c mpass - diversity travel · 2018-11-23 · c mpassacademic diversity travel 10 and counting find...

C MPASSACADEMIC

DIVERSITY TRAVEL

10 AND COUNTING

Find out our story in a

whistle-stop tour of our

first decade.

LSE TALKS

TRAVEL PROCUREMENT

LSE's Sarah Hadland gives us

the lowdown on developing

procurement, duty of care,

and working at LSE.

THE FUTURE OF

HIGHER EDUCATION

Can British universities

be doing more abroad to

secure future growth?

It’s my pleasure to welcome you to this, the first

edition of Academic Compass magazine.

We have created Academic Compass to offer the

higher education sector an insight into academic

travel management; providing news, views, tips and

advice for those in travel procurement, bookers,

travel managers and everyone in between.

We’ve tapped the expertise within Diversity, as well as

that of our clients and other HE professionals to bring

you what I hope you’ll find to be an interesting and

entertaining magazine.

As well as finding out more about the Diversity Travel

family in our ‘Meet the Team’ articles, look out for

fascinating interviews with Sarah Hadland, Deputy

Head of Procurement at LSE, and Carolyn Pearson,

the pioneering female traveller safety expert.

Our comment pieces cover Brexit, branch campuses

and the future of academic institutions, and our

insider insights include information and tips covering

academic fares, visa applications and more.

So, without further ado, I’ll leave you to read in peace

- I hope you enjoy the magazine.

ChrisChristopher Airey, managing director,

Diversity Travel.

Welcome!

“

”

EDITION ONE ACADEMIC COMPASS 3

What’s new at Diversity Travel

Meet the team: Dan Lloyd

Academic Fares - What's the story?

Looking ahead: The future of HE in the UK

The Diversity Travellers

Why comparison sites aren’t always all they seem

Branch campuses: Forging international ties

Client focus: LSE talks travel procurement

The insider’s top travel tips

Your guide to a problem free visa application

The academic connection: Matt Truin

The hot topic: Duty of care

Diversity Travel 10 years and counting

Diversity Travel 10 year anniversary

Travelling smart, travelling safe.

Meet the team: Auxi Castillo

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CONTENTS

EDITION ONE ACADEMIC COMPASS 54 ACADEMIC COMPASS EDITION ONE

WHAT'S NEW?

Some of our new academic clients

We’ve seen some exciting new developments at Diversity Travel, celebrating both our

people and our clients. Let’s have a look at some of our recent highlights...

Award Wins• AM Team of the Year at the People Awards

In 2017, our Account Management team won the

Account Management Team of the Year award at

the People Awards, a highly-respected industry

awards ceremony that recognises outstanding

individuals and teams within corporate business

travel management.

• TTG Business Travel Agent of the Year

There were plenty of celebrations after our very

own Sarah Hart scooped the TTG Business Travel

Agent of the Year award. She fought off some fierce

competition at the glamorous awards ceremony

hosted in central London. Sarah's win was a fitting

reward for her commitment to first class service.

PromotionsPrzemek Koszka

We proudly appointed our former head of IT,

Przemek Koszka, to the board of directors

as Director of Technology. The move follows

an unprecedented period of expansion for

our technology team, which has grown from three

to twenty-four full time staff in the past three years.

Przemek’s commitment to developing our technological

offering has helped drive our dedication to innovation

throughout the company.

Sarah Hart

If receiving the TTG Business Travel Agent

of the Year 2017 award wasn’t enough,

Sarah has developed from an apprentice to

Assistant Team Manager in just 5 years. Earning her

first managerial position earlier this year, Sarah is now

responsible for driving hotel bookings across the entire

reservations department.

Sally Boulton

A recent promotion means that Sally takes on

a new role of Assistant Team Manager on the

Chestnut team, servicing Save The Children

International. Sally brings a wealth of travel

experience to her new position.

Mission Statement & ValuesAs individuals and as a company, we live by our values.

We’re delighted to announce our newly updated mission

statement and company values explaining where we

want to get to as a business, and the cornerstones of

who we are, what we do and how we do it.

To accompany these changes, we've also launched

Diversity Travel's monthly Values in Action Awards which

will recognise those staff members who have gone

above and beyond in demonstrating our values.

To provide travel management service

of such high quality that we become

the global leader in the charity,

academic and non-profit communities."

”

Our Mission

What does your job involve?

As Operations Manager, I oversee the

day to day running of the Reservations,

Ticketing, Rail and Visa teams, leading

and managing the operation to ensure

we consistently deliver the best possible

customer service across the business.

What are you working on at the

moment?

Within operations we continually look to

develop our customer and passenger

experience. We have successfully

integrated our award-winning internal

quoting system, Instaquote. Instaquote

was designed in-house and has given

the travel team a fantastic, innovative

platform to work with and allows a

creative approach to bookings. This

system will now be used to further

advance other departments, and is a

venture I am excited to develop and

deliver across our organisation.

How are you finding life at Diversity

Travel?

I have over 20 years of experience

in not-for-profit and corporate travel

Not only have I travelled to many

fantastic destinations, but I have worked

with some amazing people along the

way and it is these relationships that

help to make this industry one of the

most exciting, fun, and demanding

sectors to work in.

What is the best destination you have

travelled to?

