BBT London Forum
Buyers gathered at the Grange City hotel to talk about driving efficiency in their corporate travel programmes
when developing my company’s travel policy was staff retention and engagement,” she said. “My team sat down with stakeholders from each department to ensure we were on the right track. “These days, we communicate with
A
employees through Sharepoint, Yammer, emails and corporate communications. A few years on, we have high compliance and staff are happy to stay on policy, which helps us maintain duty-of-care. We’re transparent with our data, which shows travellers how their behaviour affects the company.” BBT editor Paul Revel asked panellists if
behavioural science can really help travel managers. One buyer, who has experience implementing behavioural practices, said: “You can’t start implementing new solutions until your policy is at the right stage – and engaging your travellers in the correct way is essential to reaching that point. Make sure you’re sending out the right message; your ‘nudge’ has to be positive for the traveller, rather than purely focusing on compliance.” Frequent traveller and HR expert Jonathan
Cohen said managers should consult with staff before implementing policy changes – making decisions based purely on cost can be detrimental to productivity, he said. Enterprise Rent-a-Car HR director Donna
Miller agreed, adding that it can be fine for businesses to prioritise savings when booking trips for those who only travel once in a while, but ‘road warriors’ need to be treated better. “If your policy means their personal life is impacted, they’ll leave. Everyone wants to do their best, and sometimes that involves spending a bit more to ensure they can do that.”
EXPLORING TECHNOLOGY HRS UK managing director Douglas Green hosted a session exploring technology as a driving force for efficiency – but it started out with a warning for travel managers.
Supported by:
SENIOR TRAVEL BUYER described the importance of remembering the end-user when implementing new strategies. “A key focus
Opteva director Johanne Young said: “It’s time to take a step back to try to understand the end-to-end travel process and find vendors that fit our company culture. If you’re not utilising technology efficiently, it’s pointless.” Concur’s Alain van West argued that it
doesn’t really matter what tech is being used, so long as travel managers can retrieve data and use it to make informed decisions. He said there’s too much emphasis on changing traveller behaviour rather than embracing the technology they use and finding a way to integrate it into policies. Nour Mouakke, CEO of Wizme, added
that technology can offer a wealth of benefits in terms of data. “So many bookings are still being made offline, which limits the kind of information you can collect. I don’t really get why there’s such a disconnect between personal tech and business tech.” Green pointed to HRS research that
showed travel managers want to prioritise simplification but face challenges in execution. Young commented that pre- trip processes might be getting in the way of implementation. She recommended speaking to travellers to find out why they do what they do and how technology might be able to make the process easier for them. Is a millennial revolution affecting
the travel landscape? Mouakke said it definitely is, as evidenced by travel managers considering the traveller experience when developing or changing their policy.
INTERNATIONAL POLICIES Another session, moderated by consultant Chris Pouney, explored control and oversight of international policies. Adrian Steele, marketing director at Diners
Club, said one way to simplify processes is to look at streamlining the transfer of money, to which HRS director Ian Blackie added that travellers are more likely to comply with policy if they don’t have to spend their own money and fill out expense forms. One buyer pointed out that a centralised payment system would be the perfect solution if only more suppliers were able to
Joint sponsors:
accept virtual solutions. BCD Travel’s Tony McGetrick agreed, citing the challenges of implementing these solutions with hotels and other suppliers in certain markets around the world. A buyer asked the panel how technology partners can help them ensure they’re getting the rates they’ve agreed with hotels. Blackie said HRS follows up with each supplier that doesn’t feed the correct rates, while another buyer said audits go a long way to driving compliance and efficiency. But virtual payment solutions may be a
long way off in some markets. McGetrick cited hotels in the US that still don’t understand the bill-back process and insist on taking physical payment from travellers when they check out. Another buyer said he has experienced issues with airlines not allowing passengers to board without a copy of the card used to book the tickets. When asked about future technology,
McGetrick said he believes blockchain will have a huge impact on the travel industry and provide positive opportunities for data collection (see Tech Talk, p34). “With blockchain, you own your data and can decide who can access it. Today, your data sits within someone else’s system, which could be hacked,” he said. The general consensus was technology
is the way forward when it comes to streamlining policies and developing an efficient travel programme – but no matter what the solution, programme managers need to keep duty-of-care in mind and involve their travellers in decision-making.
n See Chris Pouney’s guest column, p141
n BBT Forums are supported by ACTE and sponsored by BCD Travel, Concur, Diners Club International, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Grange Hotels, HRS and Lufthansa
For information about future BBT Forums, contact events manager Emma Gordon at
egordon@panaceamedia.com or visit
bbtforum.com
22 BBT January/February 2018
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
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