Podcast: How Qualtrics optimizes its travel program

Actionable data insights are crucial for travel managers looking to improve their programs and the experience of their travelers.

For the twelfth episode of The Travel Is a Human Emotion Podcast, Spotnana VP of Marketing Justin Schuster spoke with Michelle Amos, Associate Director of Travel at Qualtrics and President of the Puget Sound chapter of GBTA, about the ways that Qualtrics is working to improve its travel program.

Amos discussed her data-oriented approach to program improvement, how Gen Z travelers are shifting business travel expectations, and the opportunity for smarter business trip decision-making.

Data-driven savings

Qualtrics launched its first-ever mandated travel program on Spotnana in January 2024, with Amos joining the company in June 2024. Under her leadership, the travel program is already achieving significant milestones. 

“Right now I’m on target to add about an additional $1 million in savings to our program through some of our negotiations and our partnership with Spotnana,“ said Amos. Key to achieving this savings is being able to analyze data at the level of specific markets, city pairs, and hotel properties. 

Capturing baseline data on traveler experiences is also a key priority for Amos in her first year leading the Qualtrics travel program. She asks, when it comes to the booking process, “Is it simple, is it streamlined, and can [travelers] book their perfect trip in 90 seconds or less?”

“The biggest shock for me here, specifically at Qualtrics, is that employees don’t want to use a personal credit card, which boggles my mind,” said Amos. “We’re implementing a corporate card program here for those employees, but then there’s going to be some change management for those of us that love those points.”

Gen Z travelers

Shortly after joining, Amos quickly recognized the need at Qualtrics to support the changing expectations of a younger generation of travelers. 

“Gen Z travelers don’t necessarily care about point accumulation with specific airlines or hotels,” said Amos, “they care about those Instagrammable moments and unique experiences that they can have, like having free bikes at a hotel, so they can toodle around and see the city.”

Amos has taken steps to ensure that Qualtrics’ program allows for bleisure travel, with employees blending business trips with leisure. She has also been able to work with a few modern, less well-known up-and-coming hotels near Qualtics’ offices to negotiate discount rates for both corporate and leisure travel. 

Business trip value

Amos is an advocate for Scott Gillespie’s work on justified business trips, and she sees further opportunity to drive savings at Qualtrics by examining the return on investment of particular types of travel. 

By distributing data analysis on the value of specific trip types to company people leaders, she is working to spur conversations on smarter business travel decisions within budgets.

“Can you encourage your reps, coach them, and develop them to have more strategic meetings on site that are driving revenue?” asked Amos.

Looking ahead, Amos believes that AI-driven shopping experiences and AI-enhanced data analysis is going to have a major impact on the wider travel industry. She also discussed one airline which recently told the Puget Sound GBTA that it is using AI to determine optimal flight paths for its planes.

“As soon as [airlines] start that process of planning to reduce [flight time], you best believe my vendor partners and I are going to have conversations around sending those savings down the ladder.”