THE BOOKER Q A
meet Alison Hale Executive Travel Assistant, Dunnhumby
In the fi rst of our series of booker profi les, we hear from Alison Hale,
Executive Travel Assistant of customer science
company Dunnhumby, who books travel for the company’s board
executives, among others Q What is the extent of your
remit at Dunnhumby, and how long have you worked at the company? A. I have worked at the company for eight and a half years. My job title is Executive Travel Assistant and I am responsible primarily for booking travel for the board executives and our international markets team, but I book and offer advice for many other employees too. I also manage the relationship with our TMC.
more as some of our overseas markets do not have access to our online booking tool or have a travel agent.
Q Do you rely on a self booking tool or do you make all bookings offline? A. We do a mixture of both. Our online adoption is rising and currently stands at about 45 per cent. We are hoping this will increase as employees become more familiar with the online booking tool.
to seven travel business class on journeys over five hours. We have corporate hotel deals in place at our office locations and generally they are three-star properties and above.
Q What do you see as the biggest issues and concerns on the horizon as a travel booker? A. Keeping costs down and educating employees on their travel choices.
“ I am always advising our employees on how to get the best from our online booking tool and to look at all the
Q Do you have many other
responsibilities aside from travel booking and, if so, what are they, briefly? A. My main role is travel related so I don’t need to perform too many other responsibilities outside of travel. I advise/help employees with all visa require- ments, produce reporting for various departments and manage and audit our online booking tool.
PROFILE
Alison has worked at Dunnhumby for eight and a half years, with her role evolving as the company has grown. She started as travel administrator and is now Executive Travel Assistant. Her career spans 20 years in travel and includes working for tour operators Cosmos, Far East Travel Centre and Kuoni as well as in business travel with Wexas Travel. Many years ago she was a holiday rep in Spain and Greece.
Q Do you have a team of bookers in the company that you share responsibility with, or is it just you? A. Just me, but the PAs do book some of their own travel.
Q How many travellers do you do the bookings for? A. Difficult to say. It’s officially 50-ish but as I am the only travel contact in the UK it is actually
Q What qualities/skills do you think are required to make a good travel booker? A. Patience and not to be afraid to question the travel choices of employees!
Q Do you enjoy this part of options out there that meet their needs ”
Q Can you tell us the scope of Dunnhumby’s travel? A. We have offices and clients in more than 30 different locations around the globe, and I book everything from cars to flights to hotels for those that travel regularly. This requires a lot of co-ordination as there is a significant amount of travel.
Q Do you have a compre- hensive company travel policy and is it effective? A. Every company is becoming more cost-conscious with regards to travel and we trust our employees to do the right thing. We have a travel policy in place which employees follow. Air travel is economy class for all grades up to five hours, grades one to four go economy class up to ten hours and business class over ten hours, while grades five
your job and, if so, why? A. I love booking travel, researching fares and finding the ideal options to get the best deals possible.
Q How do you keep abreast of changes in the business travel industry, or do you rely on your travel management company? A. We keep up through our travel management company, your magazine and various informative emails from other travel providers.
Q Are there any changes that
you have suggested and implemented that have made the travel booking process easier, more efficient, or more cost effective? A. I am always advising our employees on how to get the best from our online booking tool and to look at all the options out there that meet their needs. I am also the contact regarding visas so again I can advise how to process the visa without paying the extra charges on offer from the visa supplier.
20 THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE
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