GUEST BLOG: Drive supplier negotiations by understanding your total cost of trip

Travel managers rely on accurate, timely and complete travel data to achieve their business goals of controlling travel spend, negotiating with suppliers, and managing programme leakage. In fact, without accurate travel data, it is very difficult for travel managers to make informed decisions when driving supplier negotiations.

However, a study* by the GBTA revealed that businesses struggled to reconcile data from multiple data sources, with staff spending an astonishing 442,000 hours per year manually reconciling and cleaning travel data. With only 37% of travel managers believing their data is completely accurate, this presents a major industry challenge.

Other findings from the study reveal that:

o          Staff spend $22.7m per year manually reconciling and cleaning travel data

o          73% say that they have challenges reconciling differences in reports due to data formatting

o          82% of travel managers agree that they have to manage multiple data sources

o          64% do not trust that they have complete data to calculate the total cost of a trip

We know that travel managers typically rely on at least three data sources to forecast spend and make bookings: the travel management company, the corporate credit card and the expenses management system. However, as the majority of this data is held by external providers, the total cost of individual trips cannot be accurately calculated with data management systems using standard ‘deterministic’ rules because they often fail to mirror real-life travel behaviour. 

For example, an employee books a trip from London to Paris for one week. He/she returns from the trip and claims for food and travel-related expenses before or after the trip officially started (this could be a cab ride to the airport, breakfast before the flight, etc.). A data management systems that works on a deterministic set of rules and principles may exclude these items from the total cost of trip because it’s not always possible to identify all the relevant costs, thereby reporting an inaccurate total cost of trip. 

A travel manager, on the other hand, will know that these costs relate to the trip and attribute them accordingly. But what happens when there are thousands of travellers and thousands of trips?

The answer lies in data consolidation and machine learning automation. By combining data and machine technology, Travel managers can access a central repository of consolidated and de-duplicated travel data to quickly and accurately calculate total cost of individual trip. Armed with this information, they are in a much more powerful position to negotiate favourable terms with suppliers.

This post was written by Keesup Choe, CEO at Pi. Pi will be exhibiting at the Business Travel Show on 24-25 February 2016 - buyers can register for free entry to meet 250 suppliers, choose from 60 conference sessions and network with 7,500 professionals at www.businesstravelshow.com.

GUEST BLOG: BUSINESS CONTINUITY TRANSPORT: TWO CRUCIAL QUESTIONS

Every year 1 in 5 businesses face a major disruption to their services, for around 10% the disruption will be fatal to them*. A robust business continuity plan is therefore essential to today’s organisations.

If you are responsible for your business’ continuity travel arrangements you may want to ask the following questions:

1) Have provisions been made within the company’s business continuity plan for transport for both the immediate evacuation of staff and for on-going transport to and from alternative workplace recovery accommodation if necessary?

2) Has the transport provision been fully tested during invocation?

This last point is crucial. The plan may include a proposed supplier for transport but it is important to know that they can be readily contacted and can react when required i.e. regardless of time of day and other commitments.

If in doubt check it out, nothing should be assumed. Inadequate continuity planning could kill your business.

On a side note, if you are planning a conference or event it would be prudent to check your transport providers ability to cope with unforeseen circumstances, breakdowns, driver illness etc., to avoid unnecessary stress for delegates – and for you.

CMAC offers a fully managed, single source solution to businesses requiring coaches, minibuses, taxis and chauffeured cars, and marshaling staff. CMAC uses industry expertise and reputation to obtain the best prices for clients from its network of over 3000 vetted and approved operators. All requirements are managed and supported through our fully manned 24hour control centre. The CMAC umbrella includes companies serving private and business travel (www.coachhirebooking.co.uk/), business continuity transport (www.businesscontinuitytransport.com/), and delay divert solutions for the airline industry (www.flightdelayservices.co.uk and www.delaydivertsolutions.co.uk/)

 *Source: http://www.staffordbc.gov.uk/

Coach Hire Booking is exhibiting at the Business Travel Show this month - register now for a free visitor pass and the change to meet 250+ suppliers and networking with 7500 industry professionals. www.businesstravelshow.com 

GUEST BLOG: THE CHANGING FACE OF BUSINESS TRAVEL

Last year, the Business Travel Show demonstrated that more money was being freed up in the business travel market in 2015, with a third (33%) of European business travel buyers admitting to having more money to spend. Shortly after that, figures from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) confirmed that spending on business travel in Germany, Britain, France, Spain and Italy is set to grow from $186.3 billion in 2014 to an expected figure of $210.6 billion in 2016.

Stephen Simpson

Clearly the face of business travel is rapidly changing and as the number of business travellers across the globe grows so too do their expectations. Which is precisely why we, at Priority Pass, recently undertook research amongst the world’s most frequent business travellers to understand some of these changes:

The rise of the travelling young professional – A new group of frequent flyers and business travellers has surfaced among 26-35 year olds, who are demonstrating distinctive travel and spending habits. This group are very well-travelled, making an average of 24 round trips per year and nine business class flights. They are keen to show they are ‘making it’, take an average of seven gadgets while they fly and spend money on additional business travel benefits that offer convenience and comfort, more so than the older business travel demographics surveyed.

