“Just having the word ‘chauffeur’ in there
was a barrier,” says Carey’s Mendoza. “We worked very hard to change the percep- tion of our service – it is high quality and there are elements of what we do that are premium and attract the relevant pricing. But there are large parts of our service that are accessible and make a lot of sense.” Being picked up by a car and driver in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Russia and India makes perfect sense, avoiding the vagaries of local cab companies, touts and dodgy types posing as cab drivers, with the attendant risk of kidnap, rip-off fares and/or being driven to a cashpoint and forced to withdraw money. First-time visitors to a country are particularly vulner- able to exploitation.
Booking technology is provided by all
suppliers and (in theory) it can be inte- grated into corporate booking tools. Some are already connected to global distribu- tion systems (GDSs), although Tristar’s De Beer notes that many of its bookings still come via email or telephone, particularly for complex bookings. In addition, says ATPI’s UK managing
CASE STUDY KEEPING FEET ON THE GROUND
TRAVEL MANAGEMENT COMPANY CORPORATE BLUE contracted Tristar to provide ground transport for managing director of Australian company Suitpack, Scott Fraser. This was for a multi-country sales trip, covering 26 cities in 23 days, involving more than 50 journeys, starting in the Far East and ending in the US. “It was imperative that our international team used their local knowledge of each area, including customs and languages, to ensure that the client was kept on schedule and had a smooth trip,” says Tristar CEO Dean de Beer. Tristar planned Fraser’s itinerary to ensure that he was met on time by a chauffeur who knew exactly where he needed to be and when. The company also kept Corporate Blue informed of progress, so that the agency knew when Fraser had been collected and dropped off. The trip passed without a hitch. “I am so glad that I trusted Tristar with Mr Fraser’s transfers,” says senior corporate consultant Shelly Loades. “Such a marathon trip meant it was imperative that everything went like clockwork and Tristar made my job so much easier. The service that I experienced was phenomenal and everything ran to plan. I was also impressed with the feedback emails that I received for every transfer, assuring me that each one had gone smoothly. Ultimately, Mr Fraser was very happy with the on-ground service.”
74 BBT JULY/AUGUST 2015
director Adam Knights, “the advantage of consolidating taxi services, if you are using end-to-end travel and expense manage- ment, is that you can see the total cost of a trip, which you cannot when an individual pays cash for a cab and puts it through expenses”. But negotiated rates can end up being more expensive than using a local minicab company because there is a middle-man, and fares have to be loaded into the GDS, which also adds cost. And head of strategic relations for Busi-
ness Travel Direct (BTD) Mark Bevan says: “Look at suppliers’ terms and conditions as well. Sometimes, you find they charge different rates if there are traffic jams and waiting time, with the meter ticking three times as quickly; and when travellers pay for transport by credit card, some compa- nies whack on a card fee of 5-7 per cent, and that can add up to a lot.”
IN THE MANAGEMENT LOOP Suppliers give detailed management information (MI), and this can either be downloaded from the their websites or provided in agreed formats and at agreed intervals. The BBC uses a range
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
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