Business Travel On The Fly

Price volatility is finally moderating, making planning easier for businesses, even as prices rise. Still, on the back of the biggest election year in history (2024), macroeconomic and travel industry supply-demand dynamics will vary dramatically from country to country in 2025. From North America's steady demand coupled with Trump-administration uncertainty, inflation-driven cost spikes in some Latin American countries, and the Asia-Pacific region's uneven recovery, CWT Solutions Group Vice President Richard Johnson and New York Times bestselling author, economist and futurist Dr. Shawn DuBravac join forces to deliver essential guidance around local and regional pricing outlooks for 2025. Find out: Why business travel is reclaiming its dominance over leisure at key destinations.How changes in government leadership, sustainable practices and geopolitical tensions could drive pricing adjustments and alter travel patterns.Actionable tips to optimize your travel policy, including flexible pricing models and localized negotiation strategies. Visit mycwt.com

Generative AI, Blockchain and Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) are transforming traveler experience and service delivery. How should travel managers prepare their programs to take full advantage and avoid big risks? What's the current state of play and future prospects over the next year and beyond?To launch CWT and BTN Group's industry white paper 'Emerging Technologies in Corporate Travel' Cobb & Hutch Consulting's Karen Hutchings, Microsoft's Steve Clagg, and Travlr ID's Gee Mann and Ian Spearing dissect how these advanced technologies intersect with business travel management. Discover how these innovations are transforming travel management, enhancing traveler experiences, and driving cost savings and efficiencies. Find out: How to apply GenAI, Blockchain and SSI to managed travelWhat is the reality and promise of each applicationHow to prepare your program to capitalize on new techVisit mycwt.com

The production and adoption of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is gaining critical momentum.  As demand for air travel increases worldwide, corporate travel customers must play a leading role in the race to decarbonize aviation. But,  it's no mean feat for travel managers looking to balance cost and sustainability, while staying clued-in to developments,  CWT's Global Head of ESG  Richard Thompson talks to Dan Kreibich, Founder and  Chief Product Officer of climate tech company Squake and Susanne Bouma, Head of Partnerships & Programs (aviation) at SAF-producer Neste, responsible for accelerating emission reductions through partnerships to increase SAF uptake.  Together they unpack  the mandates, cost, challenges, opportunities and future of SAF and other carbon removal offerings, for corporate travel customers. Find out:How the 'book-and-claim' method works and why there's scepticism about the effectiveness of carbon offsetting. What risks and opportunities do global SAF mandates present?The premiums corporates can expect to pay for SAF, and the value it brings. The perils of 'double-claiming'How to incorporate SAF and other solutions to your sustainable travel strategy.Learn how CWT and Squake's partnership helps corporate travel programs access sustainable aviation fuel at scale here. Visit mycwt.com

The prices of plane tickets, hotel rooms and ground transportation for business travelers are determined by an array of industry and macro-economic factors like capacity, leisure travel volume, inflation, and fuel charges. This year, is there a new driver in the mix? Over 60 countries have, or will head to the polls in 2024, the biggest global election year in history.  CWT's Emma Woodhouse talks to Chris Ely, Research Director of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) and Shawn DuBravac, NY Times bestselling author, futurist, economist and analyst about the CWT GBTA Global Business Travel Forecast,  whether elections and precarious geopolitical environments will impact the cost of travel, and what companies and organizations of all sizes can expect in the months ahead from their budget allocation.Find out:The near-term pricing outlook for airfares and hotel average daily rates,  plus why.The relationship between AI, the changing nature of work, and implications for the value and purpose of business travel.What to expect regionally from the price of travel Spend wiselyHow will 2024 pricing change your corporate travel program? Assess your spend and allocate your budget wisely using our calculator.Visit mycwt.com

Rachel Lunderborg, Head of Global Process and Technology at CWT Meetings & Events is joined by Kit Aspen, Founder and Director of award-winning carbon intelligence platform Thrust Carbon, and Rachel Munns, Head of Sustainability at World Wise Foods. CWT Meetings & Events this year co-developed a meetings and events carbon calculator with Thrust Carbon, known for powering sustainability behind over $50 billion of travel spend.As CWT Meetings & Events sees its projects more than double since last year now organizing over 30,000 meetings and events globally in 2023, the calculator's reporting signposts specific event elements where greener solutions could and should be sought - be that event destination, transportation, accommodation and venues, food and beverage, material, and/or waste management.From tiny team meetings to enormous expos, events is one of the hardest areas to understand, analyze and materially reduce environmental impact. Covering all aspects from the measurable to the data unknowns and the critical role of supply chains, this trio of sustainability experts unpacks the future of sustainability in meetings and events.  Find out: How the right mix of data and due diligence can set the trajectory for sustainable events with unexpected benefits to engagement and productivity. What information to glean from your suppliers, and their suppliers from both an environmental and social standpoint.  What incremental change really means in the context of ambitious corporate sustainability goals.Visit cwt-meetings-events.comVisit mycwt.com

