The Year Ahead CHALLENGES FOR 2011 AND BEYOND


EACH member of the group was asked to voice what they think their biggest challenge for 2011 will be:


BCD's Tony McGetrick: “our biggest challenge is to maintain margins and add value to the process as it’s a market where we’re constantly being pushed. over the next 12 months we need to identify new channels of value and ensure travellers can get to the right content and at the right price.“


PwC's Will Hasler: “there is still too much travel for the sake of travel so we have to challenge ourselves internally, persuade travellers to book early and use more video- conferencing; we need to be doing more of all of that.”


SAS Software’s Petra Thurlow: “it’s the same as will. we need to ask, ‘do you need to travel?’ and drive more people to rail. what’s also critical for this year is managing the increased rates and the vat increase, and to get the value that suits our company. half an hour’s free wifi isn’t value to us.”


The buyingTeam’s Claire Rowley: “ensuring, as procurement, that we continue to deliver significant value to our clients’ travel programmes and ensure we can provide sustainable and cost effective travel solutions.”


CWT’s Andrew Waller: “there are two areas for us: managing the pace of change and staying at the forefront of innovation. there is a huge pressure ongoing and it’s moving faster all the time. Plus we have to communicate the value of a travel management company and we have to work harder as a tmc.”


BridgeStreet added: “With demand out- stripping supply this year loyalty was the only card we played to remain stable.” One solution, for PwC at least, has been to


make a big switch to serviced apartments for extended stay trips. “It’s a value proposition,” said Will Hasler, McGetrick also highlighted


that there was no clear way of knowing which way to buy in the current market: “Negotiate a deal or play the market? It’s a mixed bag.“ Larger clients tend to negotiate while SMEs are more reliant on best buy on the day, he said. And the demand for better data hadn’t lessened, McGetrick added: “Clients want relevant data; they want dashboard information for trends rather than anything else.” The influence of social media was a popular topic of debate, with everyone recognising its growing importance. Concerns over how to control it were raised but PwC's Hasler concluded that it remained a useful tool to communicate with. The company already relies on their own version of a Trip Advisor style feedback mechanism. Buyer Petra Thurlow from SAS Software explained that they ask their travellers to feed back comments via a post-trip survey and


when they have a major project in one area, will send in Mystery Shoppers to gauge the most appropriate hotels to patronise. Mobile technology was another key development to watch and CWT's Waller predicted that traditional rail tickets would soon become a thing of the past. BCD's McGetrick voiced a


" Clients who have strong relationships with suppliers and a well managed travel programme should expect to see minimal price rises"


note of caution over this technology, hoping there will be some sort of filter to prevent duplicated messages going through on mobiles. The accelerating trend towards airline mergers and joint ventures was seen as a negative for buyers. “What are you buying?” asked PwC's Hasler. “It’s complicating our job. And British Airways-Iberia- American Airlines will complicate it further. I have no


confidence that it’s going to be easy.” He cited that he still had to do two deals with Air France and KLM, despite them being joined at the hip, but conceded that Star Alliance works well as he has a lead carrier to negotiate with. Both CWT and BCD agreed that although necessary for their survival, airline mergers do not ease the buyer’s job. “They haven’t increased choice and fewer deals are being negotiated. There are more joint ventures


Bridge Street’s Jo Layton: “we’re looking to give value to our customers. we’re looking to give free wifi, for example, and we need to continue to de-mystify our industry. we’re tiering our product to clarify the expectations better globally, between a residence, a suite and an apartment, so customers know what they’re getting for their money.”


taking place and the buyer will lose out,” said BCD's McGetrick. “British Airways will sell the benefit of improved scheduling and the price will go up,” warned CWT's Waller. PwC's Hasler raised another issue: “Is your


deal ever available? Airlines are not putting capacity back as quickly as possible.” Criticism of the airlines extended to British Airways’ planned introduction of a payment fee in March for those tickets purchased by credit card. “It just means that there is less and less to negotiate on as the basic ticket price is so small,” pointed out BCD's McGetrick. (Read a buyer’s views on this subject on page 8 of this issue). The spectre of being fleeced on hotel rates during the London Olympics in 2012 was another hot topic, but BCD's McGetrick diffused the debate by saying: “It’s a bit of a white elephant as the July/August period is not a busy time for corporates. Common sense will prevail and companies won’t book meetings.” He believes that the worm is now turning and that hotels are beginning to worry that they won't fill their rooms. “The buyer is still king,” he insists. The greater influence of procurement in the buying process was generally welcomed and would continue, believed the group. For PwC there’s been no change as procurement have always handled the terms and conditions and buying the travel, while BridgeStreet’s Jo Layton thinks it's a healthy trend. The buyingTeam’s Claire Rowley underscored


the merits of procurement’s involvement, saying: “In a time when travel costs are rising and the industry is going through such significant change, we believe procurement can really add value to an organisations’ creation, implementation and management of its travel programme,” she said. BCD's McGetrick believes best practice is for


both disciplines to work alongside one another. CWT's Waller agreed, referring to this arrangement as “good cop/bad cop”.


THE PANELISTS


• Claire Rowley of the buyingteam • Petra Thurlow of sas software • Will Hasler of Pricewaterhousecoopers • Jo Layton of bridgestreet worldwide • Tony McGetrick of bcD travel • Andrew Waller of carlson wagonlit travel


www.thebusinesstravelmag.com I 15


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