This is a tough question, can I pick

more than one? Alaska is my all-time

favourite destination. I spent four months

travelling by rail, road, car and even the

back of a bread van! Alaska is stunning

and has always held a special place in

my heart. I had my first bear encounter

there, flew in a sea plane with the post

man, watched the northern lights, and

caught my first fish. Japan, however, had

always been on my bucket list and last

year I was lucky enough to go twice! It

is an absolutely beautiful place and a

wonderfully addictive and picturesque

destination, in the next year I will return

to South America and hopefully add

Tanzania to the list too!

If you were stranded on a desert

island and could only take three

things, what would they be?

Ok, so I am going to think positively

here; since you have not said for how

long, I will assume I’m going to get off

the island quickly! In that case I would

take my camera, batteries, and a pack

of Fudge bars! Obviously I will be able

to build a speed boat and a tree house

from the materials that are inevitably

washed up on shore.

You can find out more about the award-

winning team at Diversity Travel later on

in the magazine.

Our first Meet the Team

article focuses on our

Operations Manager,

Dan Lloyd. A love of

travel combined with an

unparalleled commitment to

great service makes Dan a

perfect fit both for Diversity

and for our customers. Here,

he lets us in on what makes

him tick and why seaplanes,

bears and bars of Fudge are

of varying importance to him.

Meet the teamDan Lloyd, Operations Manager

and my time at Diversity has been an

exceptional re-evaluation of service

and industry conditioning for me. My

colleagues are amazingly unique

and truly passionate about how they

conduct their relationships with our

clients. Life at Diversity is fast-paced,

and the growth and opportunities are

exciting, however, nothing would be

possible without the support of our

people. My colleagues never cease to

amaze me with their commitment to our

clients and their incredible team work.

I lead a team of managers who have a

wealth of experience, however it’s the

unique and creative approach which is

truly infectious at Diversity.

What do you enjoy most about

working in travel?

Travel is always evolving; I enjoy

growing with the technology and finding

new and innovative ways to meet our

clients’ needs, whilst still providing a

personal service. This industry has given

me the chance to challenge myself and

also allowed me to grow.

"This industry has given me the

chance to challenge myself”

"Nothing would be possible

without the support of our people”


We’ve been beavering away to keep you up to date on all things academic travel related on our

new and improved blog. Whether it’s untangling complex travel lingo, providing thought-provoking

opinion pieces or sharing in-depth knowledge on our services, people or projects – our blog is your

one-stop shop for all things academic travel – check it out at diversitytravel.com/blog

The Diversity Travel Blog...

In the modern world of global connections and improved access to higher

education, international travel is a key element of most universities’ travel

programmes. From exchanges to field trips and exhibitions to partner

programmes, UK universities have representatives travelling across the

globe 24/7, so how can academic institutions take advantage of their

unique status to cut costs in this important area?

Well, there are a number of methods to reduce spend in your travel

programme, but one of the key ways is to reap the benefits of the

academic fares that are available only though specialist travel

management companies (TMCs). In this article, we’ll break down some of

the main questions and queries on academic fares and fill you in on how

you can benefit from their unique raft of options.

Academic fares - what’s the story?

Academic fares are special rates provided by airlines

to achieve cost and time savings for academic

organisations. They are designed to offer not only a

good price, but increased flexibility, in terms of changes

and baggage amongst other things.

Academic fares are not available directly with airlines

and can only be purchased through specialist TMCs,

such as Diversity Travel.

A relatively new offering, academic fares have been

introduced in the last 10 years. In many ways a

development borne of the success of charity fares,

the benefits of academic fares are similar to those of

their charity and not-for-profit sister fares, which have

been around for decades, and were pioneered by the

founder of Diversity Travel, Harish Sodha.

This depends on the supplier, but there are various

ways in which academic fares can assist universities

in their travel plans; examples of the kinds of benefits*

you can expect to find are:

• Unlimited changes permitted

• Reduced cancellation fees (up to 24 hours

before departure)

• Savings of up to 80%

• No Saturday night stay restrictions

• Extended holding deadlines

• Available in all classes of travel

What are academic fares?

When were they introduced?

What extra benefits do academic fares provide?

Academic fares are offered by a range of airlines,

providing access to most major destinations worldwide.

Airlines known to offer academic fares include:

✓ Aeromexico

✓ Air Europa

✓ Alitalia

✓ American Airlines

✓ British Airways

✓ Cathay Pacific

✓ China Southern

✓ Delta

✓ Emirates

✓ Ethiopian Airlines

✓ Etihad

✓ Fiji Airways

✓ Garuda

✓ Gulf Air

✓ Hainan Airlines

The best way to get more information on academic

fares is to get in touch with your travel management

company. Remember, only specialist TMCs, such as

Diversity Travel, offer these fares to university clients –

if you’d like to find out more, simply drop us an email:

[email protected].

*These benefits are examples, they may not necessarily apply in part or

in whole to any particular airline’s academic fare offering.

✓ Kenya Airways

✓ Malaysia Airlines

✓ Oman Air

✓ Philippine Airlines

✓ Qatar Airways

✓ Royal Air Maroc

✓ Royal Brunei

✓ Royal Jordanian

✓ Singapore Airlines

✓ South African

✓ Tam Brazilian

✓ Thai Airways

✓ Turkish Airlines

✓ Virgin

Who offers academic fares?

