Managing the corporate traveler.

African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure

卷:5

Dr P. Thomas¹  C. Schuitmaker¹ 

[1] School of Tourism and Hospitality University of Johannesburg;

关键词: TMC;    Africa;    South Africa;    travel;    management;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

South African travel management companies service corporate travel needs. Those based within South Africa provide local, regional and trans-continental services to corporate clients. Travel services rendered are many not limited to airline and hotel bookings but involving complex integrations of clients travel data, travel industry trend analysis, personal skills in business acumen and emotional intelligence to provide tailored travel solutions. The success of supporting the corporate with travel related services is a competitive differentiator in the global travel management market. This research explores the value that South African based travel management companies can bring in supporting South African based clients by applying a qualitative methodological approach within a case study design. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with nine respondents, four with corporates and five with travel account managers responsible for service to South African based corporates. The findings showed that technological advancements and individualised service play an important role in supporting corporate travellers but the value that the travel account manager brings to the service through experience (tacit travel experience and training) and explicit (knowledge of the travel policy, macro and micro environmental trends) on innovation and change can be denigrated by the culture and leadership style of the corporate client. The value of this research is that it begins to unfold the complex role of the travel management company in terms of the personal and service attributes required to be a successful corporate account manager.

【 授权许可】

Unknown