Introducing the latest myCWT product and service enhancements
Building on our digital, omnichannel myCWT platform, our new products and services will simplify travel management for you and your employees – anytime, anywhere, anyhow.
Note: Featured services may not be available in your country at this time. Please reach out to your CWT representative for more details.
Hear from Chief Product Officer, Erica Antony as she shares the key product highlights of 2024, along with the key areas driving innovation.
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2040: Baseline, Boom or Bust
As we enter an era of rapid transformation and unprecedented challenges, it is essential for travel managers, meeting & event planners, and corporate decision-makers to look ahead and frame our current strategic thinking with a clear vision of the future. Business travel and meetings and events (M&E) are poised for significant change over the next decade and a half, driven by a complex interplay of sustainability goals, technological advancements, evolving work models, and geopolitical dynamics.
In this paper to mark the 10th anniversary of our Global Business Travel Forecast, we explore, for the first time, a long-term vision of the future and potential trajectories through three distinct scenarios, each offering insights into how these forces should affect policy-making, budgeting and priorities. By examining these scenarios, we can better understand the diverse possibilities that lie ahead and the strategic imperatives required to thrive in each potential future.
Based on trajectory data analysis and interviews with industry leaders, behaviorists and climate tech founders, this forward-looking approach enables us to anticipate changes, strengthen our strategies, and make informed decisions that align long-term objectives. It is through this lens of foresight and adaptability that we can build resilience, seize opportunities, and navigate the complexities of the future.
We invite you to reflect on the insights presented, and consider how your organization can prepare for the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. Together we can ensure that travel and meetings remain catalysts for growth, scalability and sustainable practices.
- Scenario development is both an art and a science
- Megatrends Shaping the Future of Business Travel, Meetings and Events
- Sustainability goals the new crux of corporate policy
- Technology Revolutionizes Travel Management
- Modern work models spark new travel patterns
- Changing demographics open doors to new opportunities
- Three Scenarios: Base case, boom and bust
- Future-proofing strategies
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CWT GBTA Global business travel forecast 2025
When it comes to pricing, global business travel has finally reached an enduring, higher baseline. Prices will continue to rise in 2025, but only moderately, so expect a period of normalized growth.
However, this pricing environment, one of marginal gains and price regularity, is fragile. Global leisure travel has now realized a lot of its pent-up demand, while corporate travel has been resurgent, with 2024 edging at preCovid levels.
There are many factors at play, whether its volatile oil prices, labor costs and constraints, inflationary pressures, and geopolitical factors. As this elevated baseline edges upwards, albeit marginally, travel budgets will come under increased scrutiny, especially as travel patterns and attitudes change.
It’s why business travel can’t be viewed in a silo, and the true value to an organization must be fully realized. This forecast can help with those calculations.
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Capitalize on emerging technologies in corporate travel
Technological advancements are accelerating at an unprecedented pace. How will emerging innovations like Generative AI, blockchain, and self-sovereign identity (SSI) transform corporate travel?
BTN and CWT probed global CEOs, travel managers, industry consultants and tech experts on the promises, questions, and expectations these innovations raise and how they are set to reshape traveler experience, cost control and service delivery in corporate travel and events.
Download and discover
- The technologies that will have the greatest impact on corporate travel in the next 2-5 years
- How these emerging technologies are poised to control costs, enhance service and security, and boost efficiency
- The critical challenges, opportunities, risks and roadblocks each innovation raises
- What travel managers, buyers and experts anticipate from these innovations
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Experience on ERM route deals and negotiated fares to manage crew changes and control project costs delivers $1M+ savings
Results at a glance
- More than 400 profiles were created.
- 503 individual tickets were issued.
- Total savings of more than US$1 million.
- Used marine, route deal and negotiated fares to control project costs.
The challenge
A major oil and gas company needed help deploying crew changes on a Floating Production and Offloading (FPSO) vessel moving from the East China Sea to the North Sea. Three crew changes were required in Singapore, South Africa and the Canary Islands, with 140+ travelers at each location. Crews – mostly foreign nationals who needed individual profiles – arrived and departed at airports near where the FPSO was moored.
The solution
CWT staff’s vast experience in crew changes provided workable solutions to this unique challenge. The nature of the project allowed them to use marine, route deals and negotiated fares, which delivered higher-than-usual savings and flexibility. CWT teams created profiles for more than 400 travelers via secure data uploads. They captured each person’s travel requirements through a pre-formatted reservation document, which helped with tracking and avoiding duplication.
