What Will 2017 Hold for Business Travelers? — Skift Corporate Travel Innovation Report

The Skift Corporate Travel Innovation Report is our weekly newsletter focused on the future of corporate travel, the big fault lines of disruption for travel managers and buyers, the innovations emerging from the sector, and the changing business traveler habits that are upending how corporate travel is packaged, bought, and sold.

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The Future of Corporate + Business Travel

Whatever you think about the conclusion of the U.S. presidential election last week and its potential effect on the global economy, signs around corporate travel point to cautious optimism around the sector’s continued growth next year.

An analysis of booking trends and transaction data from Travel Leaders Group shows that airfares and hotel rates will remain relatively flat over the next year. Companies like Airbnb are forcing hotels to refrain from raising rates, while the impact of low-cost carriers is having a similar impact for airlines.

This disruption and increased competition will likely have a positive effect on business travel, providing more affordable travel options as companies tighten their budgets.

Stagnant travel costs should help drive business travel, especially as companies are looking to be a bit more conservative. Another report finds that the effect of Brexit on European business travel has yet to hit hard. Similarly, lingering uncertainty will certainly have a chilling effect on business travel in coming years.

— Andrew Sheivachman, Skift

Social Quote of the Day

Corporate travel advice : “avoid contact with blood and body fluids.” This business trip is going to be a lot less fun than imagined :-/ — @BobsBeard

Business of Buying

Brexit Hasn’t Ruined European Business Travel Yet: The initial surprise over the Brexit vote has waned, but lingering uncertainty over the long-term effects remain. That could still impact business travel in the coming years. Read more at Skift

Weak Demand and On-Demand Services Hurting Car Rental Companies: Car rental brands are losing customers to ascendant ridesharing services. As they become more nimble and technology-focused, however, car rental companies should be able to regain some share in the ground transportation marketplace. Read more at Skift

Corporate Travel Forecast Sees Flat Airfares and Hotel Rates in 2017: The fact that hotel rates and airfares are likely to remain flat into 2017 reflects the huge amount of uncertainty about the state of the global economy at this point in time. Read more at Skift

Non-EU Citizens May Have to Pay a Travel Fee in Schengen Zone: The five euro application fee would apply to Visa Waiver Program countries like the U.S. and Canada. Read more at Buying Business Travel

Disruption + Innovation

Is the Events Industry Paying Enough Attention to Tech? Meetings industry media, organizations, tech providers, and forward-thinking suppliers are all aggressively experimenting with event technology and digital content. But there are questions about how well the majority of meeting planners will be prepared for the upcoming onslaught of digital-native attendees. Read more at Skift

U.S. Travel and Members of Congress Have a Plan to Modernize the TSA: A plan to reform the TSA is all well and good, but executing such a far-reaching vision of improving the government agency will require continuity in TSA leadership and a concerted effort from Congress to continue a culture shift in the agency. Read more at Skift

Trivago Files for an Initial Public Offering in the U.S.: The IPO that we all knew was coming is finally here. Trivago’s filing also lays bare just how reliant it is on Expedia, its owner, for traffic and transactions. Read more at Skift

What We Can All Learn From The Modern Supertraveler: Until now what the modern day supertraveler thinks and wants has not really been understood. The Supertraveler Manifesto lifts the lid on these high maintenance, highly connected individuals. Read more at Skift

Comments

The Skift Corporate Travel Innovation Report is curated by Skift editors Hannah Sampson [hs@skift.com] and Andrew Sheivachman [as@skift.com]. The newsletter is emailed every Thursday.

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