league tables, digital high fives and gold stars have little or no impact on traveller behaviour. Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) may
have something to say about that: the global TMC has been a major advocate of gamification, reporting regular customer success stories (see Case Studies, p66). And Click’s Vince says his clients are just scratching the surface of gamification, but believes league tables can encourage policy compliance, especially in organisa- tions that have different brands or busi- ness units competing against each other. However, Vince has a plethora of
practical ways to enhance the three pillars. “A training company we work with used to host all its sessions in Bristol,” he says. “The city has been booming over recent
CASE STUDY
Senior travel buyer for a global management services company
CHALLENGE: The hotel programme consisted of more than 200 mainly three- and four-star hotels in more than 100 preferred locations. Where an area had more than 100 room nights per year, a preferred rate would be requested, making it a preferred, as opposed to ad-hoc, area. The preferred rates were all-inclusive for a business traveller: double for sole use with breakfast, wifi, parking (where hotel- owned), strong cancellation terms and, most importantly, last-room availability (LRA). The programme was not mandated, so compliance was strong in some areas and weak in others. There may have been some valid reasons for booking non-preferred properties, such as a better location or a cheaper budget alternative. However, other
64 BBT SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015
out-of-policy bookings were made because travellers were part of a rewards scheme or simply lacked knowledge. In addition, non-inclusive rates were being booked, which jacked up costs.
SOLUTION: In January a rate cap was put in place in each preferred location, based on the most expensive preferred property in the area. All non-preferred locations were also capped, mostly at a UK flat rate, but also taking into account local and regional variations, local economy and knowledge of the market. Overseas locations had different flat rates, with higher risk areas given higher caps. The online booking tool (OBT) does not allow any hotel over the cap per night to be booked. The same happens with offline bookings through
the TMC. To mitigate leakage and exceptions, the board is required to approve anything out of policy (apart from bookings made on health and safety grounds, which go to the travel manager). If there is no availability on the GDS in a specific area, the system will automatically increase the cap. Preferred hotels are still not mandated, and, therefore, all hotels up to and including the cap rate are bookable. Those who book early enough should still be able to get their hotel of choice.
RESULTS: The initial push back was fierce. It required a lot of internal communications and PR from the travel team. However, the results so far are very strong. Exceptions are down 80 per cent, overall compliance up 10 per cent and there has been a significant
drop in cost. The total cost of stay, which includes ground transportation, is being monitored. Therefore a traveller won’t be forced to stay 20 miles away in a cheaper hotel if they have to take an expensive taxi to reach the final destination. The mode of transport is being captured, as is the reason for travel. Taxi spend and hotel spend via expenses are also being monitored. If anyone does go rogue (and books direct and claims back through expenses) they receive a chastising email and are highlighted to the FD. This year’s RFP went a step further to include the finance elements, such as VAT and fees. So a hotel will be penalised if it is the same room rate as one that is non- VAT registered and if it won’t accept billback.
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
League tables can encourage policy compliance, especially in organisations that have competing brands
years and costs were spiralling. Therefore, the business decided to switch all its operations to Birmingham. They looked at the most cost-effective place in the country. The savings generated have been astronomical.”
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