Survey finds most companies won't ease up as economy revives

The Association of Corporate Travel Executives surveyed its members about changes they implemented for business travelers during the recession, and found that many of those new restrictions and tougher policies are not likely to be rescinded after the economy improves. Instead, companies are expected to keep their traveling employees on a tight leash to continue reaping the benefits of cost controls. Of those companies that started to impose advance booking requirements on their travelers and initiated tougher trip policy rules, 84 percent expect to keep those rules in place permanently, the survey found. And of those firms that started to require pre-trip approvals, 81 percent said they expect that change to remain in place as well. Among other changes expected to permanently alter the corporate travel landscape: “Number of trips per employee and travel costs as a percentage of corporate revenues will not return to pre-recession levels,” the survey found. “Companies will not give up control over how much travelers spend on a trip and whether they will take the trip at all.” Companies do face a problem in deciding whether to require that employees use “preferred carriers” for all trips, thereby insuring the corporation will meet its volume requirements for these negotiated discounts; or whether they should be allowed to take advantage of cheaper prices that may be available on the day of booking, thus saving money on that one trip. “Balancing these two purchasing methods has become an increasing dilemma,” ACTE said.