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ACTE COLUMN CAROLINE ALLEN Spotlight on policy


The purpose and value of travel policies shaped agendas at the recent BBT-ACTE Forums in London and Dublin


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N THIS ISSUE’S COLUMN I’ve distilled some of the key points raised by experts at the two BBT-ACTE Forums into these top tips for your policy:


• Define the primary purpose to suit your company culture. Is it driving down cost? Focusing on duty-of-care? Enabling your travellers to perform at optimal levels?


• Involve other stakeholders. Understand other function priorities to determine whether engaging them can help achieve broader overall company objectives.


• Be inventive with what you measure. If you can show your board the money trail, you will increase your personal value to your organisation. Travel data is a rich source of information – you just need to work out where the gold is to mine it creatively.


• Measure the return on investment of your policy. Prove that the savings you achieve across your entire travel programme are greater than the cost you incur to operate it.


Caroline Allen is the regional director of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (acte.org)


• Focus on total trip cost. Investigate expense claims to find big-ticket items. You may find large amounts of spend with suppliers that you have no agreements with.


• Don’t ‘over-manage’ it. Sometimes non-compliant choices can work out cheaper when you look at the total cost. A compliant hotel may be fractionally less expensive but a taxi ride from where the traveller needs to be, with an alternative option within walking distance, may be a better option.


• Be traveller-centric. Put yourself in your travellers’ shoes to understand why some go ‘off-piste’. Understand what’s


important to your road warriors to help them perform better.


• Communicate it. Be creative to engage people. Consider an animated short video or infographics to articulate policy and booking channels.


• Gamification. Creating competition and showcasing what good practice looks like can increase compliance.


• Remember your obligations to each other. While the company has a duty-of-care to staff, employees have a responsibility to make the best choices for their employers.


n See these tips in full at buyingbusinesstravel.com


CHRISTINA FOERSTER Christina Foerster has joined Brussels Airlines as chief commercial officer. She joins Brussels after 12 years with Lufthansa, most recently as senior vice-president, network and partner management, and vice-president, network and fleet development.


BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM


JOHAN WILSON Carlson Wagonlit Travel has named Johan Wilson as its new UK and Ireland country director. Wilson is currently also head of the company’s Nordic division, a position he had held for three years, until a new Nordic vice-president is named.


PETER TILL Peter Till has joined Choice Hotels International as UK managing director. Till was previously founder and owner of PSKT International Hotel Consulting and UK developer at the Rezidor Hotel Group, and has nearly 40 years’ industry experience.


ROBERT McGINN


Robert McGinn has been appointed as commercial officer at Addison Lee. He was previously EMEA sales director at Experian. Prior to that he was executive vice-president at BT, and UK and Ireland sales director at Verizon.


BBT November/December 2016 95


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