*GUEST BLOG* Turn your travel manager into a Superstar

Few companies today would question the importance of managing the health and safety of their travelling employees. While the primary responsibility must always sit at the top of an organisation, it is often less clear whose job it is to deliver the actual services needed. In many organisations it is either explicitly or implicitly assumed to be the travel department. For many travel managers this is an unwelcome chore – but it doesn’t have to be.

With a complete travel risk management solution in place, it can instead be an opportunity to enhance a travel programme and add some serious extra value in the process.

Here are four ways travel risk management can be used to improve the business travel experience and turn a travel manager into a superstar.

The Obvious
And when a large-scale incident occurs somewhere in the world, corporate management immediately needs to know if any employees are in or travelling to the affected area.  In my experience it is often travel managers who have – or are expected to have this information.

The better the tools, the better travel managers can support their organisation in a time of potential crisis.

But even outside of dramatic events, the safety and security information a good travel risk management solution can provide is often appreciated. This is particularly true when employees are being asked to travel to an unknown destination, or to a place that has recently been in the news because of negative events.

Visibility
The basis for sound travel risk management is knowing your exposure: where are our people located now, and where are they going? While many Travel Management Companies offer a basic form of travel tracking based on itineraries, only a professional and dedicated travel risk management solution will capture all travellers, regardless of how they booked their tickets. A professional travel risk management tool not only has the capability to capture all bookings, but also to extract data.

Does booking out of policy mainly occur in specific countries, on specific routes, or maybe within specific departments in the company? Complete and accurate data enables travel managers to analyse travel programme compliance and track whether it is improving over time.

Communication
Being able to communicate with travellers is key in managing travel risk. Employees need the right information at the right time, and not be overwhelmed with information causing them to eventually ignore it. Therefore, alerts and messages need to be targeted.

A modern travel risk management solution should allow messaging based on a combination of geographical location, function, department, etc. Done right, you now have a trusted and appreciated channel, which travel managers can use to also provide travellers with useful information that makes it easier for them to travel – and easier for them to do so within policy.

Smooth travel is safe travel
Sometimes the ambition to save money can lead to travel arrangements that are not only uncomfortable for travellers, but even unsafe. Flights arriving late at night or early in the morning, hotels in less desirable areas or with less than adequate safety and security arrangements.

Travel managers should sit down with security and/or health and safety counterparts – or with outside consultants specialising in travel safety and security – and make sure that the company’s travel policy aligns with safety and security policies. More often than not, the result will benefit business travellers – and they will love their travel manager for it.

This blog was posted by Jens Näsström, Business Development Director at Safeture www.safeture.com. Register for your free visitor pass at www.businesstravelshow.com and come and talk to us at stand B224. 

The Wellness Retreat is a new feature for 2020, that will help you tackle the physical and mental well-being challenges that you face in your role as a travel professional or travel manager through a series of workshops, seminars and product demonstrations. Find out more www.businesstravelshow.com/wellness-retreat

*GUEST BLOG* 3 ways to jump-start travel programme sustainability

Managing corporate travel to increase sustainability has rapidly morphed from a feel-good nicety to an absolute necessity.

Seven in 10 travel managers in Europe now think it’s important to give travellers sustainable choices, according to recent research from the Global Business Travel Association and SAP Concur.

At BCD Travel, we see green travel gaining momentum in 2020 and beyond. But our commitment to sustainability has been embedded in our business practices for more than a decade. We’re proud of our leadership role in the industry and the work we do every day to help companies of all sizes reduce the environmental impact of business travel. We encourage travel buyers to get started by applying proven programme management strategies to their sustainability goals. Here are three ways you can do just that—ordered by level of effort.

1. Factor sustainability into supplier selection.

This is the easiest to-do because you probably already consider sustainability when evaluating agency, air, hotel and car-hiring partners. But plan to expand: Three-quarters of travel managers say they’ll focus even more on sourcing with eco-minded suppliers over the next two years, according to the GBTA-SAP Concur research.