Where can I find out more?


10 ACADEMIC COMPASS EDITION ONE

King’s College London recently

announced its intention to become the

UK’s first university to open a branch

campus in the European Union. In

collaboration with Technische Universität

Dresden, it aims to create an ‘offshore

King’s College Europe’, with TU Dresden

dean Professor Stefan Bornstein

commenting that the plan will allow

King’s to have a presence in Europe and

maintain access to European research.

So, should this partnership be the first of

many such ‘branch campuses’?

Branch campuses are by no means

a new phenomenon in the higher

education landscape – in May 2017, the

University of Birmingham announced its

intention to open its first international

branch campus in Dubai, for example.

With a total capacity of 4,500 students,

within six years it will offer a full range

of science, engineering, business, social

science, and humanities programmes –

mirroring those offered by the university’s

home campus. Brexit has dramatically

increased the significance of these

campuses and their potential value to

universities.

Recent statistics suggest that over two

thirds of prospective students based

outside of the EU would be very or

somewhat likely to study at a continental

outpost of a UK university. In addition,

with the numbers of applications to UK

universities by EU students down 5%

on last year, branch campuses could

potentially offer a highly valuable way of

attracting these students discouraged by

travelling to the UK to study.

Branch campuses offer a means for

academics to cement the reputation of

the UK overseas, retaining important

teaching and research partnerships, as

well as access to funding, to allow us to

remain competitive on the global stage

after Brexit.

It is also clear there is much more work

to be done. Recently it was revealed

that while more than 700,000 people

are currently studying for a UK degree

or tertiary-level qualification outside the

country (with the value of transnational

education increasing 56% since 2010),

it still represents just 4.2% of all higher

education exports.

The UK’s universities should accept

the challenge these figures pose,

and make good on the prediction of

the vice chancellor of the University

of Birmingham that all ‘major global

universities’ will be multi-campus within

the next decade.

Now is a critical time for academics

to collaborate with their own travel

management partners to make their

mark internationally, and encourage the

development of UK institutions overseas

to continue to deliver world-class

education to students.

Branch campuses could be one of the

major methods by which UK universities

look to broaden worldwide access to

education. Offering students the benefits

of a global education but with the quality

and prestige of a UK degree, universities

should capitalise on the demand and

appeal of these qualifications while

adding real value to students looking

for a more international educational

experience.

Not only this, but branch campuses

offer a means for academics to cement

the reputation of the UK overseas,

retaining important teaching and

research partnerships, as well as

access to funding, to allow us to remain

competitive on the global stage after

Brexit. At a time when universities are

crying out for clarity from the government

over issues such as post-Brexit rights

of EU nationals, it is important that they

take all the steps they can to deliver

certainty for themselves when it comes

to international collaboration.

The UK has a proud history of working

with academic partners across the globe.

Now is a critical time for academics

to collaborate with their own travel

management partners to make their

mark internationally, and encourage

the development of UK institutions

overseas to continue to deliver world-

class education to students. Through

strategically planned international

outreach, academics should also

reinforce that the UK remains open

for business, a strong and viable

research partner, and a world leader in

developing the transnational education

market.

Looking ahead: the future of HE in the UKThe full extent of Brexit’s

impact on Higher Education

in the UK is yet to become

clear, but it’s certainly been

an eventful year for the

academic sector regardless.

So, what is the future of

Higher Education in the UK

and can British universities

be doing more abroad to

secure future growth?

Our head of account

management, Chris

Hellawell, explains why

building new campuses in

the EU is the route to safety

for UK universities in a post-

Brexit world.

"Branch campuses offer a means for academics to cement the reputation of

the UK overseas.”

Chris Hellawell, Head of Account

Management, Diversity Travel.


DIVERSITY TRAVELLERS From award wins to working with local charities and from exhibitions to supplier

trips and social events, our team has had a busy year in and out of the office.

Here’s a glimpse into the past 12 months with the Diversity family.

So, what’s the alternative? Well, if your university uses a travel management company,

booking online, via email or over the phone with them provides

a number of rather handy advantages.

From visa assistance and travel guides

before you go, to instant updates and

repatriation in the event of an emergency,

your travel management company will

provide you with peace of mind that

whatever happens, you’re covered.

Specialist knowledge and expertise

Time-savingAccess to HE-specific faresTMCs allow you to send basic details

of your requirements off to them and

have them do all the leg-work. No more

hours scouring comparisons sites and

the hundreds of prices on offer; let the

experts do that for you whilst you get on

with your own important tasks.

Peace of mind, 24/7Travel management companies usually have

highly-experienced staff, who know the best

routes, can offer time-saving tips and can

hunt out the keenest prices, so make the most

of the professionals you have access to by

tapping into their knowledge and experience.

On many comparison sites,

the first price you see is not

the final price you pay.

Sort by price… cheapest price…

perfect! Hmmm. Maybe not. It’s

in the comparison sites’ best

interests to represent every price

as a cracking deal, but do a bit of

digging and you might find your

final price is significantly more.

Typical fees you might not see

initially on comparison sites include:

airport taxes, travel insurance,

booking fees etc. Add all these on

and you may have a very different

price to that initial figure.

You’ll probably also be

limiting the service you

receive.

