The CWT Travel Management Institute produces white papers to explore a wide range of key issues impacting business travel. Proposed in a short two- to four-page format, these papers aim to provide clear perspectives on major industry developments and propose practical solutions for travel managers.

Latest Publication

Eight key levers to optimize a travel program
August 2008 - 263 Kb
In the second edition of Effective Travel Management, published in June 2008, CWT has updated the eight key levers to optimize a travel program, first presented in 2005. The levers remain focused on savings, service and security while addressing more recent concerns over environmental protection, duty of care and sustainability. In addition, findings and best practices from in-depth research conducted by the CWT Travel Management Institute provide new insights into online booking, program consolidation, and travel policy and compliance.

The Eight Key Levers

Eight key levers to optimize a travel program
August 2008 - 263 Kb
In the second edition of Effective Travel Management, published in June 2008, CWT has updated the eight key levers to optimize a travel program, first presented in 2005. The levers remain focused on savings, service and security while addressing more recent concerns over environmental protection, duty of care and sustainability. In addition, findings and best practices from in-depth research conducted by the CWT Travel Management Institute provide new insights into online booking, program consolidation, and travel policy and compliance.

Playing by the Rules: Optimizing Travel Policy and Compliance
May 2008 - 322 Kb
CWT has conducted in-depth research into travel policy design and compliance. The resulting report, Playing by the Rules: Optimizing Travel Policy and Compliance, provides actionable insights to help travel managers evaluate their own policies and compliance measures and uncover opportunities for savings.

Global Horizons: Consolidating a Travel Program
May 2007 - 331 Kb
CWT has conducted in-depth research into travel program consolidation. The resulting report, Global Horizons: Consolidating a Travel Program, provides a practical overview aimed at helping companies evaluate the benefits, understand the prerequisites for achieving them and identify the keys to success in the consolidation process.

Toward Excellence in Online Booking: Key Findings
January 2006 - 207 Kb
CWT recently completed extensive global research, Toward Excellence in Online Booking, into 153 companies with a travel budget of more than US $5 million and with headquarters principally in North America, Europe and Australia. Half of the companies were using an online booking tool when the research was conducted.

Five Steps to Maximize your Online Booking Strategy
January 2006 - 365 Kb
Investment in an online booking tool may or may not be the right strategy for your company. Or it simply may not be the right time. To help your company decide whether to invest and ultimately, to maximize your online booking strategy, CWT has developed a fivestep methodology which capitalizes on its experience in North America and deepseated knowledge of the European business travel market. The methodology takes companies through each step of online implementation, from initial definition of strategy to rollout and program management for rapid adoption.

Country Focus

China: Fast Evolving Travel Market
August 2008 - 488 Kb
Since its entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) China has experienced phenomenal change and growth. Western companies have raced to get a foothold in one of the fastest growing economies in the world. As a result, business in China -both by multi-national companies and by Chinese firms trading with other countries- has boomed; and the travel industry has been fast to evolve and adapt to meet the growing demand for corporate travel management.

An overview of Japan’s travel market
July 2008 - 1.6 Mb
Japan’s travel market continues to be a complex and challenging environment for managed corporate travel programs, particularly for multi-national companies less familiar with the market. Although doing business, especially corporate travel business, in Japan is unlike most Western cultures; the importance of this market has persuaded many companies to learn how to conduct business and travel most effectively in Japan. The country’s widely documented financial concerns have been largely resolved; and its economy is robust with continued growth expected. Acceptance of change comes slowly in the Japanese marketplace; however the changes in the Japan business travel market in recent years and now to be expected in the coming 1-2 years seem almost shocking when compared to the relative stability of the previous 30.

India: Phenomenal growth expected, challenges persist
March 2007 - 76 Kb
India is a country of more than one billion people, a high number of which are highly educated, who offer multi-national companies an attractive, low-cost workforce as well as a large potential market for products and services. As economic and political changes continue to drive growth, India’s importance to corporate travel programmes has increased significantly. However, India is quite different from other areas of corporate travel expansion; the cultural and market differences here make expanding a global travel programme in India a unique challenge.

CWT Business Travel Indicator

Expectations and Opportunities for Effective Travel Management
August 2006 - 224 Kb
CWT commissioned a survey of travel managers and business travelers in the world’s top 12 business travel markets. The survey, the CWT Business Travel Indicator, identified key expectations related to business travel management, examined the challenges travel managers face in managing a corporate travel program, and indicated how they evaluate their outsourced travel management services provider.