The result
CWT issued 503 individual tickets using CWT ERM fares to reduce costs and support the company’s preferred air program. CWT also helped the company improve compliance, control project costs and monitor spend. Every traveler’s itinerary was included in tracking, so the company could properly identify potential issues and eliminate any duplication. The company’s travel team was impressed with the way the entire project was handled, as well as the more than US$1million cost savings CWT delivered.
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Driving savings of 35% in year one and boosting benefits through global program consolidation
Results at a glance
- Global travel program consolidation across 58 countries and implementation of a single travel policy.
- Achieved savings of 35% in year one and 39% in year two on travel volume of +$50 million, through negotiating global supplier agreements.
- Visibility on 100% of travel spend via consolidated reporting with CWT and expense tools.
The challenge
The client, a global equipment, components and services provider for the oil and gas industry, had a fragmented travel program, serviced by various travel management companies (TMCs). This created a lack of clear insight into travel spend and traveler behavior, and impacted pricing when negotiating supplier deals across air and hotel.
Each division handled travel independently, which meant no overarching policy or measure of compliance. And no clear spend oversight, centralized form of payment or consolidated data and traveler location visibility.
Barriers to overcome:
- Travel spend consolidation: A lack of oversight with multiple TMCs across 58 countries and hundreds of business units, each with their own rules, policies and behaviors.
- Hotel consolidation: Each country had its own hotel program and was unable to view rates in other countries.
- Air consolidation: Multiple air agreements were in place in each country, with the need to consolidate to a smaller number of global contracts.
The solution
CWT consolidated the client’s global travel program with a global spend analysis providing a clear picture of its category spend. This enabled CWT to negotiate global supplier agreements for the client using its full travel spend to benefit from the greatest discounts.
- Air: Multiple air agreements were in place in each country. CWT helped consolidate these to 15 global contracts, as well as enabling access to its own exclusive fares program. Creating a travel program for the client meant it could benefit from CWT’s marine and offshore fares, offering flexible prices with discounts of up to 75%.
- Hotel: Through consolidation, the client reduced the number of hotels in its program, enabling room nights to be directed into strategic hotels and increase spend in those properties. CWT provided access to its global hotel database, integrating the client’s program, with rates at thousands of properties globally. This included CWT’s own program of hotels, offering a 5-15% discount off the best available rate.
To better monitor all bookings, including those made by contractors, CWT used its global profile management solution to tie each reservation to a unique traveler ID – enabling accurate traveler tracking, which strengthened the client’s traveler safety and security policy.
Systems and processes were put in place to monitor counselor performance, helping drive a high level of service, consistent across multiple locations.
The result
- A consolidated global travel program and implementation of a primary travel policy
- Savings of 35% in the first year and 39% in the second year
- Visibility on 100% of travel spend through consolidated reporting
The client now has one TMC, one visa/passport provider and two forms of payment. The company gained two critical program components: consolidated reporting and the ability to track and locate travelers in an emergency. It also discovered it was spending more on travel than estimated, and used this information to negotiate discounts, driving bottom-line savings of 35 percent in the first year and 39 percent in the second. Year over year, the client reduced hotel leakage and improved compliance.
“The client wanted to create a single, consolidated travel program but with high levels of complexity and fragmentation this was a challenge. CWT provided a clear picture of travel spend and through detailed data analysis enabled the client to negotiate better global supplier agreements, with large savings across its air and hotel program.”
Tamasine Pritchard, Client Director, Enterprise Services, CWT.
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Offshore drilling serviced company achieves 36% in contracted air spend and 13% in contracted car, streamlining their travel program
Results at a glance
- Improved communications with global activity log, updated weekly, and shared with CWT and company.
- Optimized booking process with corresponding training, resulting in higher service satisfaction.
- Introduced new products and services, including myCWT app and web, car rental audits, FareIQ and Room IQ.
- More than 36% in additional cost savings in Q1 of that year.
The challenge
A leading provider of offshore contract drilling services needed CWT’s help to streamline their travel program. Much like a house can become cluttered and less efficient, their travel program had grown increasingly complex. Over the years, they added manual processes and heavy customization that ended up causing errors, downstream data inaccuracies, and frustration for everyone. They needed a complete travel program makeover—with simpler processes, more tools and automation, and a new level of transparency and communication.
The solution
CWT’s ERM Global Program Director identified a need for more efficient communications between the CWT team and the client. She created a global activity log and began providing consistent and meaningful reports to the company. They update the log weekly and share it to provide transparency. The log also outlines accountable roles and responsibilities; a standing internal global team call keeps everyone informed.
CWT advanced training efforts for the Operations team, resulting in higher service satisfaction. Multiple CWT phone numbers were consolidated into one, with prompts to direct callers to the right resource. The client and CWT enhanced service levels by realigning processes, incorporating automation and creating customized booking solutions.