Booking through a comparison site

and think they’ll be there to help

if anything goes wrong on your

trip? Sadly not. Once you’ve made

your purchase, the comparison site

takes its cut from the supplier and

moves on. Equally, the companies

with which the comparison sites do

business are not always reputable

and the focus on price over quality

can come back to bite you.

Affecting your safety and

security.

As a traveller, if you book for

yourself online, it’s much harder

for your employer to track where

you are staying, how you are

getting there, which carriers you

are using etc. This information

is not only important from an

information standpoint, it’s also

highly significant when it comes

to any emergencies. If you are

travelling with work and your plans

are disrupted by travel or other

major incidents, your employer may

struggle to find you and help you.

1 2 3

Want to book some travel or accommodation? Just jump online, do a quick search and

jobs a good’un, right? Wrong.

We’re all used to using comparison sites, they’ve become an accepted part of modern

purchasing, whether it’s insurance or mortgages, broadband or travel, as consumers,

it feels like we’re getting all the options and making an informed choice.

But, the deals you are offered on these sites aren’t always as they seem… And when it

comes to academic travel, there are some very good reasons why booking for yourself

via a comparison site is a false economy.


Why comparison sites aren’t always all they seemComparison Plight

Your travel management company should

be able to offer you specialist academic

fares. A number of airlines offer these

sector-specific fares that provide a whole

host of advantages over standard fares –

REMEMBER! You won’t be able to access

these great deals via a comparison site.


There has been a great deal of

uncertainty around the future of the UK

higher education sector following the

result of the EU Referendum. Recent

news has highlighted concerns that

institutions may lose up to 15 per cent

of staff unless freedom of movement is

maintained. As such, many universities

are now opting to open branches inside

the European Union to soften the blow

of Britain’s exit. Perhaps most acute is

the fear that the UK’s global reputation

for higher education and research could

be at risk. In a recent survey, more than

80 per cent of university chiefs said

that the threat to funding from the EU is

“considerable”.

The UK is currently a net contributor

to the EU budget. Between 2007 and

2013, the UK contributed €77.7 billion

to the EU, and received €47.5 billion

of funding in return. Despite this, the

UK is one of the largest recipients of

research funding in the EU. The UK

Office of National Statistics reports the

UK’s contribution to EU research and

development was €5.4 billion between

2007 and 2013. During this time, the

UK received €8.8 billion in direct EU

funding for research, development and

innovation activities. The concern that

this will negatively impact the UK higher

education landscape is, therefore,

justified.

In terms of the future, one need only

look to the UK’s existing track record

of building relationships with non-

EU countries. Cementing ties and

collaborating with global institutions

is something that UK universities excel

at. The UK is truly a world leader in

internationally collaborative research.

In 2012, a huge 46.3 per cent of

UK research publications involved

international collaboration. Since then

the UK has grown faster than any of its

key competitors (with the exception of

the USA).

Similarly, international student numbers

highlight that UK degrees are still

considered highly prestigious. In the

years 2014-15, the UK attracted almost

400,000 international students, making

it one of the most popular study

destinations in the world. Of the 2014-

15 intake, from the top 20 countries

of student origin, 86,620 arrivals

were from the EU, more than double

from elsewhere in the world. This

demonstrates that the UK successfully

attracts students from across the globe.

These figures are testament to the

global recognition of the value of a

British education.

The threat of Brexit caused

consternation in almost every UK

industry. Calls for Britain to step up

its exporting performance to mitigate

economic costs associated with Brexit

mean that now is the time for us to

make the most of one of our biggest

and boldest export markets: education.

Academic travel has arguably never

been as important or necessary as now.

We can defy the notion that the

UK will become inward-facing

following its departure from the EU.

Universities across Britain should take

full advantage of this opportunity

to develop new relationships with

institutions around the world. Likewise,

it's a perfect foundation to enhance

existing relationships and boost our

global standing.

The scale of what is now needed from

UK institutions requires a structured and

easy-to manage approach. Universities

can now turn confidently to their travel

management partner to create a

seamless plan of action. This will allow

academics to focus on the task at hand,

bolstering our reputation worldwide and

showing that the UK does, truly, mean

business.

Forging international ties is key to sustaining our Great British institutionsAs a world leader in international education, what is the new trajectory for the UK’s

higher education sector? Our managing director, Christopher Airey considers the benefits

of looking outward in a post Brexit world.

In 2012, a huge 46.3% of UK research publications involved

international collaboration.

Christopher Airey, Managing Director,

Diversity Travel.

So, Sarah, what’s your background?

After graduation, I worked as a freelance journalist, but

found that work was hard to come by after the 2008

financial crisis. I ended up on the local government graduate

scheme and found myself in procurement after buying

playgrounds and a skate park for a council in Surrey.

For the last 5 years or so I have specialised in construction

and property procurement in local and central government.

I came to LSE in late 2015; Part of my role has been to re-

procure and manage the university’s travel management

contract.

What do you enjoy most about working for LSE?

Overall, there are lots of interesting people working at

LSE and the complexity and international reach of the

organisation ensure it’s never boring!

Duty of care is something of increasing importance to

academic institutions, what do you expect from your

travel management company to help achieve this?

Traveller tracking, knowing that our TMC will contact

travellers in an emergency and will assist them in the event

of a crisis are all critical to us.

