Source: GBTA Survey: Most Business Travel Professionals Sticking with the Industry, Pay on the Rise, Michael B. Baker, Business Travel News, April 30, 2024
Travel industry professionals are largely satisfied working in the industry, with few making plans to abandon it for another industry, according to a Global Business Travel Association survey of 815 travel professionals.
The survey, which was fielded from April 8 through April 24, showed that only 7 percent of respondents said they expect to leave the business travel industry for a different field in the coming year. Just under a third of respondents said they “love” working in the industry, and 53 percent said they like working in the industry despite some drawbacks.
Even so, nearly one in five of respondents said they would have chosen a different career path if they had the ability to go back in time. Fifty-seven percent said they would still pursue a career in the business travel industry if they had it to do over again, and the remaining 25 percent were not sure, according to GBTA.
There’s a healthy sense of optimism about career expectations and opportunity in the year ahead.”
GBTA’s Suzanne Neufang
“Professionals are focused on core duties, and there’s a healthy sense of optimism about career expectations and opportunity in the year ahead,” GBTA CEO Suzanne Neufang said in a statement. “We are also benefiting from those new to the industry, with almost 20 percent of supplier professionals and 10 percent of buyer professionals coming to business travel from outside industries.”
Travel professionals also largely are earning more money this year, with 44 percent saying they expect a “moderate” raise in 2024 between 2.6 percent and 5 percent. An additional 15 percent said they expect an even larger raise, and 26 percent said they expect a “small” raise up to 2.5 percent. Only 2 percent said they will experience a pay cut this year, while 13 percent said their salary this year is still to be determined.
Respondents were a bit less bullish on bonuses, however. While 32 percent said they expect higher bonuses this year, 39 percent said their bonuses would be the same as last year’s, and 19 percent said they would be lower.
NDC Education Still Lacking for Buyers
Among buyer respondents, which made up about half of the total respondent pool, only 23 percent said they currently feel they have adequate information and education around New Distribution Capability, airline retailing and distribution, according to the survey. Seventy-one percent said they needed more information and education, and 4 percent said they still are not familiar with NDC at all.
A slightly higher percentage had confidence in their travel management companies, with 45 percent saying they felt their TMC had sufficient information on NDC and were sharing plans for potential migration. Forty percent said they felt their TMC was not, and 10 percent did not know.
Just over half of buyers surveyed said they have not started implementation of NDC in their programs, a similar percentage to a GBTA poll last October. Only 10 percent said they are doing an implementation with few to no challenges, while 24 percent said they are implementing it with some or many challenges.
Forty-two percent of buyers said airlines are moving too fast with NDC, a drop of three percentage points compared with the October poll.
