The Debate AND WORKABLE? IS GLOBAL DO-ABLE
Does going global translate to seamless processes, systems, prices and technology? Read on for three varying views on the subject of whether buyers really can go global and accrue real benefi ts
THE BUYER Margaret Birse, director, global travel services, SERCO How many times have you heard that the big boys can do it better or that if you had a global deal your business would finally be getting optimum results? I have some pretty strong views in three main areas of this debate! The first relates to TMCs. When I started to put
our global travel programme together over ten years ago I took a decision to work with affiliated companies rather than one large TMC. That started off very well but it wasn’t long until the acquisitions started and we moved involuntarily from one to the other until we ended up with a large TMC in two or our major regions. I thought, “okay, this isn’t what I wanted” but we are a large global organisation so maybe this travel company would tick all the boxes. I’m afraid that is not what we experienced and
soon found that for the most part the only thing the same in the two regions was the name of the company! We expected to see the same systems and processes or at least that the two regions would work together to ensure that what we experienced as a customer felt the same even if the inner workings weren’t – this was not the case. I suppose it depends on what you want out of
your TMC. We wanted consistency of approach, systems and self-booking tools. We found the best way to get this, quite bizarrely, was to work with customer focused SMEs in each region. My experience with airlines has been that bilateral or regional deals deliver the best overall savings and the business agility needed to keep a deal fresh. Having said that, we have worked with major airlines in global deals and have had good successes where we have seen better advantage in both discount levels and spend recognition. I think these “global deals” work best where one or two regions have particularly large spend profiles added to areas with smaller profiles but growth potential. These deals can, however, be cumbersome and getting the various interested parties together can get complicated! Let the buyer beware though as one large carrier has recently made some decisions that have negatively impacted 'global deal' customers only. Two months later and we are still awaiting resolution so going global with this particular
carrier does, for now, look like the wrong decision. I think many of you will share my pain when
it comes to hotels. We are a large diverse organisation and while this diversity is one of our strengths it does make bringing a global hotel programme together challenging. This is very much a work in progress for us and still remains the least managed area we have. Booking channels continue to be confusing and difficult to control and travellers and bookers have access to more information than ever. They remain unconvinced that central buying, when it comes to hotels, is the best option. Then add to this the franchisees clamouring to
retain their part in the chain while ignoring the bigger picture relationship between the buyer and the hotel group! So to sum it all up I don’t think bigger is always better. Firstly, a large TMC might work for some but regional SMEs might just deliver more than you’d think; secondly, let the buyer beware when it comes to global airline deals; and thirdly, different booking channels (and supplier behaviours!) allow us to manage our spend while ensuring travellers and bookers are confident they have access to all the information they need to make good decisions within policy.
THE AIRLINE Glen Mintrim, sales manager, UK & Ireland, Emirates Global deals are not a new concept – they have been in place for quite a number of years, and they are now becoming more widespread. For a corporate, the principal benefit of a global
deal is generally a reduction in the cost of air tickets. For the airline and travel management company, it’s the higher revenue that comes from increased share of a corporate’s business. For a truly global agreement to work it needs complete alignment between the corporate, the travel management company and the airline. This ideally entails a standardised set of processes across multiple markets, a single currency for all transactions, and a single point of fulfilment for all tickets. All of these things are achievable, but there are
costs involved in creating and operating the infrastructure necessary to achieve this. Careful planning and management is required to ensure that the costs don’t outweigh the benefits – for all parties involved. A further factor here is where, as is often the
case, an airline is one of several with preferred status with a corporate. In these circumstances,
20 I THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE
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