It is also important that our Health and Safety team

know when people are intending to travel to sanctioned

areas or potentially dangerous locations so they can be

appropriately trained and insured and receive the required

pre-trip support.

Thankfully, Diversity alert Health and Safety to any

bookings made to such areas and provide other risk

management tools to give us peace of mind.

London School of EconomicsOne of the most famous and prestigious

universities in the UK, the London School of

Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a

powerhouse of the higher education sphere.

With a first class reputation and over 10,000

students and 3,300 staff, it’s crucial that

LSE provides the very best support services

possible, which is where procurement comes

in. We caught up with LSE’s Deputy Head of

Procurement, Sarah Hadland to find out her

views on academic procurement, working at

LSE and the importance of duty of care.

CLIENT FOCUS

LSE is part of the LUPC consortium, what value do

such consortia bring to procurement professionals?

We used the LUPC Travel Framework to appoint Diversity,

and it made the whole process much quicker and easier

than it would have been if we ran a full tender. In addition,

we benefited from the pricing secured by the collective

purchasing power of LUPC’s members.

I also find it helpful to meet with other universities who are

using the framework and hear about their experiences.

Overall, being part of the framework was a great help in

making the right decision for LSE.

What part does technology play in your travel

management requirements?

We like having a high-quality online booking system that is

easy to use; when academics are booking their own travel,

they often prefer to use the online system.

We are also very excited about the Diversity App as this will

be really helpful to our travellers; the majority of whom have

School mobile phones.

Diversity and LSE have also implemented payment by lodge

procurement card for all our travel. We were previously

receiving thousands of paper invoices a year which took a

long time to process and pay. We are moving to a Travel

Management Account (TMA) payment system very soon,

which will deliver even greater efficiencies.

Do you think Brexit will affect the academic travel

sector and, if so, how?

I understand there are complicated issues around Brexit’s

impact on research funding from the EU in the medium

to long term. There is potential for this to bring about a

tightening of the belt across the higher education sector.

However, the academic community will be working to find

ways around these issues and ultimately, I don’t think it will

reduce the amount of travel academics do, particularly with

the increasing importance of global connections.

What advice would you give to procurement

professionals just starting out?

Get a mentor! The Chartered Institute of Procurement and

Supply (CIPS) have a mentoring scheme if there isn’t a

scheme where you work, and I found the assistance and

insight I received priceless in my development.

I would also strongly advise people to complete MCIPS and

if possible do some kind of project management training as

well – it’ll stand you in good stead as your career develops.

And finally, what’s your top travel destination?

Ironically, I don’t have the opportunity to travel very much,

but I recently went to Slovenia which was beautiful and

(despite the terrible exchange rate) relatively cheap.

DIVERSITY TRAVEL’S

TOP TRAVEL TIPS

GOT YOUR OWN HANDY TRAVEL TIPS? SHARE THEM WITH US ON TWITTER WITH #DIVERSITYTRAVEL

Double . Check. Everything.

It never hurts to carefully double check

your travel itinerary. Arrive at the right

terminal at the right time, every time.

Book in advanceWhether it’s a UK train journey

or long haul flight, booking

early is always the best way to

reduce your travel costs.

Get extra copies!Always print additional hard copies of

all your travel documents, as you may

not have access to your email or phone

when you need them most!

Smile!Whenever communicating, do so with a smile on your

face! No matter the situation, a smile should solicit a

positive response from those around you and help

diffuse any possible problems or misunderstandings.

Know when to be gratefulResearch how to show appreciation where

you’re travelling to. Many cultures expect specific

traits to be shown at certain times, lest you be

considered rude!

Carry a fake walletIf you have to spend time in a

dangerous area, carry a fake wallet

full of old currency and some expired

reward cards. Should you ever be

accosted, hand this wallet over and

keep your real wallet safe and secure.

Use academic faresIf flexible travel plans are a

must, use specialist academic

fares to secure the lowest fares

with reduced penalties for

changes or cancellation.

Know when to tipResearch the tipping culture

of where you’re travelling to.

In some cultures, tipping is

considered rude behaviour!

Link your transport up!Most travel management companies have ground travel

partnerships that can help keep your travel seamless,

secure and cost-effective. Ask your designated travel

management company how they can help you!

Scope out the best eats.If you want to try some tasty local street food,

stand back and take note of where the locals

are buying theirs from. Chances are that this is

the safest and most delicious place to go.

We’ve all had those tiresome situations on our travels when things don’t quite go to plan.

So, we’ve tapped the Diversity Travel team for some ultimate travel tips to nip some of those

tedious times in the bud and make sure you’re prepared for anything…


Dan Hall, Visa Team Manager,

Diversity Travel.

Other examples include:

• At the time of writing, 16 countries forbid admission to

Israeli passport holders: Algeria, Bangladesh, Brunei, Iran,

Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan,

Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates and

Yemen.

• At the time of writing, citizens from Somalia, Yemen, Syria,

Libya, Iran, North Korea, Chad and Venezuela are affected

by restrictions on entering the United States.

Take this factor into account when applying for a visa at a

foreign consulate or embassy to reduce the chance of delays.

These rules change all of the time, of course, so get in touch

with your chosen TMC for the latest up-to-date information.