If there's one job harder than being a clairvoyant at a sceptic's convention it's being a futurist in these mightily uncertain times. It's hard to read an article these days that doesn't warn us that bots will wipe out entire industries or that the global economy is about to implode. But is there nuance and cause for optimism? CWT's Julian Walker talks to Shawn DuBravac, NY Times bestselling author, futurist, economist and analyst for the  GBTA CWT Global Business Travel Forecast  about the near-term cost of airfares and hotel rates, and how companies and organizations of all sizes can prepare their budgets, and people, for the societal and technological shifts ahead. Find out: Whether travel and event pricing predictions for 2023 are proving accurate halfway through the year. The challenges that hotels and airlines face today. The big issue on everyone's lips and how it will change the way we work and travel: Artificial Intelligence.Visit mycwt.com

 Over the next ten years, we are likely to see change on a scale not witnessed since the Industrial Revolution.From NFT loyalty programs to self-driving cabs, from adaptive travel policies to flying taxi hubs,  the era ahead will be both exhilarating and challenging to navigate.We're on the cusp of massive economic and social disruption that has wide-reaching implications for us all.So how do you discern between what's 'pie in the sky' and what's really going to happen? And with AI-powered automation surging ahead, how do you innovate in the right direction for people, purpose, and planet? Joel Hanson, Director of Global Innovation Business Development, CWT helps us spot the subtle signs of change that, however nascent today, contain the seeds of tomorrow's business travel landscape.Find out Will it be ethical to travel for business in 15 years' time? Will traveling internationally become more or less economically and geographically accessible? If the only certainty is uncertainty how do companies and organizations lay the right foundations for their traveling employees? Visit mycwt.com

It's a rare moment when headlines aren't awash with news of inflation, geopolitical hair-raisers, and the race to combat climate change. If only there was a crystal ball to help companies plan their business travel and events around uncertainty.Internationally-recognized thought leader, NY Times bestselling author, futurist, and top-rated keynote speaker Dr. Shawn DuBravac delivers pragmatic and provocative insights on the trends, technologies, and paradigms transforming the globe. Hot on the heels of his predictions in the GBTA CWT Global Business Travel Forecast 2023 that reveals global and regional price projections and analysis for airfares, hotel rooms, and cost-per-attendee (meetings & events), DuBravac speaks to CWT Communications Chief Julian Walker about the critical issues that could influence pricing and how we travel & meet in 2023. Find out: Is a global recession inevitable and what would one mean for the price of hotels, airfare, care hire, and meetings & events? How the macroeconomic outlook could materialize differently around the world. How corporates and organizations can reconcile uncertainty with budget planning.Visit mycwt.com

CWT Meetings & Events (M&E) is an award-winning global events agency delivering  live, virtual and hybrid events for thousands of customers every year ranging from end-to-end productions of some of the world's largest global conferences to intimate teambuilding events. Kari Wendel, VP strategic and enterprise customers, and global operations is at the helm of the agency's ‘total meetings management' approach working with larger customers with centralized meeting strategies, large events & corporate incentives.  An alchemist of process, spend, volume, standards, supplier negotiations, and data to achieve measurable business objectives that align with an organization's strategic goals, Kari knows the state of the industry more than most.  Find out:  How record-breaking demand combined with leaner teams, higher costs, fewer options and longer lead times have created a perfect storm and how your organization can weather it with aplomb.  Why a centralised meetings strategy is critical in the current climate of unpredictability.  New ways to look at managing risk and how to plan for unknowns.  Visit CWT Meetings & Events

Richard Johnson, Global Head of Solutions Group, the consulting arm of global travel management platform CWT is joined by Heinrich Lange, Senior Director Sales Northern Europe, and Head of Global Account Management, EMEA, Lufthansa. Together they unpick the practicalities of accelerating the development and integration of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and the collective efforts of the entire aviation industry to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Find out:  Why making SAF the crux of fruitful business relationships is integral to its success. From electrification to adhesive covers modelled on sharkskin, what are the broader opportunities for carbon reduction, how feasible are they and how can we foster innovation at a critical time for our planet?  Is there a one-size-fits-all answer to whether not flying is the most sustainable solution?  