CWT also introduced new products and services, which will continue to improve efficiencies and provide substantial cost savings for the company.
The result
The client and CWT successfully renewed the program, strengthening our plans to continue to streamline processes and gain efficiencies. In Q1 of that year, they achieved savings of 36% in contracted air spend and 13% in contracted car.
More than 27% of the client’s travelers now use myCWT around the world, and a consistent CWT Itinerary has already been launched in the U.K. and Brazil, expanding worldwide. We re-launched myCWT web with single sign-on (SSO) and launched a customized, rig-specific booker survey. The CWT team successfully managed more than 30 crisis management alerts directly with the company. Errors have drastically improved, with more than 35K transactions in Q1 at a global error-free rate of 99%. Benchmarking reports show the company as “best in class” across average ticket price, cost per mile, and hotel rates in their peer group of drilling companies.
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Houston Strategy Forum president on managing stress
Stressed? Why you should purge your mind and do nothing
Raphael Pasdeloup, CWT’s Senior Vice President, Enterprise Customers, had a chat with the president of Houston-based Cohegic, a management consulting, executive and sales coaching firm, Ravi Kathuria. Ravi is also president of the Houston Strategy Forum, which brings together a who’s who of Houston CEOs.
Ravi is the author of two books: How Cohesive Is Your Company and Happy Soul, Hungry Mind: A Modern Day Parable About Spirituality (Volume 1 – Tribulations). The interview was the first in a series of podcasts Raphael is hosting with business leaders in Houston and in the ERM space.
For the inaugural talkfest, top of mind was how to deal with stress in your organization. Find out why Ravi recommends a do nothing approach and invites his audience to quiet their minds through mind purge exercises.
Raphael: Ravi, can you give me your view on the world we live in?
Ravi: The challenges for business is growing. We, as human beings, are facing an incredible amount of stress. We have so much geopolitical tensions in the world. We have business tensions, and business in this digital age is moving at the speed of light. That is putting an incredible amount of stress on everyone in organizations. We live in a culture where it’s outcome driven, and that culture becomes very challenging to cope with.
Raphael: What do you hear most frequently from industry leaders and CEOs of large companies faced with that challenge?
Ravi: Companies do their best to have a long-term focus, but market volatility is putting a lot of pressure on CEOs. They have to respond to Wall St. That results in decisions being made that are not in the long-term health of the company. These create huge challenges.
CEOs themselves, as they deal with marketplaces that are changing so fast, begin to question themselves. They have to learn to calm themselves down, otherwise, they get caught up in the frenzy. If people in organizations are not able to keep themselves calm and have the right perspective, they will make decisions which are not in the interest of the organization, and you come back later and say, okay, these decisions were suboptimal.
Raphael: Do you see that primarily in the US, or when you discuss with global leaders, something that is more of a global trend?
Ravi: The US culture is highly-competitive, very outcome-driven. But as we travel more, as we visit other global divisions of our companies, we’re all becoming a global community. The way business is structured, they’re fundamentally structured around driving the organization and putting a lot of stress into the system.
Stress is almost like steroids, it will help you in the short-term, but long-term use is going to debilitate the organization. You don’t want to use stress as your weapon of choice.
Raphael: Travel for business is a huge area of stress. All the variables to contend with. What’s your advice for road warriors and people who extensively travel to find a better balance?
Ravi: I was coaching a very senior executive whose job required him to travel all over the world. The problem was, he could not sleep on an airplane. He would work. He was on all the time.
I gave him the technique about purging the mind, where you sit down and take a few minutes every day, you pick the time, and let the mind just go through whatever it has gone through during the day. So if you have a meeting tomorrow, you don’t start engaging thoughts about preparing for the meeting that’s coming tomorrow. You just go through today’s events. It’s like we eat food every day, and we let the body process that food and throw away the waste the next day.
Similarly, our mind needs to process what it has gone through because if you don’t process and let the mind work through it, these get buried in your subconscious.
There is nothing else in this world that will have a bigger impact on your life than learning how to quiet your mind. If you quiet your mind, your performance at work improves because your objectivity improves, your creativity improves. Your fear goes down.
Raphael: What attitude, behavior, practice can leaders show in the workplace so that everyone is more effective and gain in productivity?
Ravi: Dedicating some time to what I call do nothing activity. Every weekend, you take 15-20 minutes for doing nothing. It’s really powerful when you sit back and do nothing. What it does is it allows your stress to leave your body and to leave your mind. We’re always on. When we wake up at 3:00 am, the first thing we do is reach for our phone to see what emails have come. We have to step back from all of this.
