Ensuring full content access has climbed to the top of the list of priorities for travel buyers in 2026, according to a survey by the Institute of Travel Management (ITM).
Full content access was joint first in the poll (up from third place last year), alongside online booking tool (OBT) optimisation, while budget control fell from being the top priority in 2025 to fifth place this year.
Also included in the top five priorities for 2026 were duty of care/risk in third place, while demonstrating the value of the travel programme ranked fourth. Sustainable practice dropped from fifth position in 2025 to ninth place this year.
UK-based ITM released the details of the annual survey of buyers at its Trending event in central London on Thursday (12 February), with 72 per cent of respondents having a global remit.
The poll found that technology was the biggest challenge or issue for buyers this year (58 per cent), just ahead of content access/NDC (55 per cent) and senior management influence/buy-in (50 per cent).
One of the significant changes from last year is a fall in the importance of sustainability as an issue, with influencing sustainable practice being cited as a challenge by only 28 per cent of buyers in 2026, compared with 48 per cent of respondents a year ago.
Most travel buyers said that budgets for 2026 had either increased compared with 2025 (25 per cent) or stayed the same (53 per cent), with only 22 per cent seeing a decline in travel budget this year.
For buyers going out to tender in 2026, they are most likely to go through a full RFP (request for proposal) process for accommodation suppliers (46 per cent) and TMCs (32 per cent). In comparison, only 9 per cent of buyers expect a full RFP for their air programmes, with 50 per cent choosing targeted negotiations with airlines instead.
Buyers are launching RFPs for TMCs this year primarily because their current contracts are coming up for renewal (48 per cent), followed by a need to review technology/AI offerings (26 per cent), while 22 per cent are unhappy with their current level of TMC service.
When it comes to key performance indicators (KPIs) for TMCs, buyers are most focused on access and ability to service all content, as well as cost, online adoption and “creative” solutions to problems.
Buyers are divided over the impact of ongoing industry consolidation and strategic partnerships (such as the recent agreement between American Express Global Business Travel and Concur): 43 per cent of respondents believed this trend would not benefit them, while 32 per cent thought it would have a positive impact. Although, other buyers said it was “too early” to tell the likely impact.
Communication, responsiveness and speed of resolution were the main areas that suppliers could improve on, according to buyers, with transparency and honesty also ranked highly.
Conversely, travel buyers want to see less “unnecessary” sales activity and behaviour from suppliers, as well as a reduction in “time-wasting” meetings and “low value” interactions. Buyers were also not fans of hidden fees and “everything having a price tag”.
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