Volatility, complexity and change brought on by the pandemic has been a huge social and economic disrupter for most.  It has - and continues to - transform the way in which we interact, consume, work and travel. What influence does this change have on business travelers' behaviours, needs and expectations?  In this episode Christina Scorsis, CWT's VP Traveler Experience Evolution, opines about her own shifting attitudes, and how companies and organizations can keep pace with the aspirations and expectations of the conscious business traveler to retain talent and support a healthy company culture. Find out: About changing patterns of business travel.How travel managers should engage their conscious travelers.Empowering business travelers to make the most sustainable decisions when booking a trip.   Visit www.mycwt.com 

Belinda Hindmarsh, Chief Growth Officer of global travel management platform CWT is joined by Kit Brennan, Co-founder and Director of award-winning carbon intelligence platform Thrust Carbon.  Together they have decades of experience in the travel tech space. CWT recently became the first major global TMC to activate point-of-sale emissions data with Thrust Carbon, answering the industry's call-to-action to reduce our impact on the planet by enabling  travelers to make the most eco-friendly decision when booking a trip. In this episode Belinda and Kit turn their sights on the hotel industry which is infinitely more complex than air travel when it comes to measuring sustainability. Find out: Whether there are sufficient measures that accurately determine a hotel's  green credentials like-for-like, as accurately as air. What  the industry needs to do to provide greater  transparency. Should the onus fall on governments, hoteliers or travelers? Is it gross to not have your bath towels laundered?

Belinda Hindmarsh, Chief Operating Officer of RoomIt by CWT and China, and John Pelant, Chief Technology Officer, CWT are leaders of CWT's women's employee resource group. Drawing on decades of combined experience in travel and tech, along with leading a global multinational operating in over 140 countries, they talk about breaking the bias at a critical turning point including:The role of business travel management in progressing equal opportunities.How to build an inclusive culture and inspire more women at an individual, organization and industry level.The power of intentional listening and being an ally.The pitfalls of proximity bias in remote and hybrid working environments.Why we're at a fork in the road for progressing equality.   Visit www.mycwt.com

Michelle McKinney Frymire is no stranger to challenge. The CEO of travel management platform CWT, she was at the helm of making the company financially resolute at one of the toughest times in the history of travel. With $350 million of new equity,  including a $100 million investment in technology and innovative products, the platform is entering a pivotal new period. CWT  is physically present in over 140 countries and staffed by 12,000 employees ranging in age from 18 to 90.  As the company celebrates a whopping 150 years in travel Michelle talks about: How travel can drive opportunities for your business.How attitudes to work and life are changing and what that means for leaders. Climate anxiety, inclusivity, vaccine equity and the biggest issues to solve for.  Visit www.mycwt.com

Human trafficking – the illegal movement of a person into or through a country by force, threat or deception to exploit them - can affect anyone of any age, gender or nationality. In trafficking in persons, criminals are adjusting their business models to a new reality created by the pandemic, especially through the abuse of communications platforms. At the same time, COVID-19 impacts the ability to provide essential services to trafficked persons. Since 1999 CWT and the Carlson Family Foundation have taken a holistic approach to fight trafficking through our core business activities, philanthropy, advocacy, and strategic partnerships. CWT's Julian Walker, Head of External Market Communications & PR speaks to Yvonne Chen, Director, Private Sector Engagement, ECPAT USA about how we can individually and collectively turn the tide on trafficking. Why survivors and those with lived experience hold the key to crafting legislation and policy.Essential advice for business travelers & companies.From working on refugee rights in Cape Town and California to running safehouses in New York – How meeting survivors has inspired a global mission. 

The pandemic prompted companies to take a closer look at the environmental impact of business travel. Now, as travel gradually begins to restart, we can expect sustainability to remain a key priority for many organizations.CWT's Richard Johnson, Senior Director, CWT Solutions Group speaks to a panel of experts representing different viewpoints—including airlines, environmental non-profits, TMCs, and travel buyers—to discuss a major point of contention in making corporate travel programs greener: how companies should set targets and measure success.LearnMeaningful, actionable ideas on how to measure success of carbon reduction initiatives.Best practice examples from customers and suppliers on delivering successful change.How to balance creating more sustainable programs with the financial implications of doing so.

The biggest global vaccination campaign in history is underway. As countries around the world look to gradually ease restrictions, it is imperative that organizations prepare themselves and equip their employees for a safe return to travel.Raphaël Pasdeloup  - Senior VP Global Customer Management, Technology, Media and Telecom at CWT speaks to Brandon Balcom - Senior Director, Innovation, CWT and William Hauptman, MD - Medical Director Assistance, Americas Region, International SOS about:The impact of COVID-19 testing and vaccination programs worldwideOpportunities and challenges with new tech solutions, such as digital health passportsReshaping your organization’s travel policy to the fast-changing landscapeSafety and security blind spots due to the current focus on COVID-19

2021 is set to be a big year for hybrid meetings and events, with travel restrictions and safety measures expected to remain in place. When done right, combining the best of virtual and in-person events allows you to boost engagement and reach a wider audience.Get ahead of the curve by learning from CWT Meetings & Events experts on how you can organize impactful hybrid events that deliver results for your business.

