The business travel community in the UK can help drive a sustained economic recovery by focusing on growth in the SME sector, according to a leading industry executive.
Speaking at the Guild of Travel Management Companies’ (GTMC) autumn conference in London, Louisa Bell, commercial director for car rental firm Avis, told delegates the entire business travel supply chain could capitalise on the lack of managed travel programmes among smaller businesses.
Citing survey findings collated by her company, Bell said only 6% of SMEs currently outsourced business travel requirements to a travel management company (TMC).
Bell said Avis expected that figure to decline to 5% next year if current trends prevailed.
The survey also found some 95% of small businesses relied on internal resourcing to manage travel requirements of colleagues, rather than focusing on driving growth.
“The number of SMEs that choose to use experts to manage travel expenditure is surprisingly small,” said Bell. “There is a clear opportunity for all [corporate travel suppliers] to help these businesses grow. That will in turn stimulate the economy and enable us to grow our own businesses.”
Bell said SME respondents to the survey were not always concerned about cost when booking travel. More than a third said convenience was the most important factor, suggesting that some would be receptive to managed travel programmes.
“That’s where we can add real value,” said Bell. “We have innovation and the tools in all sorts of areas to be able to help drive SMEs become more profitable.”