Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) released its sixth annual CWT Travel Management Priorities report, based on a survey of 970 travel managers throughout the world.

Not surprisingly, travel managers said their No. 1 priority over the next 12 months was to find ways to save money.

Other issues rating high in the report were “online adoption,” encouraging travelers to use online booking tools; and “end-to-end processes,” activities before during and after trips, including booking options, safety and security, and expense management.

In North America, 70 percent of travel managers said strategies to save money were a top priority and 53 percent said they were working to drive online adoption. Sixty-two percent said promoting the travel program was a top priority.

Seventy-three percent of Asia-Pacific travel managers said they were looking for ways in which to generate savings. That was following by optimizing end-to-end processes (63 percent), and improving online adoption (55 percent).

Sixty-six percent of travel managers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa said saving money was the top priority, followed by driving growth in online adoption (53 percent) and optimizing end-to-end processes (52 percent).

Eighty percent of Latin American travel managers said generating savings was the No. 1 goal for this year. That was followed by optimizing end-to-end processes (76 percent) and redesigning travel policy (59 percent).

 “Identifying savings is still the top priority for travel managers across the globe,” said David Moran, executive vice president, global marketing & enterprise strategy for CWT. “ However, the greater focus on traveler experience marks a fresh, positive chapter for the industry.”