The Biz at BTN Podcast · Business Travel News

2024 What to Watch 02 - Paul Tilstone - 'Social Capital' Key to Business Travel's Value

·22 min

Paul Tillstone and Michael Baker explore social capital in corporate travel, grounding the discussion in Pierre Bourdieu's 1983 framework of economic, cultural, social, and symbolic capital. Social capital is defined as the trust and goodwill built through effort that enables power and resource mobilization. The episode discusses how companies can measure social capital through CRM data tied to face-to-face meeting frequency, justifying travel budgets as investments rather than costs. Topics include sales ROI tied to relationship strength, how remote work shifts social capital building, AI tools like Crystal Nose for virtual relationship optimization, sustainability pressures on travel, and the role of travel managers as strategic connectors within organizations.

As heard by us

Social capital becomes a practical lens for business travel value.

BTN's second What to Watch conversation uses social capital as a useful frame for business travel, and it roots that idea in Pierre Bourdieu's 1983 work on capital.

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Why you'd press play

If you need a sharper case for travel, this starts with social capital.

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