  An overwhelming 85% of all stakeholders say they “love” (32%) or “enjoy” (53%) working in the business travel industry. Suppliers (37%) are more likely to say they “love” working in manufacturing compared to buyers (28%). Additionally, the vast majority (82%) plan to remain in the business travel industry next year, with a high intention of remaining with their current employer (65%). Suppliers (22%) are more likely than buyers (10%) to have changed companies in the business travel industry in the past year.
  The overall job change rate is low, with just 16% reporting that they changed companies within the industry in the past year. However, in a notable trend, respondents based in APAC (35%) are more likely than those in Europe (17%), Latin America (15%) and North America (13%) to have switched companies within the sector in the past. year.€¯
  One in four (27%) respondents expect to receive a promotion/job change in the next year. Stakeholders in APAC (41%) and Latin America (38%) are most likely to expect a promotion in the next year. year than those based in North America (27%) or Europe (18%).
  Additionally, a large majority (57%) would choose business travel as a career again. This is good news for the 19% of supplier/TMC professionals and 10% of purchasing professionals who say they joined travel business from another sector in the past year – who can expect to have long, successful careers in this new sector they now call “home.”
• Insights and compensation expectations from industry professionals
  The majority of business travel professionals (86%) report an increase in base salary this year, and 16% report a moderate/large increase of more than five percent. The majority of travel buyers (83%) have or expect to receive a bonus in 2024 in addition to their base salary. Of buyers who expect to receive a bonus, 31% say the bonus will be higher than last year. Additionally, 15% said they received or expect to receive a large/moderate raise – with 32% expecting higher bonuses compared to last year.

• Work-life balance in focus
  The majority of professionals interviewed (80%) feel they have an excellent (35%) or decent (45%) work-life balance. Fewer (17%) say they want more balance between personal and professional life. This positive result suggests an industry that is focused on prioritizing employee well-being.

NDC and the Business Travel Industry: Knowledge and Implementation Gaps Continue

• Buyers continue to seek clarity as airlines look to advance NDC
  Travel buyer responses reflect that the needle hasn’t moved much over the past six months in the NDC’s key areas such as education, clarity and speed of implementation, with results deviating just a few percentage points from GBTA’s October 2016 survey results. 2023. In the April survey, the majority of buyers recognize an ongoing need for information and education about NDCs (71%; the same as in the October survey). A significant portion (45%) are still unsure whether their travel management company (TMC) is fully prepared (similar to 46% in October).
• Airlines are in the fast lane, but are buyers and budgets keeping up?
  While almost half (42%; compared to 45% in the October survey) of buyers feel that airlines are rushing to implement the NDC, a third (37%; compared to 36% in the October survey) believe that intermediaries they must be ready to meet NDC reservations. Interestingly, this sentiment diverges geographically. North American buyers (49%) are more concerned about airline pacing compared to Europeans (29%). On the other hand, Europeans (52%) are more likely to believe that intermediaries should adapt more quickly than North Americans (30%).
  Half (51%) of buyers say they have not yet started implementing NDCs (compared to 50% in the October 2023 survey). Only one in ten (10%; same as in the October survey) say that their program has been implemented with few (or no) problems, while a quarter (23%; 22% in the October survey) say that they have started to implement the NDC, but had some problems doing so.
  Adding another layer of complexity, 60% of buyers have not budgeted for potential additional service costs associated with NDC reservations and have no plans to do so. Only 5% allocated a budget for these potential costs.
• Vendors face challenges distributing NDC content
  The research also sheds light on suppliers’ experiences. While 38% report smooth or mostly smooth implementation of NDC content distribution, a significant portion (36%) have encountered challenges. This suggests that airlines may need to streamline their NDC content delivery processes.

Methodology: 815 responses were received from travel buyers, suppliers and other industry professionals in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific for the survey conducted April 8-24, 2024.

See the full 34^th GBTA survey results and key highlights herealong with the full series of GBTA Business Travel Industry Outlook surveys.