Gill Upton

2 weeks ago | thebusinesstravelmag.com | Gill Upton

Travel ManagementAs consolidation looks set to continue among the largest players, smaller travel management companies are emerging as viable alternatives Gill UptonJune 9, 2025 Share LinkedinFacebookWhatsAppEmailPinterest The spectre of the American Express GBT/CWT behemoth if the US Department of Justice drops its opposition doesn’t faze the TMC industry.

Mar 12, 2025 | thebusinesstravelmag.com | Gill Upton

If you listen to disruptor travel management companies such as Navan, sourcing all air content is a question of aggregating content from as many distribution channels as possible to give travel buyers the widest array of inventory choices. Navan, for example, provides NDC content from 17 major airlines and says one third of its flight bookings are now made via NDC. It’s a similar picture at TravelPerk, with content from 20 NDC airlines.

Oct 22, 2024 | thebusinesstravelmag.com | Gill Upton

Speak to most travel buyers about loyalty schemes and it won’t be a positive experience. They can influence travel policy, the company’s relationship with suppliers and impact staff retention if travellers are prevented from earning and burning points. Travel managers would prefer it if they went away. These schemes – the likes of Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy, American Airlines’ AAdvantage, British Airways’ On Business and United’s MileagePlus – are here to stay.

Oct 8, 2024 | thebusinesstravelmag.com | Gill Upton

Alice Linley-Munro is Resourcing and Travel Manager at Oil Spill Response, an organisation that typifies the average SME. Over the last 10 years, the company’s £1m travel spend has soared to £2.5m from 160 travellers. Due to the nature of its business as an immediate response service to oil spills globally, much of its travel is booked last minute. Linley-Munro demands a more hands-on approach from her TMC and expects all suppliers to be more engaged.

Jun 25, 2024 | thebusinesstravelmag.com | Gill Upton

Here we go again: TMCs find themselves having to reassert their value to travellers and the feeling of déjà vu is palpable. The global pandemic was a successful exercise in doing that but two years later a new trigger – access to content – is causing concern.