{"id":467976,"date":"2025-10-02T08:19:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T08:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/467976\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T08:19:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T08:19:13","slug":"the-merging-of-travel-and-mobility-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/467976\/","title":{"rendered":"The merging of travel and mobility management"},"content":{"rendered":"

Geopolitical uncertainty, tighter travel budgets
\nand increased regulatory compliance are reshaping business travel \u2013 and how it
\nis being managed. Findings from BTN Europe\u2019s latest Salary & Job
\nSatisfaction Survey<\/a> indicate that
\ntravel managers now oversee an
\never-expanding portfolio of responsibilities that extend well beyond
\nprocurement to also encompass the broader field of mobility.<\/p>\n

Confusingly, the term \u2018mobility\u2019 has multiple uses in
\ncorporate travel, referring to both transport options on the ground and to the
\nmovement and relocation of travellers and their immigration requirements.
\nNeither of them are straightforward tasks, and the latter is increasingly
\ncomplex.<\/p>\n

Yet, according to mobility management platform ECA
\nInternational, corporates increasingly view mobility as key to fuelling
\nbusiness growth. A recent survey by the company also found that 60 per
\ncent of firms consider global mobility management \u201cchallenging or very
\nchallenging\u201d and a further 95 per cent now outsource at
\nleast one mobility function to combat skills shortages and support growth
\nobjectives.<\/p>\n

Similarly, research<\/a>
\nfrom German travel management association VDR indicated mobility is a
\n\u201cstrategic focus\u201d for a growing number of corporates. The association\u2019s survey
\nof 800 companies revealed 70 per cent are \u201cactively\u201d addressing commuter
\nmobility and 69 per cent are also working on process optimisation. By the end
\nof 2025 the latter is expected to rise to 82 per cent, indicating a shift
\ntowards what the association calls \u201cholistic mobility\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe travel management department is special [because] it
\ncovers the entire mobility of a company and requires coordination with many
\ninternal interfaces,\u201d says Christoph Carnier, VDR president and head of procurement
\nfor travel, fleet & events at Merck Group.<\/p>\n

Carnier believes travel and mobility management function
\nmust be both strategic and operational. \u201cOn the one hand, it is important to
\nhave a clear strategic direction, but then it also has to be implemented, and
\nfor that, operational tasks are required,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Finding a home for mobility<\/b><\/p>\n

This evolution in responsibilities has
\nsparked a governance debate: where should the travel and mobility function
\nreside?<\/p>\n

In most cases, Carnier notes that travel management is part
\nof the procurement department but cautions that “the task of travel
\nmanagement does not end with the conclusion of a contract, as that is when the
\nreal work begins.”<\/p>\n

Kathleen Stilmant, director of travel and
\nexpense at French consultancy Axys Odyssey, believes HR is its natural home,
\nespecially as hybrid work blurs the lines between commuting and business
\ntravel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes sense to
\nhave someone in charge of the end-to-end process,\u201d she explains, but warns the
\nmove should be strategic, and not driven by cost cutting measures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen travel managers given more responsibility, but
\nthis is often without additional resources
\nor training,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Stilmant argues that HR\u2019s employee-centric
\napproach, rather than the cost-focused lens of procurement, aligns more closely with a combined travel
\nand mobility role. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey need to put themselves in the employees\u2019 shoes \u2013 and
\nthat\u2019s the objective of HR. Procurement, on the other hand, can sometimes
\noverlook the user experience,\u201d she believes.<\/p>\n

Ford\u2019s holistic approach<\/b><\/p>\n

Ford Motor Company global travel manager Stephen Swift took
\nhold of immigration and tax compliance issues in the wake of Brexit and has
\nsince integrated mobility compliance into the company\u2019s travel approval
\nprocess.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big challenge is the additional time and bureaucracy
\nthat it takes to be compliant in a world where borders are increasingly more
\ndifficult to cross,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially with the recent change in the US administration,
\nthere’s an awful amount of work happening to make sure that anyone who has a
\nvisa has the right visa, and that it’s up to date.\u201d<\/p>\n

For
\nFord\u2019s UK-based employees, Swift said this new era of post-Brexit-induced
\nbureaucracy has added \u201cfriction points\u201d for business travel across Europe, noting travellers now face interviews and
\ndocumentation checks at borders they once crossed with ease.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a much more intrusive process \u2013 nothing like business
\ntravellers have been used to before \u2013 and it requires a lot more information\u2026
\nthis puts a big drag on how the company is able to operate,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

We’re not making many friends because we’re seen as increasing bureaucracy and costs but we’re keeping the company compliant and our employees safe<\/p>\n

To remove as much \u201cnoise\u201d from this process as possible,
\nSwift worked with ECA\u2019s Comply platform to build a new global pre-trip approval
\nsystem that contains immigration and tax compliance checks as well as a trip
\ncost estimator based on Ford\u2019s own expense data. Where necessary, additional
\nsupport for travellers is triggered via API links to the company\u2019s relocation
\npartners and tax providers.<\/p>\n

