Sabre Corporation has revealed seven trends emerging within the Asia Pacific region’s corporate travel management sector.

Over 100 respondents from 15 key markets participated in the Sabre Corporate Travel Practices Survey 2015, representing both dedicated corporate travel management companies and travel agencies, together with a sample of online travel brands servicing corporate accounts.

“The evidence is that Asia Pacific agents are managing more travel for this region’s demanding corporate clients, while achieving tighter cost control and with technology playing the enabling role. It seems to be happening without compromising the comfort of travellers. In fact this year they are having more of their personal preferences met,” said Roshan Mendis, senior vice president, Sabre Travel Network Asia Pacific.

The seven core themes revealed this year are:

1.    Premium Economy is attracting a loyal corporate following

2.    Secondary expenses, including ancillary services, are under tighter control

3.    Better pre-trip planning is reducing the risk of ‘off-policy’ booking

4.    Mobile itinerary management apps are now mainstream

5.    Data analytics will be key to more personalized services

6.    With more reliance on agents, some see a ‘concierge’ model emerging

7.    Technological integration (B2B2C client-servicing) is much more important now

Mendis added, “We are committed to using these insights to continually strengthen our proposition for this region’s dynamic corporate segment and we thank all participants for sharing their commercial insights and personal views.” 

The Sabre Corporate Travel Practices Survey 2015 was conducted from April to May 2015, with respondents based in Australia, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.