The growing importance of lounges and luxury – Did you know that when given the choice, 73% of business travellers choose to enhance their trips with added benefits like airport lounge access and travel concierge services rather than staying in 4* or 5* hotels? And that airport lounge access is today considered an essential or nice to have for 69% of the UK’s frequent business travellers? Luxury travel perks are being increasingly called upon by today’s business travellers. Interestingly, following feedback from focus groups of our members, Asian business travellers in particular also value the prestige and status that luxury travel benefits - like lounge access - bring to their trip.

Growing need for digital experience – Today’s business travellers expect everything, to be available digitally 24/7. To meet this demand we are seeing a rise in new services such as digital airline tickets, airport apps and digital membership cards for airport lounge access. With an enthusiasm for technology, business travellers value apps, smartphones and digital experiences expecting unique offers, regularly updated digital content and a seamless handover between all channels. 61% of those we surveyed cite gadgets as their biggest indulgence, while 90% spend more than 5 hours a week on their smartphone.

This blog post was written by Stephen Simpson, Global Marketing Director, Priority Pass

The Priority Pass team will be at the Business Travel Show and look forward to discussing business travel trends and how you can support your business travelers at stand B422.

GUEST BLOG: THE AGE OF DIY BUSINESS TRAVEL

A sobering trend in business travel is forcing companies to re-evaluate their processes and systems for controlling costs.

A recent study by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), reveals that across the board employees are choosing to ‘do it themselves’ and go out-of-policy when it comes to reserving hotels, flights and land travel (train/car), as opposed to using their in company management service.

The study surveyed over 2,000 business travellers, from six countries around the globe including: The U.S., U.K., Canada, France, Germany, and Australia. Its findings clearly point to the fact that 'out-of-policy decision making is common among business travellers' with percentages varying depending on the country:

• France: 65%
• United States: 59%
• U.K: 52%
• Canada: 52%
• Germany: 49%
• Australia: 47%

So why are people choosing to ‘go it alone’?

“I booked out of policy because it was so much easier,” says Mallika Chaudhuri, former design manager at Hey Trends, a Turkish based fashion company. “It used to take ages and hundreds of emails to use the in-house system and I also felt that things got lost in translation. So I booked flights and hotels for me and the team on my own.”

In the on-demand age of globalisation, consumer online tools are winning out over preferred travel vendors, because for many, like Chaudhuri, it’s simply more efficient.

The backlash is that companies are losing out.

As more young, less experienced, tech savvy travellers working for smaller companies veer further away from the ‘dinosaur age’ of using in-house systems, companies are increasingly losing money and failing to ensure compliance.

The study shows that those who book out of policy often end up taking longer trips, staying at more expensive hotels and booking higher class air and train tickets. Out-of-policy travel choices are costing companies thousands.

France, for example, has an increased annual travel cost per out- of-policy traveler, of over 15,000 Euros with the U.K, spending an added 1,400 pounds (1,900 Euros) per person per year and Australia, at the bottom of the ladder, still spending 2,600 AUS (1,700 Euros).

Not only does going out-of-policy affect a company’s financial bottom line, it also plays a role in employees’ productivity. Those who ‘did it themselves’ using OTAs (online travel agencies), spent more time – usually company time – comparing costs and booking flights than those who went through the in-house system.

“I've gone out of policy on occasions where desired flight times weren't available or I could source a better rate myself,” says a senior manager at a leading software company based in the U.S. “I would also use it when I wanted to stay at a hotel that wasn’t part of the available inventory.”

According to the study, hotel accommodation tops the list for out-of-policy travel, followed by air/train tickets. When staying at a hotel, there are various ways business travellers go out-of-policy including:

• Ordering room service 24%
• Staying at a non-preferred hotel 13%
• Getting in-room entertainment 11%
• Staying an unnecessary extra night 10%
• Staying at a more expensive/higher-class hotel 8%
• 39% of these travellers state the choice is for personal reasons

Yet at the core of people’s motivations to go out-of-policy is the lack of fresh and agile solutions coming from their employers. When companies fail to keep-up-with advancing technology, problems arise. In this day and age, online travel technologies have not only driven greater transparency, but also more competitive shopping and pricing. OTAs and similar platforms are providing employees with the know-how to book, travel and spend the way they feel most comfortable, regardless of their employers' policies.  Companies need to adapt to this world and offer new solutions that empower employees to make the right decisions independently that work for both the company and the traveling employee.

This post was written by Javier Suarez, CPO and Founder of TravelPerk. TravelPerk is an all-in-one travel management platform where companies can budget, book and manage all of their business trips in one place while saving 30 % travel costs and 80 % of your time.

They are looking forward to exhibit at the Business Travel Show, to meet old and new customers, partners and other innovators in the industry. Connect them via www.travelperk.com or Linkedin (www.linkedin.com/in/julianamendez and Javier Suarez)and meet at the Business Travel Show - register now at www.businesstravelshow.com