Swift also prioritised risk management in
\ndeveloping the tool, which he said addresses three types of risks: individual
\ntraveller safety, corporate legal exposure and reputational damage \u2013 \u201cwe
\ndon\u2019t want Ford on the front page of any newspaper because we\u2019re not playing by
\nthe rules,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

With 42,000
\ntraveller profiles and an average of 2,000 trips per week, Swift says the tool
\nhas delivered efficiency gains for both travellers and travel approvers. <\/p>\n

But compliance comes at a cost. \u201cAt a
\ntime when every company is looking at reducing cost and bureaucracy, we’re not
\nmaking many friends [internally] because we’re seen as increasing bureaucracy
\nand increasing costs,\u201d he says. \u201cBut we’re doing the right thing by keeping the
\ncompany compliant and our employees safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commuting comes into the fold<\/b><\/p>\n

Despite the recent watering down<\/a> of the EU\u2019s Corporate Sustainability
\nReporting Directive (CSRD), some countries are enforcing stricter local rules around sustainable
\nmobility, which is also forcing companies to bring the \u2018other\u2019 mobility \u2013
\nground transport and commuting \u2013 together with travel more tightly under one
\nroof.<\/p>\n

The Netherlands\u2019 new \u2018reporting
\nobligation for work-related mobility of persons\u2019 (WPM)<\/a>, for example,
\nrequires corporates with more than 100 employees to submit mileage and expense
\ndata from both business travel and commuting. As part of the WPM regulation,
\ncorporates are also expected to encourage the use of public transport. <\/p>\n

Italy\u2019s PSCL
\n(Home-Work Travel Plan),<\/a> meanwhile, is a requirement for corporates with
\nmore than 100 employees to reduce commuter traffic and encourage sustainable transport
\nalternatives. PSCL implementation is the remit of a \u2018mobility manager\u2019, who in
\nmany cases, is also the travel manager, according to Ivano Gallino, president
\nof country\u2019s business travel association, AITMM.<\/p>\n

Italy has gone a step further. The country\u2019s standardisation
\nbody, UNI, in April published a standard pertaining to the skills, knowledge
\nand responsibilities required for \u201cmanaging the mobility of people\u201d. The UNI
\n11977:2025 standard<\/a> defines competencies for four roles: travel
\nmanager, mobility manager, fleet manager, and the overarching chief
\nfleet mobility travel officer \u2013 or chief FMT officer \u2013 which combines all three
\nfunctions.<\/p>\n

According to Gallino, the standard marks \u201ca crucial step\u201d towards the
\nrecognition and certification of key roles in corporate travel
\nand mobility management.<\/p>\n

Enereco\u2019s end-to-end model<\/b><\/p>\n

At Enereco, an Italian oil and gas engineering
\nfirm, Liliana Rojas embodies this convergence. As the company\u2019s travel and
\nmobility manager, she oversees everything from business travel and immigration
\ncompliance to fleet management and commuting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do it all,\u201d she says. \u201cIt
\ncan\u2019t be piecemeal because if disruption occurs it has a domino effect, and you
\nrisk losing pieces along the way.\u201d <\/p>\n

With 250 frequent business travellers, technical personnel
\nposted to high-risk destinations across Africa and Middle East and a company
\nfleet of 180 vehicles, Rojas said \u201cit\u2019s quite a commitment\u201d, but she wouldn\u2019t
\nhave it any other way.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the moment a travel request is made, I look after the
\nemployee \u2013 this includes booking travel, organising visas and educating the
\ntraveller about the destination and its socio-cultural norms,\u201d she explains. <\/p>\n

Before Rojas joined the company in 2011, she says \u201ceveryone
\nmanaged their own trip, and it was a huge mess\u201d.\u00a0 Today,
\nshe manages the entire process in-house and, given the size of the organisation,
\nsaid this approach works better than a self-booking tool.<\/p>\n

Her integrated role also
\nallows her to leverage spend for better rates as well as quicker response times from suppliers
\nwhen things go awry. She also
\nhas full oversight on traveller safety and wellbeing and developed a travel
\nrisk app with Enereco\u2019s IT team. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis sends a red
\nalert to let us know if our travellers are in trouble, especially when abroad or
\nin places that are not always very safe,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

Rojas reports directly to the company\u2019s
\npresident, which she said underscores the importance of her role because \u201cwe
\ndon\u2019t move things; we move people\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Geopolitical uncertainty, tighter travel budgets and increased regulatory compliance are reshaping business travel \u2013 and how it is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[2000,299,5187,5642,13135,30387],"class_list":{"0":"post-467976","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-european","11":"tag-management","12":"tag-rss2","13":"tag-travel-management"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115303597611711453","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}