From major mergers to burgeoning blockchain applications to 48-hour
cancellation policies, 2017 provided plenty to interest the business travel
industry. Here are the most-read BTN stories of the year, based on Google Analytics page views.
#1 What
Travel Managers Really Should Focus On & How to Measure It
In this op-ed, tClara CEO
Scott Gillespie says, "Using old-school savings as the main indicator of a
travel program's success is shortsighted." Instead, a travel program's
core mission should be to enable positive business outcomes, he writes. Keep
Reading
#2 American Airlines' New Sales
Strategy
American Airlines poured
resources into its sales efforts in 2017 year, including a significant buildup
of its sales team under SVP of global sales Alison Taylor, as the carrier sought
to reclaim corporate market share. Keep Reading
#3 Spirit Airlines'
Surprise Appearance Atop On-Time Performance List
Spirit Airlines—no,
that was not a typo—was the most on-time major North American carrier in
October 2017, getting 87.8 percent of flights to the gate within 15 minutes of
their scheduled arrival times, according to FlightStats. Keep Reading & Check Out the Chart
#4 Four Marriott Merger Updates
Marriott
International's spring Security Analyst Meeting provided an in-depth discussion
on how the hotel company would fold in Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Keep Reading
#5 Steve Singh Will Leave
Concur & SAP
In April, SAP
announced Steve Singh would leave the company at the end of the month. Keep Reading
#6 Pressures Facing the U.S.
Hotel Industry in 2017
"I wouldn't be
surprised if it's sort of a schizophrenic year," PwC's hospitality
industry leader Scott Berman said in February 2017, referencing the
unpredictable U.S. political climate, as well as economic factors. Keep Reading
#7 Travel Bots: Are They Here to
Stay?
Artificial Intelligence
was the buzzword for 2017. AI has infiltrated industries as diverse as personal
shopping, executive recruitment and medical diagnostics. Transformational
fervor around AI has fizzled in the past, but AI-powered messaging platforms
have energized innovation of late. Enter the chatbot travel assistant. Keep Reading
#8 What's on the Mind of
Airbnb's New Head of Business Travel
In this March Q&A
with Airbnb head of business travel David Holyoke, BTN noted that in the past
two years, the company had launched tools geared toward travel managers, partnered with a corporate lodging provider, opened its
business platform up to third-party bookings and inked deals with
the three mega travel management companies. Keep Reading
#9 Will Annual Hotel RFPs Ever
End?
Ask parties on both
sides of the negotiating table what they think about the annual hotel RFP
season, and more often than not, they'll say it's an inefficient, outdated
process. But that doesn't mean everyone's ready to change it. Keep Reading
#10 Blockchain Could Reshape
Travel Management
Despite the chatter
about blockchain, its impact on the travel industry is still speculative. Few
have developed applications directly tied into the industry, and those that
have cropped up are still in their genesis. Travel tech experts, however, say
blockchain could alter distribution, payment and traveler tracking, to name a
few. Keep Reading
This story was updated at 2 p.m. on Jan. 4, 2017, to clarify that Most Read is determined by page views.