THERE’S MORE TO GOOD TRAVEL MANAGEMENT THAN JUST CUTTING COSTS

If I told you that the biggest challenge facing travel managers is cutting costs, would you be surprised? When the recession hit, so were travel budgets. And though they have gradually crept back up, travel managers have remained under continual pressure to make them work harder, smarter and get more for their organisation’s money. 

Each year, the Business Travel Show surveys thousands of travel bookers and buyers across Europe. Between 2015 and 2018, they claimed ‘cutting costs’ was their biggest challenge. Last year, this was bumped into second place by Brexit. This year, however – and seemingly out of nowhere – sustainability has appeared on the top 10 list for the first time. Climate change also made its debut on the list of top ten industry challenges, going straight in at number one. 

The environment has always been a focus for travellers and the travel industry. Marriott is just one hotel group, which has vowed to stop using small plastic toiletry bottles and the percentage of passengers travelling between London and Glasgow by rail over air has just reached an all-time high.

However, the Business Travel Show poll revealed that 71% of travel managers don’t currently offset aviation-related carbon emissions and just 26% offer information to travellers about their carbon footprint. This is one of the reasons the event, which takes place at Olympia London from 26-27 February 2020, will spotlight conscious travel.

“We are at a real tipping point when it comes to climate change and sustainability. Awareness is at an all-time high and the Government’s Net Zero legislation will be a huge instigator for change within travel. 76% of our travel buyers welcome it and Qantas and IAG have both recently committed to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050,” said Business Travel Show group event director David Chapple.

“As a result, more and more companies are being forced to re-think how their business travel affects the environment and human rights, and this raises two really important questions. 1 – is it possible to introduce a sustainable travel policy cost-effectively, given the continued pressure on buyers to cut costs? And, 2, is there even such a thing as an ethical travel programme in the first place?”

Both of these questions will be debated during the Business Travel Show conference, which will also investigate how car rental may offer a green alternative to travel programmes, thanks to major innovations like telematics, car sharing, car clubs and electric vehicles transforming pricing, operations, sustainability and duty of care priorities. 

A further session focused on traveller wellbeing – which also comes under the ‘conscious travel’ umbrella – and promises to help buyers progress from awareness to practical improvements, while also successfully securing the backing of senior management. And the new Wellness Retreat at the show will be a haven of serenity on the show floor where visitors can take time out and relax while getting hands on with innovative travel wellness products and services helping them to look after their travellers better.

This blog post was written by David Chapple, UK Portfolio Director of Northstar Travel Group, which runs the Business Travel Show taking place 26-27 February 2020 at Olympia London. Visitors can register for a free pass to attend at www.businesstravelshow.com/register 

GUEST BLOG: Sustainability in Travel: 2020 Outlook

At CTM’s recent Supplier Speed Dating event, themed ‘Sustainable Travel’, we were thrilled to learn of the exciting initiatives our suppliers are working on to provide more sustainable business travel experiences for our clients.

While the concept of ‘green travel’ has been circulating the industry for over a decade, only recently has technology developed far-enough to provide practical solutions to this increasingly important subject.

One example gaining momentum is a promise from airlines who are aiming above and beyond carbon-offsetting to carbon-neutral targets. Ambitious plans from British Airways and parent company International Airlines Group (IAG) hope to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 through more fuel-efficient aircraft, smarter operational techniques and switching to biofuel.

United Airlines has also committed to reducing greenhouse gas emission by 50% by 2050, while Virgin Atlantic has announced a more recent target of 30% reduction by 2021.  

On the ground, car transportation company Carey is tackling CO2 by investing in electric fleets – all new vehicles bought from December 2019 will be electric. Already the company has seen an 18% fuel reduction since providing training to drivers on environmentally friendly driving techniques such as gliding when available instead of constant acceleration. 

However, nothing can beat the sustainability results of rail service providers such as Eurostar and LNER. Eurostar’s progress in this area has been outstanding, and they continue to strive for even better. From 1^st January 2020, Eurostar will plant a tree for every train that departs – an estimated 20,000 trees per year. They are also donating all un-bought food from the onboard cafes to charities and all left behind blankets to animal shelters for the winter.

In the hotel space, Travelodge, Accor and IHG have committed to eliminating single-use plastics such as bathroom amenities, food items and packaging. New CTM partner Wyndham hotels announced an interesting initiative to incentivise guests to be more sustainable by offering more rewards points for sustainable acts such as not replacing towels and bedding and reducing electricity use.

As sustainable business travel becomes increasingly important for businesses, vetting your travel providers can be a great place to start. With a range of new commitments from suppliers to improve sustainability within the industry, now is a great time to review your travel programme to ensure it hits sustainability targets, while providing an exceptional travel experience for your travellers.  

CTM is exhibiting at Business Travel Show in 2020 on stand B620 - please click here to register for a free visitor pass to the show, which takes place 26-27 February 2020 at Olympia London. 

Traveller Wellbeing – Who owns the travel time?

By Matthew Holman, Head of Traveller Wellbeing at Capita Travel and Events.

