Last Friday we asked, “Where’s Savvy?” Well, it turns out he’s a baseball fan, shown below at Target Field in Minneapolis, home of the Minnesota Twins. Congratulations to Michael, who guessed correctly!

Have you been to Target Field? What about Minneapolis? What are some of your favorite attractions in Minneapolis? Or, while we’re on the baseball theme, where are some of your favorite baseball statiums in general? Please share in the comments section below. 

 Safe Travels!

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) held their annual conference last week in Denver, Colo., which was attended by approximately 6,000 travel industry professionals, including a number of CWT attendees. One attendee offered me the following recap of the conference.

There were numerous education sessions for attendees to choose from that proved of interest to the variety of travel managers and travel buyers in attendance. Some hot topics this year included expense management, financial modeling, direct connect, mobility, online booking tools, strategic meetings management, policy compliance, and safety and security.

Based on the topics covered during the conference, it seems that increasing attention is being given to travel policy: it will continue to be important for business travelers to pay close attention to their company’s travel policy and ensure that they are in compliance. The total cost of travel has increased as air and hotel rates have risen, and companies are looking to optimize their travel programs in an effort to realize cost savings and control spend. Safety and security continues to be a hot topic as well, and is something travelers should pay close attention to. Becoming familiar with your company’s safety and security policies will ensure that you are safe and prepared on the road, and compliance with the policies will help your company locate and assist you in case of emergency.

Finally, with a focus on mobility, travel managers are looking for traveler input as to what types of mobile applications would be of best use as they’re looking for ways to align the most useful applications with their company’s travel programs.

Numerous industry leaders presented at the conference, providing some good insight on the issues that are facing our industry today, which continue to evolve as economics in the United States also evolve. Many of the CWT attendees also presented education sessions during the conference, which included topics such as online booking in Asia Pacific, country-specific trends in Europe, air and hotel sourcing academies, and two sessions on strategic meetings management.

Outside of the education sessions, GBTA hosts a large trade show. Airlines, hotels, rental car companies and other vendors presented the latest products and services they’re making available for travelers and travel managers. At the CWT booth, travel buyers learned more about the services CWT provides to travelers and travel managers, and also heard about the company’s community partnership with Habitat for Humanity. CWT is supporting a Habitat for Humanity home build in Denver as part of a larger corporate responsibility effort focused on creating an impact across North America in the communities in which CWT employees live and work. Various Habitat volunteer projects are also being organized across the country as a part of CWT’s partnership with this great organization.

GBTA’s 2012 conference will take place in Boston. What do you think some of the popular topics will be next year?

Safe Travels!

Note from Savvy: Introducing blogger Claudia Viani – she is Director, Leisure & Local Business with CWT Canada, and a travel industry veteran with 35 years experience in both the retail travel and airline industry. Based in London, Ontario, Claudia has been a member of the CWT Canada Leisure Travel team for the past 12 years. Below, Claudia tells us a little bit about a trend she’s seeing in group travel.

The CWT Canada Leisure Travel team is constantly watching to see what new trends and different types of travel experiences are appealing to their clients. One particular travel concept that has proven to be quite popular (two sold out tours are heading off to Tuscany this fall), and showing strong interest for 2012, is “Ladies Only Organized Group Travel.”

As women’s travel groups are becoming increasingly popular, we seek to understand why the women of today are seeking travel opportunities with other women. A representative from one of our preferred Cruise Line companies referred to this market as the “Veronica’s” (after the Family, Senior, Singles, Groups.) For one thing, women may have a desire to link up with “sisters” who have common travel interests. Whether they want to get together and take a shopping trip to New York, a cultural adventure and Safari to South Africa, or a wine tour of the Napa Valley, there is an abundance of options available.

Today, many women (single or married) have the funds and independence to get together and travel as a group and are looking beyond a “sun” destination. These groups are usually all rather different and may consist of the following: a group of women from one family; a group of ladies who work in the same industry; a group of women with a common interest in gardening, photography, sports, cooking, art or history; or simply a group of women who just want to travel with other women to forge new friendships and share new experiences.

Regardless of one’s interest, this Travel Renaissance is fast becoming an essential and sought after type of travel for today’s women. We’d love to hear, what types of group travel are appealing to you? And by the way… “Veronica” is a lovely name.

Flat Savvy is on the move again. He’s been to Chicago, Denver, and the Bahamas, but this week we ask again, “Where’s Savvy?” Can you identify the location pictured in the photograph below? Please include your guess in the comments section, and we’ll reveal the location next week.

Safe Travels!

As a frequent traveler, I’m always looking for ways to use technology to insert some fun and ease into a process which is cumbersome, time consuming and stressful at best.  I find myself hunting for that cool new tool or app for my phone or tablet, and now I have a great resource to help me whittle down the 40,000 plus apps for travelers currently available on one of the leading app stores.

CWT Market is a regularly updated collection of apps, hand-picked by the travel experts here at Carlson Wagonlit Travel to help the busy traveler throughout their journey. It’s like having a reference librarian to do the filtering and offer me the best app content. Before my last trip to Minneapolis, I downloaded three apps in CWT Market that made my trip more enjoyable and less stressful.

I found an expert and versatile packing app. You can either use the sample packing lists or you can inventory your closet and toiletries and create your own custom lists. I created my own custom list, which I can continue to use as a template for future summer business trips, but it was also useful in packing to go back home to be sure I had my toothbrush, socks and all of my power cables.

The app that everybody on my team at work has become addicted to is for ordering taxis. This is such a great tool whether you are already at your destination or need a lift to the airport from home. You can either book a taxi online or it gives you the numbers for taxi services close to your GPS location. On my Minneapolis trip, I stayed downtown and was able to order a taxi to take me across the river to dinner, and again after dinner to take me back to the hotel. It was easy to use, and knowing that I could easily get a cab, I was able to do some culinary exploration in the evening after my business meetings.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I’m in a hurry and forget to even look where I parked my car at the airport. I found this clever app which saved the GPS location of my car. I was able to both tag a picture and a quick note about being on the second level of the green ramp. When I arrived, it was easy to know where to go and I didn’t have to wander up and down the aisles looking for my car.

Before your next trip, check out the helpful apps in CWT Market, available for iPhone, Android and Blackberry, and see how technology can make your next trip less stressful and maybe even fun. I’m interested in hearing which apps you use to simplify traveling. Tell me about them in the comments section below.