Your challenge is to look beyond table-stakes qualifications, like hotels that ask guests to reuse linens. To make real progress, you’ll need to seek out suppliers with innovative approaches to reducing environmental impact. A recent favourite of mine was Dutch airline KLM’s centennial anniversary “Fly Responsibly” campaign, which offered concrete ways to reduce the environmental impact of flights.

Ask your travel management company what they’re seeing in the marketplace that’s new and next when it comes to sustainability.

2. Guide travellers toward more sustainable choices.

Using Traveller Engagement^TM tactics to boost sustainability is simple because your business travellers want to reduce their impact. Over the past year, 58% of travel managers received traveller requests for more eco-friendly trip options, according to GBTA and SAP Concur.

Plus, you’ve got more ways than ever to reach your travellers right as they’re making trip decisions with environmental consequences. Use merchandising via your online booking tool to guide travellers toward lower-impact (and often lower-cost) options. Mobile apps like TripSource® allow you to remind travellers to make sustainable choices, like taking public transportation.

3. Leverage collaboration technology to reduce nonessential trips.

Video-enabled collaboration tools are getting better and more ubiquitous every day. In 2020, try incorporating them into your programme as non-travel offerings in ways that won’t hurt your bottom line.

Here’s the rationale. In-person pitching is 34 times more likely to seal the deal, as the Harvard Business Review reports. So, your salespeople will always need to go on business trips. But internal meetings are ripe for reduction that won’t harm revenue. A directed virtual collaboration strategy for internal meetings enabled one of our clients to significantly reduce environmental impact by avoiding over 900 trips. The company also saved US$5.5 million and boosted productivity by redirecting over 15,000 hours of employee travel time.

At BCD, we’re incorporating supplier sustainability, eco-oriented engagement strategies and virtual collaboration tools into our newly launched Sustainable Collaboration offering. It also provides solutions for more complex areas, such as measuring and reporting on sustainability and implementing a carbon-offsetting programme.

I’d love to talk more about Sustainable Collaboration and hear how you’re enabling conscious travel at the upcoming Business Travel Show, 26-27 February 2020, at the Olympia London. Register for a free visitor pass at www.businesstravelshow.com and please stop by Booth B320 for a chat. See you there!

This blog was posted by Tony McGetrick, BCD Travel’s director of sales for U.K. & Ireland.

WHAT IS IT WITH SERVICED APARTMENTS?

Talk about alternative accommodation, and everyone thinks you’re referring to Airbnb. While it’s true that the use of disruptive providers – like Airbnb – is rocketing in leisure travel, business travel buyers are yet to wholeheartedly embrace them. The serviced apartment industry, however, is flourishing and we have the stats to prove it.

For the last three years, the Business Travel Show has collaborated with ASAP (the Association of Serviced Apartment Providers) to poll buyers. This year, our survey shows that nearly a third of corporate travel buyers increased their use of serviced apartments in 2018.

This is a huge leap from the 20 per cent who turned to serviced apartments more often in 2017. In addition, it was the only accommodation category to see an increase in use over the last 12 months.

Thirty-five per cent of the 134 respondents said they had used the same amount of serviced apartments as they did in 2017 – up from 25 per cent in the previous year’s survey.

When asked why they chose to book serviced apartments, the number one reason given by buyers was “better value for money”, followed by convenience of the self-catering option, more space, flexibility to experience the location like a local resident and long-term suitability.

Kat Hendry, Business Travel Show account manager, below

Buyers are also allocating a higher proportion of their budget to serviced apartments; 77 per cent spent less than 10 per cent of their budget on the accommodation option – down from 90 per cent in 2016. Meanwhile, 17 per cent allocated 11-25 per cent, compared to just 7 per cent in 2016.

