Economic Crisis Creates Opportunity for UT Athletics Travel

By Christine DeVore

Economic crisis and a volatile travel industry are providing opportunities for growth and leadership for the University of Texas Men’s and Women’s Athletic Departments

“We have a great opportunity to develop a benchmark program that will show other universities how to improve their travel program and better utilize their resources to maximize their travel budgets. Sports travel is still in its infancy when it comes to managed travel, policies and methods. It is important to keep up with, even stay ahead of, the changing travel industry,” said Kevin Maguire, Manager of Travel for Intercollegiate Athletics.”

While the economy in Austin, Texas, has not been affected as severely as other areas of the country, UT Athletics has been planning and preparing for some impact.

According to Chris Plonsky, Director of Women’s Athletics and Sr. Associate Athletic Director, “business as usual is now unacceptable. We need to look at every penny and save where we can without negatively impacting the student experience and the level of competitiveness.”

A state school, all UT expenses are coming under increasing scrutiny. Operating costs are going up; budget lines are staying the same or decreasing.

While budget is a primary concern, the unique requirements of sports travel need to be taken into account as adjustments are made.

University athletic travel is not a flexible situation – teams need to travel the same number of trips each year, with the same number of people,” said Kevin Maguire.

With 20 sports, over 600 athletes, and a travel budget that is among the largest in the country, UT Athletics knew it was time to find a travel partner who could not only help them meet their budget demands, but assist in creating a first-rate managed travel program. This program would include savings and benefits, tracking of travel data, collective buying programs and a centralized travel department operating within the Men’s and Women’s Athletic Departments.

According to Ed Goble, Associate Athletic Director and CFO, UT Athletics chose Anthony Travel, Inc. because “their sports-specific experience is unique and valuable. We have known about John Anthony for several years…his reputation and that of Anthony Travel are great.”

John Anthony, founder, President and CEO of Anthony Travel, said “The kind of travel program being discussed by UT Athletics is something that we have been talking about and building for years. We have seen the benefits, the snowball effect, of this type of travel management. As more schools work with us, we increase our leverage for better savings and benefits, which then attracts more schools to partner with us.”

For the Longhorns, a managed travel program is the silver lining to the gray skies of the current economy. Embracing the chance to take their sports travel program to a higher level of efficiency, they hope others will follow their lead.”I see this time as the beginning of what I consider a long-term cultural change in the way travel is done,” said Kevin Maguire at the 2009 NCAA Convention.”“Maguire continued, “If you do not have a travel management program in place, or are not in the process of putting one together, you are not doing justice to your college or university, especially in this environment.”