ReportWire

Tag: Voices

  • Talent Retention Is a Good Travel Program’s Secret Superpower

    Tripism CEO Adam Kerr

    The role of the travel manager has evolved considerably in
    recent years. Changes in the way we work—driven by hybrid and remote working—have
    brought new complexities to travel programs. Business travel is no longer
    simply about managing logistics and cost control. Instead, it is now a
    strategic function that impacts employee satisfaction, ESG goals, company
    culture, and even talent retention. As organizations recognise the significant
    value that well-structured travel programs can bring, travel managers are
    increasingly gaining a seat at the boardroom table.
     
    Today, business travel is seen as more than just a business necessity integral
    to profitability, but also a chance to connect employees and grow company
    culture at a time when many employees work remotely. But business travel is
    also often viewed as a benefit, particularly by younger generations entering
    the workforce.

    A well-designed travel program can serve as a powerful tool
    for retaining and attracting new talent, as well as fostering employee loyalty.
    Organizations are now looking beyond traditional travel management strategies
    to implement innovative programs that align with their corporate values,
    support employee wellbeing, and drive business growth.

    A survey conducted by TravelPerk found that 76 per cent of
    Gen Z employees say business travel influences their decision to stay with
    their employer. With remote work reducing in-person interactions, companies
    must find new ways to cultivate a sense of belonging and team cohesion.
    Business travel can play that crucial role in promoting collaboration,
    networking and professional development—key factors that younger employees
    value in their careers.

    Travel as a Tool for Employee Engagement

    In 2024, Millennials and Gen Z employees represented the
    largest segment of business travellers, and around half of each group expected
    to travel for work. Moreover, nearly half have extended their business trips
    for leisure purposes, according to Statista. The rise in ‘blended’ trips
    underscores the changing expectations of employees, who seek more flexibility
    and work-life balance in their professional lives. Not all companies are taking
    advantage of the opportunity to extend leisure travel opportunities to their
    employees, and those that aren’t could be missing out on a key talent retention
    trick.
     
    As employee expectations evolve, so too must corporate travel policies. The
    role of the travel manager is no longer confined to cost control and itinerary
    planning. Today’s travel managers develop programs that not only optimize
    return on investment but also enhance the employee experience, support
    sustainability initiatives, and align with company culture.

    A well-structured travel policy caters to the needs of a
    diverse workforce while maintaining flexibility by incorporating personalization,
    flexibility, sustainability, and community building. Personalization enables
    employees to tailor their travel experiences to suit their preferences and well-being
    needs, while flexibility allows for alternative arrangements such as remote
    work locations or extended stays. Sustainability is promoted by encouraging
    greener choices, such as opting for train travel over flights or participating
    in carbon offset programs. Finally, community building leverages business
    travel as an opportunity to strengthen connections among remote employees. By
    embracing these principles, travel managers can transform business travel from
    a routine obligation into a key driver of employee satisfaction and engagement.

    Positioning Travel Programs as a Business Asset

    The expansion of the travel manager role reflects a broader
    trend toward creating workplaces that prioritize sustainability, wellbeing and
    inclusivity. In a remote-first world, fostering community engagement and
    promoting a balanced lifestyle is more important than ever.

    Travel managers have an opportunity to showcase additional
    value by designing programs that directly contribute to talent attraction,
    employee loyalty, and overall workplace satisfaction, while also supporting
    broader company goals. A modernized corporate travel program can serve as a
    strategic asset by enhancing the employee experience through personalized
    preferences, added-value perks, and leisure travel incentives; promoting
    sustainability with policies that encourage eco-friendly travel options and
    responsible tourism; and supporting diversity and inclusion by ensuring travel
    policies accommodate employees with varying needs, including those with
    disabilities or caregiving responsibilities.

    Corporate travel programs are no longer just about getting
    employees from point A to point B. They are a reflection of a company’s values
    and a crucial component of a thriving organizational culture. As the role of
    the travel manager continues to expand, those who embrace this evolution will
    help their companies retain talent and stay competitive in a rapidly changing
    business landscape.

