With the travel industry growing more complex, especially as it adapts to new challenges and opportunities from the internet and an economy still rebounding, corporate travel directors and travel managers have found their responsibilities becoming more diversified. According to a recent study conducted by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), more managers and directors are being saddled with tasks that reside outside of their original job descriptions, including developing strategic meetings management programs (SMMP).

More than half of the travel directors surveyed by GBTA’s 2012 Travel Management Compensation and Benefits Survey said they were now responsible for SMMP. The survey also showed that travel managers had experienced the same trend, with 42 percent claiming to have been charged with the same responsibility, up from 33 percent in 2011.

Angie Henderson, global strategic meetings manager at Apple Inc, tells Meetings Net that SMMP “has always rolled up in to travel, which then reports in to finance. I feel we were one of the first large corporations that designed our meeting program in that fashion a long time ago. My boss, who is the global travel manager, has accountability for me and my team, who oversee all meetings.”

With companies hesitant to create new departments for large responsibilities, travel executives also find themselves, according to the GBTA survey, creating green travel policies within the range of 36 percent of travel directors and 27 percent of travel managers in 2012. Risk management programs have also become the tasks of travel directors, clocking in at 68 percent, up from 56 percent in 2011. Among travel managers, the trend holds at 26 percent, up from 22 percent in the previous year.

If you’re looking for a travel manager or travel director position, it’s important to know about the shifting factors of the field. It’s also vital to remember that Travel Placement Service has the expertise and connections you’re looking for when trying recruit or secure a position as a corporate travel executive. Contact us today!