Doing the mind purge exercises on the weekdays, and setting aside 15-20 minutes on the weekend doing nothing, you will find your attitude changing. You’ll find that the circumstances around you are not going to change, but your ability to deal with these circumstances will become much better as you go through these exercises of mind purge and doing nothing.
More about Ravi Kathuria’s work:
www.Cohegic.com
www.HoustonStrategyForum.com
www.HappySoulHungryMind.com -
Safer payments, easier reconciliation: The introduction of virtual cards payments allows an offshore drilling company to boost security, improving compliance and reconciliation
An offshore drilling company was faced with a challenge. With remote sites across the globe, it relied on numerous hotels to accommodate its workers. An inefficient payment structure – coupled with regular changes to its crew roster – caused booking headaches. What happened?
The challenge
Safer payments
Settling hotel invoices with lodge cards caused security issues. Accounts payable teams would fax staff an image of the company lodge card, exposing sensitive information. This led to several instances of fraud, and forced the company to change cards repeatedly.
Compliance and savings
A lack of control over card spend saw huge spikes in room costs. Rotating crews and subcontractors regularly charged extra food and drinks to their rooms—breaking travel policies and exceeding budgets.
Easier reconciliation
A drawn-out card statement – covering multiple stays – slowed down the reconciliation process. Ploughing through booking, payment and invoice records cost the company more in labor, too – they needed four full-time staff members to reconcile transactions.
The solution
Safer payments
Moving to single-use VCNs reduced the need to use direct bills.
Compliance and savings
Virtual cards allowed the company to dictate what travelers could (and could not) pay for.
Easier reconciliation
Each VCN transaction offered a unique ID, making it easier to identify and track a transaction’s lifespan.
The solution
Safer payments
Moving to single-use VCNs reduced the need to use direct bills.
Compliance and savings
Virtual cards allowed the company to dictate what travelers could (and could not) pay for.
Easier reconciliation
Each VCN transaction offered a unique ID, making it easier to identify and track a transaction’s lifespan.
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CWT Solutions Group expands successful outsourcing offer
CWT Solutions Group, the consulting arm of CWT, the B2B4E travel management platform, is expanding its travel services outsourcing offering, following the positive reception from its first 26 clients across a variety of industries.
“In a fast-paced environment, getting a grip on travel management is not always easy, that is why outsourcing is gaining traction,” said Christophe Renard, Vice President, CWT Solutions Group. “In fact, according to an online survey we ran in June this year among our top global clients, 30% said they were planning to outsource more parts of their travel program.”
CWT Solutions Group can provide clients with Travel Managers, OBT Setup & Adoption Managers, Change & Communication Managers, OBT Implementation Managers, TMC Implementation Managers, Operational Travel Manager Support, and Strategic Outsourcing staff. The offer is also available to companies working with other TMCs.
“We free up resources so that our clients can focus on their core business, improve their efficiency, and manage complex projects. We also build the expertise of their teams and provide them with a flexible people strategy by looking after the recruitment, ongoing development, and career planning of the employees,” said Renard.
Outsourcing with CWT Solutions Group gives clients the benefit of part-time or full-time resources embedded in their organization – with access to the full depth of CWT Solutions Group travel knowledge and experience, data tools, and governance expertise. The offer is fully customizable, so clients can fill the gaps in their organization, and react flexibly to change.
Since the introduction of this offering last year, CWT Solution Group has renewed every single client.
CWT is a leading global partner in business travel, meetings, and events. Operating across six continents, we deliver sustainable, tailored solutions that help organizations connect, engage, and thrive in an evolving world. Our myCWT platform integrates advanced technology with human expertise to simplify travel and enhance traveler and attendee experiences. Extensive global coverage, seamless data integration, AI-driven analytics, and carbon-conscious travel tools enable businesses to optimize their travel and meetings programs while delivering measurable value.
With 150 years of industry experience and a deep commitment to partnership, CWT collaborates with clients to shape the future of business travel and events, making them more efficient, responsible, and impactful.
CWT Solutions Group
CWT Solutions Group is the consultancy arm of CWT. The division helps deliver travel procurement efficiencies through innovations in supplier sourcing, data intelligence, traveler management and mobility. -
CWT Meetings & Events launches Suppliers of the Year awards
CWT M&E, the global meetings and events division of CWT, today launches its first annual North America Suppliers of the Year awards at this years’ IMEX America at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas.
“We are thrilled to bestow this award to our supplier partners who have shown their continuous support of our partnerships and have strived to provide the best service to CWT’s internal and external customers,” said Nathan Brooks, Global Lead, Supplier Management, CWT Meetings & Events. “We are committed to driving win-win partnerships with our supplier friends and are excited to be able to recognize our ‘shining stars’ for 2019. We congratulate our winners and look forward to continuing to grow together.”