    Adam Kerr, CEO Tripism

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  • Omni Courts Corporates as it Pushes Toward Luxury

    Omni’s Jeff Doane talks…

    • Moving upmarket and catering to corporate
      travelers
    • Omni’s SME Select Business program
    • Rate outlook for 2026

    Dallas-based hotel company Omni Hotels & Resorts, which has 50 properties open in the
    U.S. and Canada, is investing heavily in its product and service as it looks to
    ascend the hotel service-tier and capture more of the corporate market. Omni
    chief commercial officer Jeff Doane, who
    joined the company last year    , spoke with BTN managing editor Chris Davis
    last month at the Global Business Travel Association convention in Denver about
    the company’s luxury ambitions, its push for small-to-midsize businesses and the
    effects of macroeconomic uncertainty. Edited excerpts follow.

    BTN: You’ve been
    at Omni about a year and a half now. How has the experience been?

    Jeff Doane: I
    love it. My background includes serving as chief commercial officer at Accor
    after it acquired Fairmont in 2016. I had worked for Fairmont for a number of
    years, and probably the best experience was helping move Fairmont from a
    four-star, upper-upscale brand into the luxury space, creating
    more of an experiential type of brand. Omni is trying to kind of do the same
    thing, and that really appealed to me. The culture here is strong, and everybody’s
    going in the same direction and is focused on the same things.

    BTN: How does
    that upmarket strategy translate to the business travel segment?

    Doane: You want
    to tailor your product around the needs of your customer. There’s a service
    experience that’s expected when you’re in that four- to five-star space. Then moving
    from one that provides just that to a brand that’s creating more unique and
    rewarding and personal experiences for travelers to me is the difference
    between four and four-and-a-half stars. Then it escalates right to Ritz-Carlton
    and Four Seasons where they have such attention on the guests. We want to be
    right in the heart of that luxury space.

    From a product standpoint, we’ve invested $2.5 billion in
    our hotels over the past three to five years, and we’re poised to do the same
    in the next three to five. We know that business traveler wants great Wi-Fi,
    great breakfast, great gym, great sleep experience. Those are the things that
    we’re really focused on in terms of specifically for the business traveler. And
    that experiential side is, why are you in town and do you want a foam pillow or
    a feather pillow? Do you want to be on a low floor or a high floor? What are
    the things that specifically turn the needle for you?

    BTN: Does that
    change the corporate customers you’re targeting, either on a corporate or
    individual level?

    Doane: Within
    every company there’s levels of travel. You may be at the midscale end of the
    market, and you may be working with Amazon, but Ritz-Carlton is working with
    Amazon too. So your customer ends up being the same, where you fall in that
    spectrum determines who ends up staying in those hotels. Certain customers will
    be like, ‘We just started working with you. This is fantastic. We love your
    product.’ So it’s new to him. I think there’s a lot of that kind of opportunity
    for us, but I think there’s also a lot of companies that we’re working with
    where maybe a different traveler within their organization stays with us. 

    BTN: Along those
    lines, all of the big hotel companies in the U.S. are multi-brand up and down
    the line, including luxury. How do you carve a niche for yourself?

    Doane: We’ve
    always said we’re not replacing Marriott or Hilton or Hyatt. They have so many
    dots on the map and cater to every traveler. It would be naive for us to think
    that was possible. But we are a complementary brand for people who want higher-touch
    service, and we think that we can win people over once they experience this.

    BTN: The
    macroeconomic picture has been volatile this year. What are you hearing from corporate
    clients? Are they cutting back?

    Doane: They’re
    just plugging along. A lot of our customers say they’ve had a pretty good first
    half of the year and a lot say the second half is going to be like the first
    half.

    [On tariffs,] we have to come with some conclusion on this
    or something’s got to give. [In a session on GBTA’s Business Travel Index] the
    speaker said if the tariffs end up at 20 percent, there will be an impact. I
    don’t know that there’s not another way to look at it. So you’re hoping that
    cooler heads prevail and it ends up in 3 percent to 5 percent range. The longer
    the uncertainty lasts, the more it’s in people’s heads.

    BTN: Are requests
    for proposals or how buyers communicate changing?

