Applying Travel Innovation: 7 Case Studies

Looking for real-world examples of how companies are applying new trends and technologies in their travel programs?

Look no farther – Advito, BCD Travel’s consulting arm, describes seven solid case studies in its latest white paper: “Leading the Way: Corporate Travel Management Goes Next-Gen”

You’ll learn what these companies are doing:

• Coca-Cola – improving policy compliance
• DuPont – gaining control of meeting spend
• EADS – integrating end-to-end travel technology
• Microsoft – increasing the use of virtual travel
• Salesforce – leveraging social networking
• Sapient – using Yammer for travel communications
• U.S. Foodservice – freeing travelers to choose mobile apps

You can download the free white paper here (registration required). NB: I contributed some content to this paper.

Want articles like these delivered to you by e-mail?  Sign up here.  It’s free, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Better RFPs for Meetings via SpeedRFP

This looks like it will be a very useful tool:  SpeedRFP is creating a standard platform for populating and managing RFPs for hotel meetings and events.  Any buyer who needs to get quotes from several hotels will appreciate this.

What’s Next in Travel Innovation?

Today I watched 34 firms pitch their innovations at a major travel industry conference. Nearly all were aimed at the leisure travel segment, but keep reading…because innovations in the consumer market will shape the face of business travel.

Trippy – Tomorrow’s Biz Trip Planning Tool?

Take a look at how we might be planning business trips in the very near future.   The video below plans some ground-based activities of a leisure trip, but you’ll quickly see how this tool could be used in a business setting.  What are the implications for travel procurement?  Watch the video, then see my first thoughts at the end of this post.

Meetings Analytics – A Much-needed Service

If your firm spends much on meetings and events, you should check out Meetings Analytics.  This young firm does the hard and messy work of gathering, scrubbing and analyzing corporate meeting data, and then analyzes it to identify practical savings opportunities.  You my think (or be told) that you already get meeting data reports from your meeting management tools or travel agencies.  Hah!  These guys are way ahead of those old-school reports.  They report their findings in these key areas:

MeetingTrader’s Fix for Canceled Meetings

Got a canceled meeting on your hands?  Want to recover some of your deposit and cancellation fees?  Thanks to MeetingTrader, you now have a better chance of saving some money.  I spoke with Tim Brooks, the firm’s Founder and CEO, to get a better handle on just how this works.  It’s early – the MeetingTrader site goes live today – but I like what I heard.  This is a site that your meeting planners should get to know.

Canceled Meetings – Brilliant Idea?

File this under two headings: “Why didn’t anybody think of this before?” and “Tell my meetings managers about these guys!”

MeetingTrader.com sure caught my eye at the NBTA show earlier this week. Hotel industry veteran Tim Brooks founded this firm to create a market for canceled meetings.  If you’ve ever been hit by a cancellation clause in a meeting contract, you’ll appreciate this service.