The inaugural award program for North America recognizes CWT M&E’s top partners based on the following criteria: response time, competitive pricing, product quality, creativity and customer service.
Among this year’s winners are Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Preferred Hotels & Resorts, Caesars Entertainment, and Global DMC Partners.“We value the importance of face-to-face connections and how our key partner, CWT Meetings & Events, aligns with Hilton’s vision to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality, one meeting at a time.”
- Frank Passanante, Senior Vice President, Hilton Worldwide Sales, Americas
“We are honored and humbled to receive such a prestigious designation. At a time when commissions have been reduced by most of the chains and when there is much ongoing dialogue about the value of contributions by third-party meeting planners, Preferred Hotels & Resorts remains steadfast in its commitment to support our highly-valued partners.”
- Elaine Macy, Executive Vice President, Global Group Sales, Preferred Hotels & Resorts
“Caesars Entertainment is privileged to be a preferred partner with CWT Meetings and Events and sincerely grateful for this recognition. We are committed to a connected relationship that allows for us to create meaningful meeting experiences from Las Vegas to Atlantic City and across the country at our 40 hotels and resorts.”
- Brian Crumby, Key Account Director, Caesars Entertainment
“Global DMC Partners is thrilled to receive this prestigious award from CWT. GDP and our worldwide DMC partners are dedicated to the success of every program we touch, so we are deeply honored to receive such high recognition from one of our top clients. We look forward to growing our fruitful partnership even further with CWT by continuously striving to elevate the service and experience that our clients receive.”
- Dawn Barbeau, VP, Global Sales, DMC Partners
CWT M&E also recognizes the following partners who were finalists in their respective categories: Radisson Hotel Group, Accor Hotels, AMResorts, Langham Hotels & Resorts, Melia Hotels International, PRA, Dragonfly, Hosts Global, CSI DMC, and DMI Hotels.
CWT is a leading global partner in business travel, meetings, and events. Operating across six continents, we deliver sustainable, tailored solutions that help organizations connect, engage, and thrive in an evolving world. Our myCWT platform integrates advanced technology with human expertise to simplify travel and enhance traveler and attendee experiences. Extensive global coverage, seamless data integration, AI-driven analytics, and carbon-conscious travel tools enable businesses to optimize their travel and meetings programs while delivering measurable value.
With 150 years of industry experience and a deep commitment to partnership, CWT collaborates with clients to shape the future of business travel and events, making them more efficient, responsible, and impactful.
CWT Meetings & Events
CWT Meetings & Events (M&E) is an award-winning global corporate events management service. Representing all industry sectors, CWT M&E delivers comprehensive live, virtual and hybrid event solutions for thousands of customers every year. Ranging from end to end productions of some of the world’s largest and complex global conferences, through to intimate national teambuilding experiences.
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CWT Meetings & Events projects 8% growth in 2020 despite gathering headwinds
CWT M&E, the global meetings and events division of CWT, says the $840 billion industry is poised for an 8% growth in 2020 despite looming geopolitical and economic headwinds, according to its 2020 Future Trends Report, published today.
The report notes the protracted trade war between the US and China is creating general uncertainty in the global business community heading into 2020. Adding to the anxiety is the future of Brexit and its cascading impact on the European Union. Over in Asia, the protests in Hong Kong that started in June have put businesses on alert, as continued unrest in the city is bound to impact demand across the region. Growing concern over the impact of climate change is also increasingly clouding business sentiment.
Despite these issues, there are reasons to be upbeat, says Kurt Ekert, President and CEO at CWT.
“The need for live events is becoming more relevant than ever before,” Ekert said, with up to 30% of marketing budgets expected to be spent on live events in 2020. “Face-to-face meetings are critical to establishing connections between brands and their customers, and employees and their companies, especially during times of uncertainty. Knowing how to manage risks globally while putting together an authentic and measurable experience for all participants will be key for success in this space in the coming year and beyond.”
Digitalization
The Future Trends Report identifies key developments in the industry in 2020, including digitalization, with event websites being created at a rapid pace—up 52% year-over-year—as more customers utilize these sites to drive increased engagement. Mobile devices are also adding new functionality with apps that go beyond setting travel itineraries to allowing organizers to create a higher degree of personalization for attendees. CWT M&E estimates the number of event apps created since 2017 has jumped 83%, while the percentage of attendees downloading apps rose from 50% in 2017 to 74% year-to-date in 2019.
Demographics
This emphasis on digitalization is being driven by changing demographics as Millennials are poised to become the biggest group of business travelers globally from 2024 onwards. Right at their heels are the so-called centennials (born 1996 onwards), the first group that can claim to be digital natives as they have never known a world without the internet, smartphones and apps.
