The Life and Times of a Travel Manager: Career Reflections and the Evolving Role

Date: June 21, 2023 – 11am ET

The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the vital role of the corporate travel manager. While company leaders and stakeholders gained newfound appreciation for travel managers, there has been little examination or reflection about who travel managers are and how they themselves view their role.
Based on GBTA-Cvent research conducted in North America and Europe, this webinar will examine how travel managers feel about their role. It will examine a number of key topics including:

1. Compensation: How much compensation do travel managers earn? Do travel managers expect to receive a significant raise this year?
2. Demographics: What percentage of travel managers are women? What percentage are underrepresented racial or ethnic minorities? How did travel managers enter the field? How many have previously worked for travel suppliers?
3. Career reflections: Are travel managers happy with their career? Would they recommend becoming a travel manager? Do they find their work engaging? If they could go back in time, would they still become a travel manager – or pursue a different path?
4. How travel programs are structured – and how this shapes the travel manager’s role: How many travel managers spend all of their time on travel-related issues – and how many have additional responsibilities beyond travel? Are travel managers “jack-of-all trades” who work on a variety of issues—such as hotel RFPs, travel policy design, and implementing technology. Or, do they specialize in specific areas?

Speakers:

Kelli Kopec, Senior Manager, Product, Cvent

Carol Fergus, Global Travel Manager, Fidelity International

Mark Sharoff, Research Manager, GBTA

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