Many previously manual-only travel prerequisites are going

digital, and visas are no different. Remember when you could

only check in at the desk at airports? Gone are the days of

manual data entry being the only way to organise your trip!

There are now many electronic visa application systems

available for you to use, however, availability of e-Visa

application systems vary greatly depending on where you are

travelling. Similarly, there can be restrictions on what activities

a traveller can engage in if they are visiting on an e-Visa. In

some cases e-Visas are only available to tourists and certain

nationalities.

At the time of publication, only 22 countries across the globe

have electronic visa application systems.

Countries with less developed ICT infrastructures probably

won't have e-Visa capabilities, so don't treat it as a given!

Equally, many of the most visited countries in the world choose

not to offer an e-Visa service, including; the United Kingdom,

France, Germany, the United States and Spain.

However, where accessible, e-Visa application systems

provide many time saving benefits. Two of the primary benefits

of e-Visa systems are that:

• The entire process takes place online, from the visa

application and document submission to actual payment.

This means that applications only have one online portal

to sign into to complete their application.

• e-Visas reduce the need for travellers to visit embassies

for visa related inquiries. This reduces both travel costs for

the traveller, and queues at embassies or consulates.

There you have it, our top tips for ensuring a problem free visa

application.

If you have any questions or curiosities about your visa

application, get in touch with our in-house experts. Our visa

team has over 40 years' experience and with their help, you

can minimise the chances of a costly application rejection.

T: +44(0)20 3544 3550

E: [email protected]


Your guide to a problem free visa application

Every foreign embassy has different resources, staff

numbers and methods for processing applications. As

such, it's a good idea for you to research how long your

application may take and submit it as soon as possible. In

some countries, such as the Democratic Republic of the

Congo, your application can take a minimum of 3 weeks to

process.

Be aware that whilst your application is under review you

may not have access to your passport. Before submitting

your application, be sure to fully consider your other travel

commitments first. Make sure you can get by without a

passport for however long your application will take. It

never hurts to assume there will be delays too, so add a

few extra days onto your plan just in case.

Timing is everything!

You'll be down a passport

“Purchase a second passport

to stay flexible while your

application is being processed.”

TOP TIP

Depending on where you've travelled, the entry stamps in your

passport may actually hinder your journey.

Some countries don't allow citizens or travellers from particular

territories across their borders. This is typically due to political,

military or cultural tension in that region. As such, restrictions

of this nature will often be very difficult to negotiate past, if not

impossible.

If you intend to travel to a region containing any kinds of

hostilities between territories, this is a very important factor

to consider. Not only may you be unable to travel to your

intended destination, you may even get into trouble with local

authorities for trying. Spending a night in the cells over a

misunderstanding was not a part of your itinerary! Many travel

management companies have extensive duty of care services

to account for these kind of situations, but best to avoid them

outright where possible.

Sometimes travellers of certain nationalities can face extended

processing times or stricter rules. As with the above point

about entry stamps, this is typically due to political or cultural

tension between nations. For example, Pakistan nationals

wanting to travel to India face a much more rigorous visa

application process. This remains true no matter the nature of

their visit, even if it's academic focused.

Entry stamps can... deny you entry

Processing times can depend on your nationality

e-Visas exist!

Applying for a visa is an essential part of many

academic journeys – for global travel, you

simply can't cross international borders for

extended amounts of time without one!

It can also be a time-consuming process, often

requiring tedious visits to an embassy and hours

kicking your heels, waiting in an interminable

line of equally frustrated would-be travellers.

Every country has their own rule book and

approach to approving visa applications.

As a result, there is no one-set-way to guarantee

your visa application will be approved on time.

In worst case scenarios, your application may

even be denied if you fail to meet an embassy’s

exact criteria.

We spoke to Dan Hall, the head of our team of

visa experts for his top tips on how to achieve

a speedy, painless visa application no matter

where you're travelling.

back in June where I was lucky

enough to go on safari and spend time exploring Zanzibar.

More recently, I’ve started volunteering

for a homeless charity in Manchester, providing support via food stations for the homeless and those struggling financially. This helps me disconnect from everyday life and my “perceived pressures” and focus on those that

do truly have pressures in life that

hopefully few of us ever have to

experience.

Relationships are so important to me – both professionally and personally.

Having studied at the University of

management company – that’s when Diversity Travel was born!

Be flexible and prepared to open your mind to different opportunities. When I started university I had no idea I would

do some of the things I’ve since done. Seize the moment and don’t hesitate if an interesting opportunity arises. Travel is a great industry to work in, you’ll meet some amazing people and depending on your role you’ll have

the opportunity to visit some fantastic places.

Try to get into a niche sector within the industry. At Diversity the best thing

is the days are so varied, the morning could be an academic travelling to San Francisco for a conference, an

emergency evacuation of an aid worker from South Sudan, a flying visit to New York for a meeting with the World Bank and a departmental field trip to Ghana. That’s all before lunch!

Travel of course has to be my main escape. This is the time when I truly relax and switch off. I visited Tanzania

During his time studying a bachelors in Modern Languages at the University of Bradford, Matt developed a strong passion for travel and tourism and went on to travel across the world. Over the last decade, Matt has played a key role in Diversity Travel’s development as an award-winning specialist travel management company.We speak to Matt about his achievements and how his university experience shaped both his personal and professional journey.

