Suzanne Neufang, CEO, said the survey “paints a picture of an engaged workforce in the business travel industry.” She said respondents “are focused on core duties, and there’s a healthy sense of optimism about career expectations and opportunity in the year ahead.”
GBTA, said Neufang, is also benefiting from those new to the industry — with almost 20% of supplier professionals and 10% of buyer professionals coming to business travel from outside industries. The findings also underscore the importance of continuous learning and collaboration, she said, particularly when managing change like the potential impact of NDC on travel programs.
Other survey findings included:
- When asked about various functions and their travel program’s role, travel buyers are most likely to be the lead decision makers for overseeing their organization’s travel management company (TMC) relationship (67%), hotel sourcing (55%) and air sourcing (54%). Additionally, an average of 18% of respondents’ time is spent on meetings and events duties by those (66%) who have those responsibilities as part of their role.
An overwhelming 85% of all stakeholders say they “love” (32%) or “like” (53%) working in the business travel industry. Suppliers (37%) are more likely to say they “love” working in the industry than buyers (28%). Moreover, the vast majority (82%) plan to stay in the business travel industry in the coming year, with a high intention to remain with their current employer (65%).
One in four (27%) survey respondents expect to receive a promotion or job title change in the next year.
- A majority (57%) would choose the business travel industry again as their career.
- Most business travel professionals (86%) report an increase in base salary this year, and 16% report a moderate/large increase of more than 5%. Most travel buyers (83%) have received or expect to receive a bonus in 2024 in addition to their base salary.
- Most professionals surveyed (80%) feel they have a great (35%) or decent (45%) work-life balance. Fewer (17%) say they want more work-life balance.
- Travel buyer responses reflect that the needle hasn’t moved much over the past six months in key NDC areas such as education, clarity and speed of implementation, with results deviating only a few percentage points from GBTA’s October 2023 poll. In the April poll, most buyers acknowledged a continued need for information and education about NDC (71%; same as in the October poll). A significant portion (45%) are still unsure whether their travel management company (TMC) is fully prepared (similar to 46% in October).
- While nearly half of buyers (42%; compared with 45% in the October poll) feel airlines are rushing NDC implementation, a third (37%; versus 36% in the October poll) believe intermediaries should be ready to service NDC bookings.
- Half of buyers (51%) say they have not started to implement NDC (versus 50% in the October 2023 poll). Only 1 in 10 (same as in October poll) report their program has implemented it with few (if any) problems, while one-quarter (23%; 22% in October poll) say they have started to implement NDC but have had some problems doing so.
- The survey also sheds light on supplier experiences. While 38% report a smooth or mostly smooth rollout of NDC content distribution, a significant portion (36%) encountered challenges.