For the first time in the survey’s history, a small number of buyers said they allocated 51-100 per cent of their budget to serviced apartments, with 1 per cent claiming to spend their entire accommodation budget on this option.

The number of buyers who didn’t use serviced apartments dropped from 42 per cent in 2017 to 32 per cent in 2018, whereas the proportion not using sharing economy accommodation options such as Airbnb rose from 38 per cent to 45 per cent. Furthermore, the number that haven’t used five-star hotels also went up slightly from 28 per cent to 31 per cent.

These are pretty extraordinary statistics that prove the industry is making considerable headway in raising awareness of serviced apartments as valid and valuable alternative accommodation for business travellers. Not only are more buyers aware of serviced apartments as an option, they also appreciate the pros they offer to their travellers and are much more open to including them in their travel programmes.

They also reflect the ongoing pressure on buyers to cut cost and display improved ROI on travel spend as well as the desire from younger travellers to enjoy the flexibility provided by alternative accommodation providers.

We asked ASAP’s CEO James Foice what he thought of the results. He pointed out how the landscape is rapidly evolving for the serviced apartment sector and how ASAP is also seeing a significant increase in supply year on year. In 2018, he said, they found that more and more companies are booking two-bedroom or two-bathroom apartments, as colleagues will often share the apartment, making it a more cost-effective choice as well as giving employees working away from home some companionship. A two-bedroom option also provides privacy and collaboration space under one roof.

We host the ASAP Pavilion at Business Travel Show, so if it’s a sector you are yet to investigate, come and meet a few them in February.

This post was written by Business Travel Show account manager Kat Hendry -kat.hendry@centaurmedia.com @kathendrybts. The Business Travel Show is the leading event for corporate travel in Europe attracting over 9,000 professionals and 260 exhibitors. Taking place from 20-21 February 2019 at Olympia London, the show is celebrating its 25^th anniversary.

GUEST BLOG: Bags of money

As Ryanair and Virgin introduce new luggage policies, buyers must ensure these are communicated to travellers, as small changes can have a big impact on a trip, says Denise Harman, senior director of programme management, UK & Ireland, CWT

Last month Ryanair rolled out its new baggage policy that only guarantees cabin bags for priority passengers, and Virgin confirmed it will no longer allow ‘smart baggage’ anywhere on its aircraft, if batteries can’t be removed.

We’re only at the start of 2018, but already it’s obvious that travel managers will have to be faster than ever to adapt and communicate changes to airline policy than ever before. In 2017, travellers had to react to a cabin ban on laptops to and from certain destinations, and ensure their devices are charged enough to turn on and be tested.

Having a travel policy that can flex when suppliers change the rules is really important. For some companies, it could be more cost efficient to upgrade their policy to include priority boarding than to have people wait 20 minutes at baggage collection. With larger volumes of travellers a week, they could work with their TMC and suppliers to negotiate a better deal.

At the root of all this is obviously safety and efficiency – efficiency at turning round a plane for Ryanair, as lateness both hits their bottom line and annoys customers, and for Virgin, the safety of passengers with battery stability. But also communication here is key – it’s so important for travel managers to be able to relay these changes quickly to avoid any unexpected delays, cost – or at worst – missed flights.

As a weekly business traveller, I want to get off the aircraft and head straight through passport control not worrying about the baggage collection as I’ve got my wheelie with me. For my hops from Dublin to London, it makes sense to me. So, it’s a double-edged sword for frequent flyers – as more people travel with large cabin baggage to avoid the charges on checking in bags, it takes longer to load the plane and get on the runway, and that causes us and the airline a delay, which I also don’t want.

Time is money. And money is bags!

This post was written by CTW who will be exhibiting at Business Travel Show on 21-22 February 2018. Visit CWT at stand B230 and talk to our teams from across the business, who will be there to help you find more about how to effectively manage travel and expenses. You will even uncover new efficiencies through the perfect blend of data and a customised traveller experience.