As Operations Director, my team and I ensure we not only maintain Diversity’s focus on customer service but also stay ahead of the pack in terms of technology, which is an increasingly

important area of travel management. Many of our clients travel to quite

difficult locations and for high pressure reasons. It’s important they can trust us and know that we’re there to help,

whenever needed – that’s my job!I get great satisfaction in seeing our clients involved in all kinds of

humanitarian and research projects around the world and knowing that

we’ve played a part in helping them help others.

I’ve always had a passion for travel

and have worked in the industry

since university. The difference with Diversity is the sheer variety of

destinations we send people to; these aren’t just regular destinations, they can be medical hotspots, disaster areas or archaeological digs and the

corresponding demands on our staff to be able to assist in emergency situations are high - it takes a great deal of dedication to make things work in often time critical situations. When we first started Diversity Travel, I was part of the 24hr team; I remember working around the clock when an

earthquake hit; it was a fast-paced environment where I needed to make decisions and act quickly.

We’ve grown from 4 staff to 120 and celebrated our 10th anniversary this year, as a board member, I’m naturally delighted at our progress and looking

forward to seeing what the future will

bring.

Well, at the time I wanted to be an interpreter, but I didn’t want to do a

traditional language course. The course at the University of Bradford was

designed to be more vocational and more relevant to the working world once graduated.

I studied French and Spanish at A-Level and I knew I wanted to carry on with

Spanish but wanted to learn another

challenging language so I enrolled

onto Modern Languages, Russian and Spanish.

The course lived up to everything I was hoping for – it was very relevant to commerce and really fired my passion for languages. My first time in an Interpreting Booth was a daunting experience but gradually grew into

my favourite part of my four years at university.

My personal highlight was a 6-month experience in Yaroslavl’, Russia, living

with a Russian family. At the time, I was nowhere near as fluent in Russian as I was in Spanish, so it was a big

challenge. During my stay I had the chance to travel on the Trans-Siberian Express from Moscow to Irkutsk, an experience I’ll never forget.

When I graduated from university I spent around 3-4 years travelling – working on cruise ships, so I was lucky

enough to visit some amazing places. Towards the end of that period I spent a lot of time based out of St Petersburg purchasing for a number of ships visiting the city. After that, I joined a graduate scheme at a travel management company in Manchester and spent several

years there in a variety of different roles, progressing from Reservations Consultant to Senior Management, then establishing and heading up an

office in Brussels.In 2007 I returned to the UK and began talking to Harish, Chris and

Sarah (fellow Directors at Diversity

Travel) about starting our own travel

Name: Matthew Truin

Current position: Operations Director

at Diversity Travel

Tell us about your role and

what you find most enjoyable

about your work.1

Why did you decide to study at

The University of Bradford?

What were the most memorable

aspects of your experience?

2How did you get into the travel

industry?3

What advice would you give

to current or future students

hoping to work in travel?4

You obviously lead a very busy

professional life. How do you

unwind and relax?5

Bradford, I then went on to have a

professional relationship with them in one of my earlier roles, and now a relationship with Bradford again at Diversity Travel. I really appreciate that legacy and maintaining bonds with trusted individuals and organisations.In business, as in life, things don’t

always go as planned and having that

honest relationship with a customer helps when those hiccoughs do

happen.

I think people joining together and working as a team can have a huge positive impact. It’s something I see day in, day out with the institutions we work with, and it’s something I witness and encourage every day with the great

group of travel professionals we have

here at Diversity Travel. We’re greater than the sum of our parts when we pull together.

University: The University of Bradford

Course: BA (Hons) Modern Languages

(Russian & Spanish)

Year of Graduation: 1996

Tell us a little more about your

motivations, inspiration and

personal ambitions.6

THE ACADEMIC CONNECTION: MAT T T RUINEDITION ONE ACADEMIC COMPASS 2322 ACADEMIC COMPASS EDITION ONE


We investigate the need for risk management solutions and the demands of academic travellers and institutions.

In an increasingly international sector, higher education is seeing

more people than ever travel abroad. We never tire of the passion we

see from students and academics alike taking their commitment and

expertise to every far-flung corner of the globe – but we know that

caring for their safety and security is paramount to the organisations

they represent.

That’s why agile duty of care is so important. Duty of care is the

obligation, both legal and moral, for organisations to ensure the

safety and well-being of their staff and students. At Diversity Travel,

we use industry-leading technology and software developed in-

house to ensure traveller safety and access to key data, 24/7.

With us, you’re in safe hands.

Recognising traveller trends and the evolving needs of academic

institutions led us to develop our own all-in-one online traveller

tracking system, pin-point 2. (pin-point 2 gives organisations access

to real-time intelligence on staff and traveller locations, using colour

coded ratings to highlight the level of risk faced.) But how does it help

academic institutions hit their duty of care needs?

Duty of carepin-point 2 lets you see a worldwide overview

of all your travellers, with live location data,

tracking options and risk heat maps.

Global overview

Bespoke portals

pin-point 2 allows clients to create bespoke

portals with handpicked features, tools and

branding. By using your own company branding,

user adoption is a cinch.

pin-point 2 contains travel data for every booking

That means that every step of your traveller’s

journey is captured, documented and understood.

