How generations shape corporate travel – which one are you and how can you make change?

In offices and factories around the world it’s not unusual nowadays to find four generations of employees working side-by-side. Outstanding communications must be, therefore, a fundamental characteristic of any successful modern business. Last month, Amy Lynch (Baby Boomer) and Kim Lear (Millennial), of generational research firm BridgeWorks, addressed the GetThere Summit in London. Martin Ferguson reports…

Some corporate travel managers are experts in the art of demand management (aka spend management) – swaying purchasing behaviors to meet greater policy compliance and savings opportunities. By influencing traveler decisions around certain purchases, you give yourself a better chance at meeting organizational savings goals.

Roughly 300 corporate buyers, technology experts, expense partners and TMC representatives attended for 48 hours of education and networking. The theme for this year’s event was you + GetThere–how we can team with you to deliver the best products and service to drive your travel program perpetually forward.

Each year at the GetThere Global Summits, we acknowledge our most outstanding corporate and TMC customers of the prior year with GetThere Visionary and Luminary awards. Congratulations to the following award winners, presented at the 2013 GetThere North American Summit.

When you’re traveling to a city for the first time, odds are you’ve either sought advice or been given recommendations by a coworker. These tips typically carry more weight because they come from someone you know, someone from your organization.

GetThere has brought that trusted advice online with Traveler Reviews.

Video conference technology has existed for decades, but despite massive corporate investments, video conferencing rooms around the world are sitting empty. If the collaboration and cost benefits of virtual conferencing are undeniable, then why are rooms empty? The simple answer is user anxiety.

Congratulations to GetThere and Sabre Virtual Meetings President Suzanne Neufang for making Buying Business Travel's "Hot List" of the Top 30 Influencers who matter the most in business travel. Suzanne joins this exclusive list alongside global leaders such as Sir Richard Branson and Google Co-Founder and CEO Larry Page.

With a positive outlook, the freshness of the calendar turn, and a questionable sense of humor, here are some resolutions for travel procurement professionals to consider for 2013.

What a year! We delivered new innovations, such as a new home page, new policy engine options, more expense integrations, and the industry's first integrated virtual meetings booking tool. You have achieved incredible savings, compliance and security-related goals.

As we all head toward a little time off and perhaps travel with family and friends, I'll send you off with my version of the holiday classic (minus the partridge in a pear tree).

A longtime GetThere client, WellPoint’s Cindy Heston is an established expert in the field of managing corporate travel. A recent article in the November 2012 issue of Travel Procurement illustrates the possibilities that GetThere can open up for programs with creative leadership and a technology-inclined travel management company.

My GetThere team and I recently spent a couple of intense days preparing for the September roll-out of our new, patent-pending virtual meetings product. It was exciting not only for us to get immersed in GetThere Virtual Meetings, but to think about how it will change the way we – and you – do business.

Grainger, a B2B distributor of industrial products, recently integrated SAP with GetThere and instantly realized automation benefits.

While business travel budgets have remained flat in many parts of the world, in Latin America business travel spending has grown at an annual rate of 7 percent. Brazil, which represents roughly 60 percent of total spend in the region, has grown at a significantly faster pace. Growth has been particularly pronounced as of late – 22 percent annually compounded over the last two years.

We delivered a new-and- improved GetThere Ground product last year, and now we are excited to announce a number of improvements.

Sabre Virtual Meetings is expanding its network in a big way. Sabre Travel Network just announced a partnership with Regus, the world’s largest supplier of public high definition public video communication rooms. Through the Regus network, Sabre Virtual Meetings will offer real-time access to more than 1,200 public video communication rooms in more than 550 cities...

So where exactly has 2011 just gone? If you’re like me, you’re wondering where the year has gone and drawing your attention to 2012 – shaping plans and strategies both personally and professionally...

Being a business traveler sucks a lot of the time, doesn’t it? Not always, obviously. But I can’t remember reading many business traveler tweets or status updates celebrating a 6 a.m. airport check-in or proclaiming a smooth, friendly and hassle-free experience at security...

Policing travelers isn’t necessarily fun. Travelers can be a noisy bunch, especially when they don’t get their first choice of travel options. It is, however, critically important to the success of your program.

With the new Travel Policy Engine from GetThere, you have the ability to build more flexible rules that meet the needs of your program – and won’t necessarily put out your travelers – with relative ease.

Sally Abella, director of corporate travel for Harman International Industries, recently discussed the benefits of GetThere and the integration of the IBM expense solution. Lynnora Ruth, corporate travel manager for Harman in North America also comments. 

GetThere Ground allows business travelers to book and pre-pay executive car services online in real-time, including limos, executive sedans and taxis. Employees can view and compare these point-to-point services on a single screen, and book any option with a...

How do you get the most value out of unused airline tickets? Are you worried that your travelers are uninformed about how to exchange a ticket?  GetThere Ticket Manager Exchange lets your travelers change their tickets, void trips and get refunds.  All online, all without the need for expensive travel agency assistance...

We spoke with Jason Geall, GetThere director for EMEA, during the 2011 GetThere Summit in Phoenix, AZ about the issues corporate customers are facing in the region.

The theme this year at GBTA is Elevating the Business of Travel. GetThere is ready for the challenge with several of our most innovative product announcements ever. If you were at the Summit, you experienced the excitement firsthand. We expect even more buzz in Denver...

GetThere represents more than just a great solution for our customers. We represent a strongly connected community of travel management professionals. At last week’s Summit, this community created a steady hum of excitement, camaraderie and information sharing across a wide range of corporations, TMCs, technology partners and the GetThere team. We created a buzz! And that buzz is resonating across the industry. Thanks to the hundreds of you who joined us!

Etihad Airways and GetThere have entered into a strategic partnership that will bring new value and reach to our customers by...

Living in Dallas doesn’t always make it easy to take a train when I’m traveling on business.  But whenever I’m on the East Coast or in Europe I find myself using rail instead of flying.  It isn’t some personal goal I have, taking a train when I’m in those locales, it happens mainly because it’s convenient, easier and in my opinion, better. The ability to...

The leaders in business travel expect business travel to increase. GetThere customers represent the largest global travel spenders and they gave a clear viewpoint of travel budget planning in this year’s annual benchmark survey. Seventy-six percent say they are increasing their travel budgets, a clear recognition of the importance of business travel...

New Coke—customers didn't want it.  Ford Edsel—customers thought it was ugly. Apple Newton—customers didn't know how to use it. Each of these product launches were tremendous flops for well-established brands that tried to do something different and innovative.  In their attempt to foray into new territory they forgot that more important than being innovative is listening to your customers. While GetThere is focused on delivering the newest innovations in travel technology, we also want to ensure we are delivering products that our customers want, like and can easily use.  That is why our user interface design work is so important.

GetThere has launched the first multinational sites in Brazil in recent weeks - on its new domestic content connections - and the excitement was everywhere at the recent LACTTE...

Whenever I stay at a hotel with my wife and kids (4 and 2), I always check out hotel information and reviews to make sure there’s a pool, the rooms are clean and...

Nobody gets more excited about innovation than I do. At GetThere, we pride ourselves as inventors and leaders in travel management systems. But there is a certain level of pragmatism that must be applied to manage innovation...

We’ve come a long way since the Internet went commercial. The fundamental goal of the Internet was collaboration – first with the military and academic researchers...