K
arolina Saviova, COO and co-founder of AltoVita, opened the conference day with an overview of the company’s progress over the past year.
Explaining what differentiates AltoVita, she explained
is “our ability to invest in amazing tools to deliver transparency into the sector without compromising on employee experience”. The company used the summit to launch Alto360,
a product designed to be a cutting-edge data business intelligence tool that they believe will reshape the landscape of extended stay market intelligence. It will allow users to benchmark policies against market data and strategically design their corporate accommodation programmes for any location worldwide. Vivi Himmel, co-founder and CEO of AltoVita,
described Alto360 as: “The first market intelligence tool for extended stay accommodation, helping you make better budget predictions for your extended stay programmes.” AltoVita is also investing in CO2
reporting, the
feature launched last year, and continues to invest in compliance, API integration with International SOS, and real-time tracking and monitoring escalation, as well as guest satisfaction. You can view a video taster of the new product here.
MANAGING EXPECTATIONS Managing employee expectations when they are travelling is a key element of AltoVita’s technology. That is why the vision is to give them as much information as possible in order for them to know about where they will be staying. This fourth Summit embraced AltoVita’s now-
familiar concept of discovering and co-designing, looking for honest feedback and ideas through a series of presentations and roundtable discussions on topics such as exploring emergencies, which was probably the liveliest of the roundtables. Delegates are clearly hungry for any knowledge
and experience that can offset the waves of instability multinationals are experiencing around the world in response to geopolitical situations, as well as natural disasters. It has been a long time since the Arab Spring when the
relocation sector honed its expertise, but those responsible for international travellers and assignees in companies large and small need to constantly remind their stakeholders and their business leadership team of the need to take risk of all kinds seriously. Particularly when cost control is so high on the agenda, safety and compliance should never be compromised in relocation experiences of operating in hotspots or emerging destinations ranging from North and South America to India, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
UNITING BUSINESS TRAVEL & MOBILITY: THE NEXT PHASE Talking about uniting global mobility and business travel to save money, AltoVita’s white paper and webinar examined how this has evolved since 2023. Guest speakers provided case studies on their approaches,
which demonstrated the transition large multinational companies are making to manage both functions. Diogo Matos, global mobility services manager at
Solvay, and Souhilla Taarabit, group head of corporate travel services at Dubai-headquartered Aal-Futtaim, provided case studies on their approaches. The challenges and opportunities provided valuable
food for thought for the audience of global mobility professionals, business travel managers and the relocation industry represented. In a later fireside chat session, Vivi Himmel spoke
to Samantha Van Leeuwen, head of hotels and venues at PwC, about their decision to combine the operations and the rapid onboarding to the AltoVita platform.
GLOBAL MOBILITY FUNDAMENTALS Beverly King is well known in the global mobility sector and has recently joined AltoVita as VP of client partnerships. Her whistlestop tour of managing a group move with
Seb Hammond, head of customer success operations, packed in a wealth of advice for those new to the complexities and cultural nuances to be considered when supporting a group move, whether it is for a short-term project in a new location or a more permanent relocation. A timely reminder also for old hands about group
moves is that you can never over-prepare. It is a sign of the times that specialist sectors, such as serviced apartments, are having to fill the gaps in service delivery knowledge. At the end of the day, Beverly hosted a discussion
with Khadeeja Islam, Aggreko, Magdalena Jennings, Equinix, and Lisa Reid, Altair Global, to share their views on managing and supporting the different demographics of their mobile populations. Underlying the conversation was that one size does not fit all. On the business travel side, Jamie Finnie, head of
travel at NES Fircoft, and Jenny Thornton, director of digital services at ATPI, did a great job of charting the consolidation to date, the work in progress and, of course, the lingo, around this shift.
BUSINESS TRAVEL MEETING OF MINDS This was also affirmed by the eloquent and perceptive Carol Fergus, director of global travel, meetings and ground transportation at Fidelity International, who summarised the day’s proceedings and was generous with her insights throughout the roundtables. Uniting business travel and mobility is certainly on the agenda for 2024. A takeaway for me is that old adage, you don’t know
what you don’t know. Fortunately, across the global mobility and business travel sectors there are plenty of people who know a lot about policy, compliance, wellbeing, places, people and countries. It is all about joining the dots. Connecting and collaborating are definitely worthwhile and don’t forget there is plenty of content on Relocate Global and Think Global People to help you fill in the gaps.
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GLOBAL LEADERSHIP
TECHNOLOGY
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