“This younger group of travelers is all about experience, authenticity and participation,” said Derek Sharp, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, CWT Meetings & Events. “Not content to merely ‘attend’ events, Millennials and centennials use technology to actively ‘participate’ in the experience — pre-event, during the event, and post-event. Organizers are responding with innovations that put a premium on the ability to personalize experiences, coupled with ways of measuring the resulting engagement.”
Authenticity
When it comes to experiential events, including incentive travels, the report shows a move towards experiences that feel authentic, where travelers can immerse themselves in a destination like locals and not as high-end tourists. Hand-in-hand with this trend is the growing attraction of off the beaten track destinations versus the usual tier one cities.
This has raised some safety and security issues with 42% of travelers subjected to pre-travel risk assessments as part of the travel approval process, a 5% increase year-over-year.
Socially and environmentally responsible incentives also rank high for 2020, fueled by this next generation of participants who view climate change as an increasingly pressing issue, according to CWT M&E’s findings. These sustainable initiatives include replanting trees and other efforts to care for the environment — and leave a lasting legacy long after an event concludes.
Global Programs
As global meetings and events programs become more centralized, new technologies in the form of artificial intelligence and bots are transforming how these programs are managed across multiple regions and markets. Organizations are taking advantage of these innovative tools to derive more visibility and real-time data and feedback. As technology shrinks timelines and response times, the result is a streamlined process that ultimately leads to better adoption and a changing mindset around meetings.
Regional Forecast
The report also includes CWT M&E’s regional projections around costs per attendee, average lead times, meeting duration, group size, and average spend on food & beverage in 2020.
CWT is a leading global partner in business travel, meetings, and events. Operating across six continents, we deliver sustainable, tailored solutions that help organizations connect, engage, and thrive in an evolving world. Our myCWT platform integrates advanced technology with human expertise to simplify travel and enhance traveler and attendee experiences. Extensive global coverage, seamless data integration, AI-driven analytics, and carbon-conscious travel tools enable businesses to optimize their travel and meetings programs while delivering measurable value.
With 150 years of industry experience and a deep commitment to partnership, CWT collaborates with clients to shape the future of business travel and events, making them more efficient, responsible, and impactful.
CWT Meetings & Events
CWT Meetings & Events (M&E) is an award-winning global corporate events management service. Representing all industry sectors, CWT M&E delivers comprehensive live, virtual and hybrid event solutions for thousands of customers every year. Ranging from end to end productions of some of the world’s largest and complex global conferences, through to intimate national teambuilding experiences.
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Travelers agree: Healthy travel leads to growth
By and large people feel that business travel is vital to achieving success for themselves and their company. As revealed in a recent Traveler Sentiment Index by GBTA and RoomIt, nearly 70% of respondents desire to travel more often.
But more travel brings additional complications, and two thirds of business travelers feel it also increases their stress levels. Travel can negatively impact like sleep, diet, workout routines and even mental health.
In fact, more than a third of business travelers said they get less sleep when traveling for work. An additional 33% of travelers reported a less healthy diet while traveling and more than one in five travelers felt they get less exercise when out on the road.
The reality is travel disrupts daily routines, and good travel programs do as much to mitigate against these disruptions as possible. Here are a few strategies for building a good, health-focused program.
Combat Sleeplessness
Lack of sleep was listed as the top health concern for travelers. At first it may seem very hard for a travel program to address this issue. However, there are a few things a travel manager can do to facilitate more rest on trips.
For one thing, hotel rooms without enough privacy – such as with a window close to the street or with excessive noise from an adjacent area – rank as two of the top nuisances travelers face while abroad. Both can disrupt sleep and neither can be completely prevented, but hotel reviews left by your employees and other business travelers can reveal if a hotel hosts lots of parties or is next to a noisy event space.
When sourcing, it’s a good idea to use a trusted business travel-focused hotel review site, like RoomIt’s hotel reviews, to see if a hotel receives lots of noise and privacy complaints or has other business-related concerns. You should also identify and encourage travelers to check the reliable hotel review site before booking, so they are well-informed about the property.
No matter what you do, travel can mean erratic schedules that cut into people’s circadian rhythm. This can be especially true on longer trips.
The capsules and sleep pods popping up in airports around the world present an interesting potential solution. Allowing road warriors and those taking long trips to expense a short “power down” in these pods can make a huge difference. NASA astronauts found a 40+ minute nap increased performance by 34% and alertness by 100%.
Apps, like Timeshifter, are another option worth exploring. They promise to alleviate jet lag by recommending that specific actions be taken at set times based on each traveler’s specific needs.