Where were you this time last year? Twelve months on from the start of a global event we can all remember vividly, it’s natural to wonder what business travel, meetings and events and the world of work will look like this time in 2022. We hand the crystal ball to Michelle McKinney-Frymire, CWT’s CFO and President Strategy & Transformation, and Niklas Andreen, President Traveller Experience and Customer.

At the end of a year that completely altered business travel, meetings & events, and our working lives, who better to reflect on the past and anticipate the future than the editors and journalists at the coalface? Winners of the Business Travel Journalism Awards 2020 talk vaccine hope, slow travel, and cutting commutes for good.

The pandemic has forced businesses to take a closer look at their travel risk policy. What is in place now and what do you need to adapt to make it work for your business and employees?Dr. William Hauptman, M.D., Medical Director Assistance, and Andrew Miller, Director of Partnerships for the Americas Region, both from International SOS, share advice and guidance on why travel managers should reshape their policy to meet the evolving demands of a world challenged by COVID-19.

Employee wellbeing is back on top of the corporate agenda, so it is vital your travel policy tackles the issues that matter most to your employees and addresses their concerns in this new world.In this episode, On The Fly spoke with Valdís Arnórsdóttir, Director of HR Operations, Marel to explore why travel managers should be working closely with their HR professionals to set new policies and procedures in the COVID-19 era.

As businesses reconnect and travel restarts, questions remain over how to manage an air program fit for an uncertain and changing world. Join global airlines, Delta and Air France - KLM as they address key issues affecting travel managers, including unused tickets, boosting employee confidence and safety concerns.

Restrictions may have eased but many companies still struggle with building confidence in their traveling employees. Hear from business and travel experts in Asia Pacific on how to get your people ready for the road.A diverse speaker panel talks critical learnings from essential service providers, how considerations have shifted, and how suppliers are adapting their operations to cope with a dynamic situation.

Restrictions may have eased but many companies still struggle with building confidence in their traveling employees. Hear from business and travel experts in Asia Pacific on how to get your people ready for the road.A diverse speaker panel talks critical learnings from essential service providers, how considerations have shifted, and how suppliers are adapting their operations to cope with a dynamic situation.

Business travelers are on the road again but many are wondering what to expect at each stage of their trip. CWT's Julian Walker speaks to Nina Brooks, Director of Security, Facilitation and IT at ACI World, to discuss new measures to boost traveler safety, how employees should prepare for a trip and the steps that airports have made to build traveler confidence.

As travel slowly restarts around the world what will it mean for the employee experience and how should a travel manager prepare?CWT's Julian Walker speaks to Jeremy Prout, Regional Security Manager, and Dr. William Hauptman, MD, Medical Director Assistance, from International SOS. They take a holistic view at getting employees back on the road and provide a roadmap and strategic framework for a return to travel.Learn about: Resuming travel: pre-trip approval, airport screenings, and many other requirementsCreating a ‘return-to-travel’ strategic frameworkPreparing travelers for a new trip experience

CWT speaks with the International Olympic Committee and 3 PEAKS Leadership about the importance of communication and transparency, why it’s essential to have effective contingency plans and offer up essential advice on dealing with evolving situations and ‘uncontrollable’ events as we've never seen before.

COVID-19, officially a global pandemic, is first and foremost, a human calamity, and one that has upended business travel like never before. In this episode, we talk with Matt Bradley, a former CIA intelligence officer, who is now with International SOS. We discuss what the leading travel risk services company is advising all clients right now. For those who still need to travel in these unprecedented and unsettling times, find out what you must consider before making that decision. And, while we make no predictions of when this will end, Matt offers his take on how business travel will change post-COVID-19.

If there's one bane that unites business travelers from Singapore to Switzerland, it's submitting expense reports. Could this tedious chore be on its way out? Dave Holmes, VP for Payments at CWT, talks us through innovations in global payments technology that will make paying for, and accounting for, work trip expenses much more interactive – and much less of a pain.

How do we teach computers human language in all its complexity and context to the point where business travelers can book each element of their trip via messenger or chat? Ziv Baum, an A.I specialist in Tel Aviv, discusses the ABCs of artificial intelligence and chatbots and how they’re being used in business travel.

Why is booking personal travel a lot more fun than booking business travel? It’s not just because the former means vacation and the latter work. Erik Magnuson, VP of Air Distribution Capabilities at CWT, breaks down for us how airlines and the industry are working to improve the shopping experience for business travelers.