GUEST BLOG: Managing travellers concerns

ABTA launched its FCO online training in conjunction with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) March 2018. This was in response to Members’ requests for support and guidance about how and when to raise the matter of FCO travel advice, and how to respond to difficult questions customers sometimes may have about their destination.

The training explains how to highlight FCO travel advice and answer difficult questions about destination safety using real-life examples from shop agents and call centre staff. An animation shows scenarios in which customers are enquiring about holidays to Turkey and Egypt and advises what to say. In the examples, the agent tells the customer to check the FCO advice to decide if they are comfortable travelling there.

The scenarios are focused on customers booking leisure holidays but they remain very relevant when travellers book their next trip. See comments from Emma Goodwin, a Senior Business Travel Consultant at BCD Travel:

"This short and easy course has shown me where to find FCO travel advice and how to deal with challenges when advising customers which will be a big help in my role.”

The FCO advice is part of the ABTA Code of Conduct that ensures that customers have all the important information they need before travelling. TMCs, travel agents and tour operators and their staff need to make customers aware of FCO travel advice in order to comply with the Code of Conduct. 

Since the FCO online training was launched 730 ABTA Members have completed the online training. ABTA Members can access the training on ABTA’s ‘Knowledge Zone’ at abta.com/abtaknowledgezone.

Corporate buyers, travellers look for an ABTA Member for your next trip

As booking business travel with an ABTA Member means you can have the confidence they are a reputable company that:

• Has passed ABTA’s financial fitness tests, including minimum capital requirements, balance sheet net asset strength and the provision of financial security.
• Adheres to ABTA’s Code of Conduct, so you can expect high service standards and reassurance where regulation does not exist.
• ABTA ensures Members keep up-to-speed with the latest advice, travel issues and regulatory requirements by providing access to a team of ABTA experts who are able to provide advice on key issues such as health and safety, crisis management and sustainability.

To check to see if your travel company is an ABTA Member click here

Or alternatively, come and visit the ABTA Team at stand B2304 at the Business Travel Show.

GDPR: what it means and why we need to be on our best behaviour

Even if you’re not yet au fait with the ins and outs of what GDPR is and how it will affect your business, I’m assuming you’ve heard of it – from the abundance of news and online articles to the increased activity in your IT and customer management teams.

GDPR is the General Data Protection Regulation and it’s a legal requirement from 25 May 2018, replacing the existing Data Protection Directive at European Union level and the UK Data Protection Act 1998. It applies to anyone handling data belonging to EU residents, which means it almost definitely will apply to your organisation.

Why is it being introduced? Partly because of globalisation and the increasing number of businesses operating multinationally, and partly because of the growing digital economy we all operate in. The introduction of GDPR means data protection laws will now assume a level of international consistency and they also class digital footprints - IP addresses, cookies, MAC addresses – as personal data for the first time.

Like all things, the digital revolution and the increased level of access to personal data has both pros and cons. For organisations, it means we can understand our customers better and provide communications that are better targeted and more relevant and valuable to our audiences. As a result, customers benefit from personalised content, tailored offerings, less spam and increased, more convenient, transaction speeds.

But the downside of so much personal data being stored online is that it can be at risk of misuse.

Following a number of high profile data breaches and global cyber attacks this year alone, it is clear that new levels of data protection and security are a requirement of today’s digitally connected world and why we in the business travel industry, as much as any other industry, need to be at the top of our game.

As an organisation that’s responsible for managing data on behalf of thousands of travellers, it’s crucial that we at CTM can reassure our travellers and our clients that this information is being collected, stored and used both responsibly and with each person’s consent. And that’s what GDPR will do: introduce an accountability-based framework for handling the way personal information is acquired, used and shared.

For businesses who fail to comply with GDPR, a breach of data use could result in fines of up to €20 million (about £18 million) or 4 per cent of annual turnover, whichever is greater.

25 May 2018 isn’t so far away - if you haven’t already started planning for GDPR, I would start now.

This post was written by Karen Janssen, Chief Information Officer at Corporate Travel Management (CTM), a top ten global TMC exhibiting at the Business Travel Show in February. To register for a free visitor pass and meet up with CTM (stand B620) to discuss GDPR and all of your other travel management needs.