GUEST BLOG: FCM shines a light on energy poverty

As one of the largest global travel management companies, FCM isn’t just striving to take the lead in developing innovative technology and give our clients the best possible service. Not only are we setting the agenda for industry topics like NDC and distribution of travel content. We are also aiming to set an example in terms of our approach to CSR. Giving back to the community is a core ingredient of our corporate culture. 

Our latest initiative is to partner with SolarBuddy, a charity dedicated to illuminating the future of those living in energy poverty.

Approximately 18% of the world’s population has no access to electricity which equates to 1.4 billion people living in the dark. This severely impacts education, health, the economy and the environment. SolarBuddy’s mission is to help break this cycle and improve the educational opportunities of six million children living in darkness by providing them with solar lights to study after dusk.  The gift of a SolarBuddy solar light helps children living in energy poverty to continue studying long after the sun goes down improving their education outcomes and overall health and wellbeing.

Over the last year, delegates and staff attending various FCM conferences and events have been building SolarBuddy lights as part of the conference programme.  Each kit comes with instructions and takes around 15-20 minutes to build using a basic screwdriver.

For example, staff at our global conference last year in Berlin built 2,000 SolarBuddy lights which were shipped to children in Papua New Guinea and South Africa. And at FCM’s recent Focus conference, delegates made 400 SolarBuddy lights which have been sent to children in Madagascar.

At this year’s Business Travel Show we aren’t just shining a light on travel buyers’ corporate travel programmes. We are also inviting visitors to FCM’s stand to do their bit towards shining a light on energy poverty. We have a special area on the stand where you can sit down and spend 15 minutes assembling a SolarBuddy light. Our goal is to build a total of 500 lights over the show’s two days which will be sent to children in Papua New Guinea.

We are also encouraging our clients to join SolarBuddy’s corporate programme, via cievents, our sister division that specialises in global event management. Cievents can arrange for a SolarBuddy light assembling session to be included within a corporate’s conference programme or teambuilding event. The SolarBuddy light kits are branded with the corporate’s company identity. The activity of building a light not only fosters more meaningful experiences for participants but also inspires them to spread the word about energy poverty.

Early stage evaluations indicate that children with a solar light are studying up to 78% longer. Solar lighting is a sustainable option that minimises the reliance on the burning of toxic kerosene, dangerous campfires, and expensive battery-powered torches, enabling  children to do homework after dark, as well as supporting small businesses and improving safety and security of local communities.

Please join us on stand B130 and help us to take whole communities around the world from darkness to light.

This blog was posted by Jo Greenfield, UK General Manager, FCM Travel Solutions (www.fcmtravel.co.uk). For more information on SolarBuddy visit www.solarbuddy.org

GUEST BLOG: SHOULD BUSINESS TRAVEL MANAGERS TAKE “PERMANXIETY” SERIOUSLY?

“Permanxiety” is the latest buzzword in the global travel sector. It describes the near-constant state of anxiety felt by travellers; about everything from terrorism to racial tension, Trumpism to technology, and culture wars to climate change. And, according to global travel intelligence platform Skift (who coined the term) there’s a burgeoning belief that it could soon become the world’s new shared social experience.

Traveller anxiety: the new normal?

According to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) more than half of business travellers feel that, nowadays, any destination could be high-risk, almost half are worried about terrorist attacks abroad, and over 20% classify North American and Western European countries as only “somewhat safe”.

Meanwhile, the Association of Corporate Travel Executives reports that a third of travel managers are seeing a rise in enquiries about business traveller safety.

Despite these worries, the global travel industry is booming: the GBTA anticipates a rise of more than 6% in corporate travel spend this year and the World Tourism Organisation predicts that, by 2030, five million people will be crossing international borders for leisure, business or other purposes - every single day.

In short, travellers are travelling more. But they are also worrying more about their travels.

Managing worries

Business travel risk management isn’t just about planning for emergencies, it’s also about reducing anxiety, or even 'permanxiety', for travellers. It’s about identifying and mitigating risks associated with every stage of a trip overseas, and helping travellers feel informed about, and supported during, real-time threats.

From pre-travel reports, training and intelligence gathering, to in-country travel tracking and real-time risk alerts, there’s no end of risk management products available to help prepare, inform and locate travellers overseas, and to reduce anxiety.

It’s all about providing access to these products in the most efficient way.  

Meeting expectations

In a recent GBTA survey, 44% of business travellers said they expected their employers to use tools like GPS to locate them in an emergency overseas. And at least two-thirds would expect their company to proactively contact them within two hours of an adverse event abroad.

There is an increasing hunger in the corporate travel sector for joined-up risk mitigation products that provide services like these, in the context of comprehensive risk management programmes; tailored to support travelling employees and meet duty of care obligations. All accessible in one place.

Employers should be able to harness integrated technology that enables them to anticipate employees’ medical and security threats abroad; to know exactly where employees are in relation to threats; and to counteract the dangers. They should be able to prepare staff for every eventuality, giving them access to one-source medical and security advice and emergency assistance, whenever they need it. And they should be able to reduce the anxieties and risks of not having these measures in place.

This post was written by Chris Knight, head of corporate assistance services at CEGA, a Charles Taylor Company and provider of global assistance, travel risk and claims management services.

CEGA and Solace Global Risk are exhibiting their one-source medical and security assistance service INtrinsic at the Business Travel Show on February 20^th and 21^st 2019, Stand B340.  Travel bookers, buyers and managers can register for a free pass here: https://www.businesstravelshow.com/register

www.cegagroup.com       www.solaceglobal.com