    Doane: We’re
    seeing more customers saying, you know what, we work with the big brands and we
    have that kind of relationship with them, but we’re looking to try to figure
    out how we complement that. How do we create a more diversified set of options
    for our traveler? This year, year to date, business travel revenue has grown
    for us by 17 percent and volume has grown 10 percent

    I think it’s the customer saying, ‘I don’t like to be so
    boxed in.’ And we’re a little bit more of a one-on-one relationship with the
    customer and that’s real important too because they like to know who to call.

    BTN: You launched
    the Omni
    Select Business program     in April. What’s the early verdict?

    Doane: A year ago
    I came to this show thinking we could be better at business travel. We
    learned that a number of the big brands have those kinds of programs just for
    small to medium-sized companies. Well, Omni is a small to medium-sized hotel
    company, so I think we’re a natural for that.

    We’re real happy with how it’s progressing. We thought 50 to
    75 accounts would be a good start, and we’re already at 200. 

    BTN: Does its
    success give you any ideas in terms of enhancing it?

    Doane: We came
    out with a 9 percent discount off of our normal rates, and we realized that
    probably wasn’t rewarding enough. So just recently we changed it to 12 percent.

    BTN: Are you
    integrating AI into your RFP process or operations?

    Doane: Not in
    RFPs yet, but we’ve moved our reservation system to the cloud. There’s a
    certain amount of AI involved in that in terms of knowing your guests and
    understanding them. We are working with a company called BlueConic to better
    understand our guests. If we know what a traveler wants from us, we can take
    better care of them and develop those personalized offers.

    BTN: How are you
    approaching 2026 rate strategies?

    Doane: The latest
    projection I saw from CBRE was like 1.8 percent to 2 percent growth for next
    year. [Note: CBRE
    in May projected     full-year 2025 U.S. average daily rate to increase 1.2
    percent year over year and revenue per available room to increase 1.3 percent.]
    I’m not sure we’re back to stabilized occupancy altogether in the United
    States. I don’t know that there’s enough pressure for hotel companies to really
    try to drive rate. You’ll try and move it to accommodate cost increases. We’re at
    that stage of trying to get our foot in the door with a lot of companies and
    try and expose our product to them and their travelers. And that’s not the time
    where you’re pushing for double-digit increases, you know?

    BTN: What’s ahead
    on the development front?

    Doane: We have a
    beautiful brand-new hotel opening in Fort Lauderdale in October, right at the
    marina and convention center. We are working on a project in Raleigh, N.C.,
    again right at the convention center. Same thing down in New Orleans. And then
    there’s a bunch of other projects that we’re talking to people about.

    businesstravelnews@ntmllc.com (Business Travel News)

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  • WTF Fun Fact 13697 – Hating the Sound of Your Own Voice

    WTF Fun Fact 13697 – Hating the Sound of Your Own Voice

    Do you cringe at the sound of your own voice? Many people experience a jolt of surprise and often discomfort upon hearing their own voice played back to them.

    This widespread phenomenon is rooted in the differences between how we perceive our voices internally versus externally. The crux of this experience lies in the lower pitch of recorded voices, a disparity that can unsettle the speaker.

    Internal vs. External Sound Perception

    When we speak, we hear our voices in two ways: through air conduction and bone conduction. Air conduction transmits sound waves through the air and into our ears, the same way we hear other sounds around us. Bone conduction, however, involves the transmission of sound vibrations through the bones of the skull and jaw directly to our inner ears. This method adds depth and richness, making our own voices sound fuller and usually lower in pitch to ourselves.

    The Recording Revelation

    Upon hearing a recording of our voice, we encounter the sound purely through air conduction, devoid of the bone conduction component. This version lacks the depth and resonance we’re accustomed to, often sounding higher in pitch and foreign to our ears. The absence of the vibrations we expect to feel and hear creates a cognitive dissonance. This, in turn, leads to the common dislike or discomfort towards the sound of one’s recorded voice.

    This discrepancy can have psychological effects, from mild embarrassment to more profound impacts on self-perception and confidence. The surprise and discomfort stem from confronting an externalized version of ourselves that doesn’t match our internal perception.

    This can challenge our self-image and the identity we project through our voices, integral to personal and social interactions.

    Overcoming Discomfort With Your Own Voice

    Understanding the science behind why our recorded voice sounds different can mitigate the discomfort. Professionals who rely on their voices—singers, actors, and public speakers—often undergo training to become accustomed to the sound of their recorded voice. This helps minimize the cognitive dissonance.

