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A travel manager talks: the television industry


Kurston Hannaford-Janes is travel manager and production co-ordinator for Two Four Productions


“YOU COULD DEFINE IRRATIONAL BEHAVIOUR as any activity that doesn’t drive the lowest possible costs. And we know that saving money is obviously a major factor for any organisation, especially when organising television shoots in the UK or overseas. We do use verbal nudges to encourage best travel practices on the road, but the best behavioural economic factor here is duty-of-care. “Our people are more likely to be nudged to stay on-plan if


they’re not taking the budget airline flight at 4am or sleeping at the faraway airport hotel, when the early morning shoot is in the city. The best way to get the most out of any travel plan is to make sure our production teams are at their best – knowing the triggers that drive stress and fatigue are crucial.”


only a small selection for flights and hotels, therefore limiting choice. Borne out of behavioural econom-


ics, nudges are now a tried-and-tested way to motivate people to change. The theory is that people can be coaxed into making better decisions when offered choices designed to elicit specific out- comes, whether indirectly in the form of nudges or sometimes directly – for example, by only offering limited choice. American author and behavioural sci- entist Cass Sunstein says this is due to the fact that most of the time, humans choose not to choose – they are prone to inertia. So having a select set of default choices is the next best option. “Travellers also tend to make quicker decisions based on fewer, prioritised choices,” explains BCD’s Kreidt. As anyone who has tried to book a holiday


knows, you can spend hours wasting time when there are endless choices and no single option appears clearly superior. Providing too many options can lead many of us feeling helpless and uncertain. Taxis in a number of cities globally have also installed credit card touchscreens that only offer three specific tips, made simple for travellers to tap and choose. In New York, the amounts can be 20, 25 and 30 per cent. You can manually choose the amount, but it’s easiest just to touch one of the three advertised on the screen. Already some online managed travel programmes offer limited options for


106 BBT MAY/JUNE 2016


“This technology puts power back into the hands of the traveller”


hotels and air travel to influence ex- ecutives, keeping them on-plan and in budget, yet this still gives the impression that they are in control of the decision- making process.


INCREASED SOPHISTICATION However, not many companies can dig deep with the data and manage travel behaviour or create nudges. Most of our experience to date is anecdotal. Kreidt says that nudges are only just beginning. “We are learning where the hotspots are though and measure them. The industry is becoming more sophisticated and travel managers are learning from this.” Other behavioural economic tools are


used by travel managers. Leader boards are big in North America (see panel, p107), to try and persuade executives to comply with policy and plans, and stick within budget, while corporate citizenship and reward programmes are more important in Europe. CWT’s Turner ex- plains: “League tables of good behaviour


are not used as much as they could be – it has to be the way forward to really drive behavioural change.” Karen Jackson is head of account management at ATPI and explains how gamification is increasingly being used to change behaviour. “One softer, or non- prize-giving, approach involves creating a more competitive booking environment,” she says. “This involves publishing a list of the most compliant travellers on the company’s travel page. It certainly influ- ences behaviour.”


MOBILE TECHNOLOGY Technology, especially mobile technol- ogy, is now playing a significant role. Not just text alerts to elicit nudges, but information on pricing that empowers travellers to behave more responsibly. Fare-forecasting for flights and hotels helps – for example, graphs on ticket prices over a period marked out on a daily basis gives executives a gauge on what days are the cheapest. The hope is that the traveller clicks the lowest price on the graph, and you are then taken to the booking engine. These tools can also be easily accessed via mobile phones. “This technology puts power back into the hands of the traveller, enabling them to make informed decisions,” says Wayne Lappage, business manager at Chambers- CTM. “This actually reverses how travel was traditionally booked and will lead


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