WORDS STEPHANIE SMOOK
OPINION
A BREAK FROM THE RULES
Leisure travellers return to work convinced they are business travel experts now
D
ID YOU KNOW THAT you cannot buy chewing gum at Schiphol Airport because too many people stick it to their chairs in the aeroplane? Why would anyone do that?
As my summer holiday finally starts, and while I’m waiting for my flight, these trivial things are slowly filling my head. Did you also know Schiphol Airport is 4m below sea level, the first plane landed in 1916, it has its own library and museum, and processes 60 million passengers per year?
buyingbusinesstravel.com
And, for those who have been, did you ever notice there are B-H gates but you cannot find an A gate anywhere? There used to be one but with the departure announcements in both Dutch and English, many people confused the A and the E, consequently missing their flights. With the current expansion, however, gate A will make a comeback, but will now be referred to as gate Alpha. So, while getting in the
holiday mood waiting for my flight, I was also amazed by the variety and number of people
at the airport. Normally I rush through with my hand luggage for yet another work-related trip with minimal time. I hurry to check in and then on to passport control. But today I am a leisure traveller, and I have taken the time to be an explorer. I forgot how much fun that is. I imagined exciting, romantic and adventurous stories about those people I was secretly observing. And there at the heart of the novel I was creating, they are! The business travellers – fierce, stern and experienced – moving through the crowds. They follow their patterns and efficiently handle their travel; road warriors with a clear objective.
IN CONTROL Now the interesting part of all these dynamics all summer long is what happens after… and how it affects travel managers. Because leisure travellers return to work and think: 1. If I book my trips online myself as I did for my vacation, I am sure that I can find cheaper airfares than my company travel manager offers; 2. I liked selecting my own hotels – I will continue doing so; 3. I am an experienced traveller now, and that means I can manage all my trips as I have all the knowledge I need; 4. I want the same perks I have when I travel for leisure. So employees come back to the office, tell you how to do your job, and go rogue! But it
I WAS
AMAZED AT THE VARIETY AND NUMBER OF PEOPLE AT THE AIRPORT
doesn’t have to mean we’re back to square one. How can we travel management experts benefit from this? I am sure we can. Things go wrong, as they did when there was a fuel shortage at Schiphol in August that shut down the aiport, leaving thousands of travellers stranded. Can you show how you managed and communicated that? This is emotion management – and it is also about traveller wellbeing. And it’s great to see it currently on the agenda at nearly all industry events. It will certainly be discussed at the ACTE European Summit in Amsterdam, 23-25 October. But first, I am going to enjoy my holiday and decide whether to go rogue on my return – maybe I should.
Stephanie Smook is regional director EMEA of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (
acte.org)
2019 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 151
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