    Regular exposure and technical knowledge about sound perception can ease the initial shock. This also helps lead to a more objective assessment of one’s vocal qualities.

    In summary, the common aversion to the sound of one’s recorded voice is a fascinating intersection of physics, physiology, and psychology. It underscores the complex ways in which we perceive, process, and react to auditory feedback about ourselves.

    Recognizing the natural basis for the difference between internal and recorded voice can foster acceptance and understanding, demystifying why the voice in our head doesn’t match the one on the recording.

    — WTF fun facts

    Source: “A Link Between Hearing Voices and Hearing Your Own Voice” — New York Times

    WTF

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  • Austin Pets Alive! | Honoring Black History Month

    Austin Pets Alive! | Honoring Black History Month


    February is Black History Month and we’re celebrating by amplifying Black voices, celebrating Black pioneers in animal welfare, and exploring the ways our community is honoring this month. And we want our APA! community to join in with us on learning something new and honoring the deep and rich Black history so that we may continue to move toward a more equitable future.



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  • Virgin Atlantic’s New Gender-Affirming Uniform Policy Could Change The Game

    Virgin Atlantic’s New Gender-Affirming Uniform Policy Could Change The Game

    Traveling can be complicated for anyone who doesn’t fall into society’s rigid norms. LGBTQ+ and trans people face discrimination right from the security gate, and don’t even get me started on what disabled folx go through to catch a flight. It appears that Virgin Atlantic is one of the airlines trying to address these issues.

    Last week, Virgin announced that it was changing its uniform and name badge policies for employees. Now other airlines are considering making their own changes. Call me an optimist, but I think these seemingly small shifts could revolutionize the way we get to experience travel.

    Back in April, Virgin gave us a sneak peek into how it was evolving when it released a commercial featuring disabled travelers, gender-nonconforming passengers, and, well, folx who just presented as gay. Many applauded Virgin for its inclusion then, and now the airline has taken it a step further with a new gender-flexible uniform policy unveiled in an announcement featuring RuPaul’s Drag Race star Michelle Visage.

    The airline’s new policy will permit employees to choose the uniform — designed by Vivienne Westwood, no less — that they feel best represents their gender. The company will also offer non-obligatory pronoun badges to airline staff and passengers, let employees show their tattoos, and make makeup optional for all genders. This is a massive upgrade to the archaic and discriminatory uniform policies of many airlines.

    “People feel empowered when they are wearing what best represents them, and this gender identity policy allows people to embrace who they are and bring their full selves to work,” Visage said in a statement about the uniform change.

    But it’s not just Virgin employees who will benefit. The employees of other, less progressive airlines who are hoping for change will see these chic getups, too. Hell, if the media explosion surrounding the uniforms continues, everyone who reads the news is going to see this red-hot Westwood situation. This level of representation really matters, particularly when schools and companies around the globe are grappling with how to create more gender-affirming dress code policies.

    A simple they/them pin may seem like no big deal to the cis-het crowd, but as a trans nonbinary person who regularly faces a sea of “ma’am” when I travel, I’m here to tell you that it’s huge. It is every kind of exhausting to deal with pronoun-challenged people when I’m just trying to make my gate. And the idea of seeing more people like me at the airport — people who aren’t trying to prove their bizarre allegiance to the gender binary — actually makes me want to go to the airport. Let’s be honest, who wants to go to an airport?

    Virgin’s announcement has not come without controversy. Of course, there are haters calling for boycotts of the company — that’s to be expected. But some former Virgin Atlantic employees aren’t thrilled, either. Jaianni Russo, a nonbinary person in Nottingham, U.K., alleged on Facebook that they were erased from the uniform campaign that they say was originally their idea. Neither Russo nor Virgin Atlantic have publicly commented, but honestly, it looks more like an unfortunate HR situation than a corporate conspiracy to dehumanize Russo to me.

    I, for one, am ready to be optimistic about the potential these kinds of changes have for the future. “I’m proud to be involved in this new announcement from Virgin Atlantic,” Visage wrote on Instagram. “Let’s change the world — one pressed, fabulous uniform at a time! The world is our runway!”

    Well, at least the airport is.

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