Recent research in the Tourism Management Division scrutinised the use of technology to align the needs of corporate travel managers with the functions of travel management companies.

Prof Berendien Lubbe, Head of the Tourism Management Division and Dr Anneli Douglas, a staff member in the Division joined forces with Mr Jarmo Ritalahti from the Haaga Helia University of Applied Sciences in Finland to investigate the relevance of travel management companies in this day and age.

In-depth interviews were conducted with corporate travel managers in South Africa, and it was found that travel management companies could remain relevant by using technology to align the needs of corporate travel managers with the functions that they provide. Findings further showed that mobile technology is becoming increasingly important in the management of the corporate travel process.

These findings were presented by Dr Douglas at the 22th annual ENTER conference, held in Lugano, Switzerland in February 2015. The conference was organised by the International Federation for Information Technologies in Travel and Tourism (IFITT). IFITT is the leading independent global community for the discussion, exchange and development of knowledge about the use and impact of new information and communication technologies (ICT) in the travel and tourism industry.