Counting sheep: Lack of a sleep is a top concern for travelers
Support healthy eating
Airport food courts, morning coffee and donuts, fast food between meetings, events with heavy appetizers and drinks, extravagant dinners with clients and partners; it’s tough to keep up a good diet while traveling. According to the Sentiment Index, poor diet is a major concern for travelers, which is valid since a less healthy diet means a 66% increased risk of reduced work productivity.
As usual, breakfast is a good place to start when addressing this issue. Not only should you be negotiating rates with breakfast included, but you should ensure the hotel’s breakfast menu has healthy options available too.
When dining alone after work, travelers often have to settle for less healthy places in their near vicinity. This actually presents a perfect opportunity to improve the wellness of your travel program, since 77% of travelers reported interest in having healthy food delivered. Considering only 28% of companies actually reimburse for this expense, allowing for and promoting it can mean a quick bump in satisfaction for many travel programs.
Eat well: 77% of travelers report an interest in healthy food delivery
Provide opportunities for exercise
More exercise helps people sleep better, it increases alertness and energy, improves mental health and can improve work concentration by 21%, timely delivery of projects by 22%, and work motivation by 41%. In short, exercise not only makes people healthier, but it makes them better at their job.
Fitness has become a more important element of people’s daily decision-making, as 83% of travelers say fitness offerings often influence their hotel decisions. More people are working out now, and Millennials – the most dominant segment of the workforce today – are also much more active than previous generations.
Broken routines, long hours and social events cut into people’s ability to work out while traveling. If possible, it may be good to give travelers more personal time at their destination since tiredness and long working hours are the leading reasons business travelers do not work out while traveling.
On top of this, the proliferation of new workout classes are making the typical hotel fitness centers insufficient. In fact, the Sentiment Index showed a growing interest among business travelers for more specific workout classes, such as Yoga (43%), Cross Fit (33%), meditation classes (32%), Pilates and Spin (27% each).
Hotels are well aware of this trend and some are doing exciting things to meet this demand. Consider partnering with hotels that are joining in on the fitness trend, or find hotels willing to work with nearby gyms in order to provide travelers with the options they seek.
Not only will you be supporting a happier and healthier traveler, but you’ll likely also be supporting a much more productive traveler too. You should promote these benefits through your company intranet and regular communications. Being able to try new workout classes can be an exciting travel perk for many people.
Stay Fit: Partner with hotels that are on board with fitness trends
Stay on the right track
In the end, 71% of travelers feel their company takes health and well-being into consideration when developing travel policies, and 73% believe their company at least considers health to be important. Although this indicates that many companies are on the right track, health consciousness is only growing. Shifting to a healthier program will not only improve traveler satisfaction by appeasing this rising demand in wellness, but it will also lead to better overall job performance.
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CWT Meetings & Events appoints Cristina Scott as Vice President of Global Operations
CWT M&E, the global meetings and events division of CWT, today announced the appointment of Cristina Scott as Vice President of Global Operations. She will report to Derek Sharp, CWT Meetings & Events’ Senior Vice President and Managing Director, and will be based in Southlake, Texas.
“I am delighted to welcome Cristina to the team. Our customers are telling us that they want to see consistent service delivery around the world, and they want to be able to access new CWT M&E services in a seamless manner,” said Sharp. “Cristina’s appointment will help achieve this. She will focus on reaching our goal of delivering the best of CWT to all our customers globally and making operational excellence what CWT Meetings & Events is known for in the industry.”
Scott has extensive knowledge of the industry, and joins CWT Meetings & Events from Sabre, where she held many commercial management and sales operations roles for the past 24 years.
She holds an International Master of Business Administration degree with a concentration in International Marketing from Thunderbird – The Garvin School of International Management, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of North Carolina, and a certificate in Spanish Studies from the University of Salamanca.
CWT is a leading global partner in business travel, meetings, and events. Operating across six continents, we deliver sustainable, tailored solutions that help organizations connect, engage, and thrive in an evolving world. Our myCWT platform integrates advanced technology with human expertise to simplify travel and enhance traveler and attendee experiences. Extensive global coverage, seamless data integration, AI-driven analytics, and carbon-conscious travel tools enable businesses to optimize their travel and meetings programs while delivering measurable value.
With 150 years of industry experience and a deep commitment to partnership, CWT collaborates with clients to shape the future of business travel and events, making them more efficient, responsible, and impactful.
CWT Meetings & Events
CWT Meetings & Events (M&E) is an award-winning global corporate events management service. Representing all industry sectors, CWT M&E delivers comprehensive live, virtual and hybrid event solutions for thousands of customers every year. Ranging from end to end productions of some of the world’s largest and complex global conferences, through to intimate national teambuilding experiences.