It’s 03:00, I am in bed at home and my alarm goes off. It is time to get up.  This is not a ‘normal’ day.  It is a business travel day and I need to fly to Amsterdam for a meeting.  I have to catch the 06:40 flight from Heathrow to arrive in Amsterdam at 09:05.  My meeting is in the city at a client’s office from 11:00 until 13:00. 

Now, here is my quandary: during the booking process I know that my company policy is to book travel at the lowest cost. I check for my return flight. The more convenient 15:00 departure is available, but costs £160, whereas the 21:15 is also available and costs just £67 (saving £93 for my company), but costing six hours of ‘my time’.  I am cost conscious for my organisation (it’s in policy) so I choose the later flight.  This now means that I land at Heathrow at 21:30, with all my best hopes that I clear security, head to the (lowest cost) car parking option and return home by - at the earliest – 23:00, before hoping to fall straight into bed and sleep. 

From getting out of bed to getting back into bed I have spent 20 hours of my 24-hour day.

This brings forward two questions:

1. When does my work day start?
2. Who owns my travel time?

The European Working Time Directive states the following entitlements for employees:

• An average of 48 hours ‘working’ in the working week 
• 11 hours of rest a day and the right to one day off each week 
• The right to a rest break if the working day is longer than six hours

In relation to travel time, the regulations state: Travel time to and from work is not usually counted as working hours. However, travel as part of the employee's duties is.

So, what is the answer to the question? Does my trip to Amsterdam belong to me or is it owned by my company and, therefore, have I already worked 20 of my 48 hour (average) this week?  We then bring up other questions as well:

1. Do I get time to recover before my next trip/working day? 
2. Does my company recognise how long my day is?

If we compare a business travel day to my normal working day, the patterns are very different. I know when I need to leave to get to the office, I know what time I will be working from – to, and what time I will get home. All is very clear.

The above was my life for 20 years. I was a very frequent traveller, and day trips to Europe were perfectly normal and expected as part of my job in sales. I didn’t mind, but also didn’t recognise the long-term impact until I had my own personal mental health crisis in 2016, caused by fatigue, burnout and an unsupportive organisation. This must change and these questions must be addressed.

What our data tells us about travel time

Looking at how long our customers travel within the day, 19% of the return trips undertaken this year are on the same day - with 14% of them being UK domestic flights and 5% to / from Europe. The average duration of these flights vary from just under one hour in the UK, to just under two hours for flights to Europe – add to that the journey time to / from the airport and the one hour pre-flight check in cut off - a same day return trip can incorporate anything from four to eight hours (or more) of travelling, which does not leave a lot of productive time for travellers to do the job they actually travelled to achieve in the first place.

When looking at the times of travel, then 18% of trips take place during unsocial hours (before 7am or after 7pm). In the UK this is less prevalent, with only 10% of trips, but increasing to 20% for European trips.

Lastly, there is the question of whether it is reasonable to expect your employees to spend part of their weekends travelling for work. Overall, 15% of trips undertaken this year have departed or arrived on a weekend (outbound Friday - Sunday or inbound Saturday - Sunday). When looking at the destination we have less weekend travel on UK domestic trips, with 7% incorporating a weekend, and see an increase to 15% for European trip.  

If we take this further and look at the difference of time spent travelling via air vs rail, we can see some routes don’t have much time difference. For example, Edinburgh to Manchester has just a 10-minute time difference yet rail costs less than half the air cost! By switching to rail for ‘long journeys’ it could aid productivity and health with the ability to move around and alleviate the stress that comes with airport security and queues.

Taking a smarter working approach

I manage my life differently now, not least by trying to live by the Capita Travel and Events’ Smarter Working practices and applying the Five Ways to Wellbeing framework.

When I must attend a meeting – especially overseas – I consider the following:

1. Ask and check if the trip is absolutely necessary
2. Try to work around sociable hours for travel. Whilst being conscious of the trip cost, I now also put greater emphasis on the cost of my time
3. Plan as far in advance for the trip, know my itinerary and have everything confirmed
4. When I travel, I sleep whenever I feel tired (I can nap 2-3 times a day).  I keep hydrated with plenty of water, and I try my best to eat light meals and nothing too heavy. 
5. On a day trip, I will try and walk as much as possible during the day to keep active
6. Take time on my return to rest well, recover and prepare for the next activity.

Capita’s Five Ways to Wellbeing when travelling for work highlights the importance not only of being active and healthy, but also keeping connected with friends, family and colleagues, and doing everything you can to be at your best.

We use it to help organisations shape their travel programmes to what matters really to their travellers’ wellbeing, but it is also a practical and common-sense way to think about the things you can do to take personal ownership of time on the road.

We have recently incorporated Smarter working dashboards for our customers so organisations can see the impact on people and making necessary changes.

All of these initiatives are one step closer to raising awareness, understanding and solving the challenge of who owns the travel time and how it can be optimised for both traveller and the organisation.

Capital Travel and Events is exhibiting at Business Travel Show, the international event for business travel, taking place 26-27 February 2020 at Olympia London. Visitor registration is open now at https://www.businesstravelshow.com/register