Buyers Remain Optimistic About Careers, Salaries
CONTACT:
Nicole Hayes, , +1 703-239-1133, nhayes@nbta.org
Daphne Bryant, +1 703-739-3410, dbryant@nbtafoundation.org
Alexandria, VA (November 19, 2009) -- The NBTA Foundation, the education and research foundation of the National Business Travel Association (NBTA), today released results of the 2009 Travel Management Compensation and Benefits Survey. The report, based on the responses of 274 corporate travel and meetings managers working in the United States and Canada, shows the average base salary of respondents increased 2.1 percent this year, while the total compensation, including salaries and bonuses, declined 5.6 percent from last year to $91,954.
NBTA Foundation Chair Fay Beauchine commented, “As travel managers face more challenges than ever before in today’s dynamic business landscape, compensation in this weak economy seems to be stagnating. While base pay has slightly increased, additional compensation such as bonuses or commissions has declined, despite the fact that corporate travel managers are taking on more responsibility than ever. And still, more than half remain satisfied with their return.”
The average year-over-year salary adjustment among respondents also varied by job title:
Vice Presidents saw a salary increase of 8.7 percent to $121,900
Directors, a 6.8% decrease to $130,053
Managers, a .3% decrease to $89,359
Supervisors, a 4.3% increase to $62,792
Coordinators/Specialists, a 14.2% decrease to $51,348
Average compensation showed a clear correlation to sales volume of the employing company, with total compensation tending to increase with increasing company sales volumes. Respondents working for companies with annual sales of less than $100 million made 39 percent less on average than those working for companies with more than $5 billion in sales.
Additionally, travel managers with CCTE Certification and/or GLP Designation earned 8.9% and 10.2% more respectfully than their peers without either Certification.
Nearly 72 percent of survey respondents report that neither their position nor department has been affected by job cuts due to the recession, and some believe they are valued now more than ever in this cost cutting economy. However, nearly 22 percent report that their department has already been downsized in the last 10 months.
Beauchine added, “The business travel industry will look back on 2009 as one of its most turbulent years, and travel managers will take what they’ve learned in recent months and apply those lessons going forward to continue to save costs even as the economy begins to recover. We know that corporate travel is crucial in conducting business around the world, which is why despite recent hardships, travel managers are optimistic about their careers and satisfied with their levels of reward.”
The report is designed to allow individual travel managers to compare their compensation levels and benefits to those of their peers. The report provides detailed data on respondents’ gender, job titles, professional certifications, years of experience, and more.
NBTA members can access the complete report via the NBTA Foundation website. Members of the media can obtain the report by contacting pr@nbta.org.
The NBTA Foundation is the education and research foundation of the National Business Travel Association (NBTA). The foundation was established in 1997 to support NBTA’s members and the industry as a whole. As the leading education and research foundation in the business travel industry, the NBTA Foundation seeks to fund initiatives to advance the business travel profession. The foundation offers the leading master’s-level course and professional designation for the corporate travel professional, the Global Leadership Professional (GLP) program, in partnership with The Wharton School. The industry’s leading benchmarking resource – the Managed Travel Index® (MTI) & Benchmarking Tool – is provided by the foundation. The NBTA Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For more information, see www.nbtafoundation.org.