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CWT Meetings & Events named to CMI 25 list for 10th year in a row
CWT M&E, the global meetings and events division of CWT, once again lands on MeetingsNet’s CMI 25 list for 2019. The list recognizes the largest full-service and incentive travel management companies focused on the North American corporate market.
With four new major client wins, adding 3,000 new meetings, hiring 50 more people since late 2018, and recording 10% growth year-over-year, CWT M&E continues to demonstrate why it’s one of the biggest players in the industry.
“Being named to the CMI 25 list for the 10th consecutive year is truly a great honor and recognition of our continued growth and agility as an organization,” said Beau Ballin, Vice President, Commercial Leader, North America, CWT Meetings & Events. “We’re seeing the dividends from investments we’ve made into providing creative, engaging events for our clients and developing industry-leading strategic meetings management solutions that leverage innovative technology.
The companies included in the 2019 CMI 25 have been selected by MeetingsNet editors based on the number of meetings and incentive travel programs managed in 2018; the total number of room nights represented by those meetings and incentives; the number of full-time employees at each company; as well as the percentage of the company’s 2018 revenues that came from organizing corporate meetings and incentives versus association meetings or other sources.
The CMI 25 announcement comes at the heels of other recognitions CWT M&E has received this year, including a SITE Crystal Award for Most Impactful Effort Toward Corporate Social Responsibility, as well as being named a finalist for this year’s upcoming C&IT Global Agency of the Year Award, which CWT M&E won last year.
CWT is a leading global partner in business travel, meetings, and events. Operating across six continents, we deliver sustainable, tailored solutions that help organizations connect, engage, and thrive in an evolving world. Our myCWT platform integrates advanced technology with human expertise to simplify travel and enhance traveler and attendee experiences. Extensive global coverage, seamless data integration, AI-driven analytics, and carbon-conscious travel tools enable businesses to optimize their travel and meetings programs while delivering measurable value.
With 150 years of industry experience and a deep commitment to partnership, CWT collaborates with clients to shape the future of business travel and events, making them more efficient, responsible, and impactful.
CWT Meetings & Events
CWT Meetings & Events (M&E) is an award-winning global corporate events management service. Representing all industry sectors, CWT M&E delivers comprehensive live, virtual and hybrid event solutions for thousands of customers every year. Ranging from end to end productions of some of the world’s largest and complex global conferences, through to intimate national teambuilding experiences.
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Evolution to revolution: Transforming a mature SMM program
Objective
CWT Meetings & Events collaborated with a major consumer technology provider, to simplify their needs. Using their existing strategic meetings management program which enabled the customer to achieve their business objectives, we fine-tuned with a total meetings management approach to provide better performance.
The client wanted their existing program to become seamless through everyday tasks such as planning meetings, sourcing venues, managing suppliers, signing contracts, organizing teams for effective impact and more. We mapped key stakeholders current state and challenges to understand their needs and identified where improvements could develop the program. Overall, the client required a program that drives strategic value through all their meetings and events.
Challenge
The client was rapidly growing within the meetings space and had a constant push for diversity and innovation. They were looking for ways to stand out from the crowd and push their offering further.
To ensure a successful delivery, the client requested CWT M&E to provide regular validation steps with key stakeholders and partners to streamline the overall strategy.
Solution
With the client’s requirements in mind, 95% adoption rate was achieved by using a total meetings management approach, assigning the right staff into the right roles.
After starting with only eight people in operational roles to service the account, a huge focus was on hiring the right talent and putting them in roles to manage all events activity. In addition to the staffing model, there were further developments:
- Central mechanisms to track cancellation credits
- Adjustment of sourcing strategies and negotiations tactics
- Strategically aligning with the client’s travel provider
- Introducing a technology specialist
The development of these programs ensured high service quality, while:
- Conducting robust quarterly business reviews with the client, allowing stakeholders to see the value in what was being delivered.
- Implementing an annual recognition program to showcase the ability to think more creatively and enhancing internal adoption of our programs. Especially by assigning internal brand ambassadors to tell their story.
We had a third party organization conduct an anonymous survey to interview all stakeholders and investigate their pain points which needed resolving.
Results
Embodying the client’s company culture and values within CWT M&E service while continuing to deliver, resulted in the contract being renewed. It showcases the strong strategic relationship we build side-by-side with a client, and the solid, measurable results CWT M&E delivers. They signed a six-year contract renewal and expanded the scope of services for a total meetings management (TMM) approach.
- Ability to drive SMM/TMM rigor while delivering amazing events
- People (Training and culture)
- A respectful challenger to drive strategic value