Travel alerts

pin-point 2 travel alerts give you a global overview

of world and local events that may affect your

travellers. Travel and incident alert information is

sourced from over 100 different governmental, local

and news organisations across the world.

Alerts allow you to quickly view the time and date

of the event, its severity on a scale of 1-5, and

whether you have any travellers travelling to or in

the locations affected.

pin-point 2 also allows you to go into greater depth

by selecting a specific alert or country for more

detail. Alert information is incorporated into your

reports and documentation, keeping you up to date

every step of the way.

To guarantee a complete portfolio of knowledge

for each and every traveller, pin-point 2 can only

be used when both a risk assessment has been

completed and complete traveller information has

been captured and sent to insurers.

In summary, managing risk is of ever-increasing

importance to academic institutions across the world,

so make sure you’re achieving your duty of care

responsibilities by making the most of the services

your travel management company has to offer.

Want to know more about how

pin-point 2 will help your organisation

hit its duty of care needs?

Email [email protected]

with any questions and to order your

free information pack.

Complete information, complete security

Traveller tracker

pin-point 2’s traveller tracking enables you to quickly

find real-time location information on individuals or

groups of travellers. This helps manage duty of care

and boost traveller safety & security by letting you

see both current and upcoming trips, allowing you to

look up anybody’s location at any time.

Through the pin-point 2 traveller tracker, your

organisation can also send notifications and

messages direct to the traveller.

THE PAST TEN YEARS FOR

Diversity Travel

*Travel Management Company

2007• First office opened on Charlotte Street, Manchester

2008• First charity contracts and fares department set up

2009• The Salvation Army become a client

2011• Visa processing office opened in London

• Began monthly donations to the Barnabus charity

• Rank in Buying Business Travel's Top 50 Travel

Management Companies2012• Again rank in Buying Business Travel's Top 50 Travel

Management Companies, as well as list of Fastest

Growing TMCs*

• Grew to 50 staff members

2014• Won Buying Business Travels ‘Best Travel Management’ award

• Won TTG ‘Business Travel Agency of the Year’ award

• 24/7 reservations team launched in Melbourne, Australia

• Save the Children International become our first global client,

extending our international reach to over 52 countries 2015• Won Kenya Airways ‘Charity Agent of the Year’ award

• Won GTMCs ‘Innovation’ award for InstaQuote (IQ) - our

proprietary booking software

• The Wellcome Trust become a client

• The University of Warwick become a client

• Appointed as academic travel supplier for the Southern

Universities Purchasing Consortium

• Relief, Night and in-house Development teams created

2016• Won ‘Operations Team of the Year’ People Award

• Won ‘Reservations Team of the Year’ People Award

• The London School of Economics become a client

• Harish Sodha, founder, in Top 20 BAME business global leaders

• Academic Fares services launched

• Diversity Travel develop and launch Hotel Booking software

• Academic travel seminars programme launched 2017• Won Kenya Airways ‘Charity Agent of the Year’ award

• Won People Awards ‘Account Management Team of the Year’ award

• Won TTG ‘Business Travel Agent of the Year’ award

• Began homeless street kitchens with Coffee4Craig charity

• Przemek Koszka joins board as Director of Technology

2010• Grew to 25 staff members

2013• Grew to 100 staff members

• Moved to the Manchester One Tower on Portland Street,

Manchester


We’re celebrating our first decade in operation here at Diversity Travel currently and it’s certainly been a

whirlwind ride! We’re proud of the relationships we’ve built, the friends we’ve made and the people who’ve joined

us as part of the Diversity family along the way. To show where we’ve come from and how we’ve developed,

we’ve put together a whistle-stop tour of Diversity Travel’s story over the last ten years.

We’d like to take the opportunity to say thank you to all of our customers, suppliers, partners and our people

who’ve made the first ten years so enjoyable. Here’s to you and the next decade!

Winter Olympics 2018 hosts new events this

year such as sledging relay, tubing drag race

and igloo building.

Sorry, we meant Diversity Travel’s Winter Olympics!

We celebrated our 10th anniversary on 10th February 2018 with a huge celebration and winter games at Manchester’s Chill Factore. As if Manchester wasn’t cold enough, over 60 of our team braced the sub-zero temperatures to take part in snow-themed challenges at the UK’s longest indoor ski slope. After a very close competition, the winning team was the Orange team, consisting of a motley crew of marketing heroes, business intelligence specialists, online and IT support gurus and sales and finance whiz-kids.

There was, of course, 'friendly' gloating and they proudly wore their medals for the duration of the evening, which consisted of a themed Bavarian Buffet, sprawling view of the artificial ski slopes and, of course, a party and DJ. As if proceedings needing taking up a notch?! It’s cliché, but the Diversity staff really do work hard and play hard.

To thank staff for their hard work, the company also hosted our first annual Diversity Travel staff awards ceremony. Six awards were given during the celebration, including Best Newcomer, which went to our Credit Controller Sarah Hobbs. Innovation of the Year award went to Mahmoud Salah for his work on our revolutionary and award-winning quoting system Instaquote. The Team of the Year award was giving to the Willow Team for their continuous high level of service.

The Superhero award went to the rail Assistant Team Manager, and true one of a kind, Allie Coker. Jo Lawes from the Relief Team was awarded for her excellent service, and the Outstanding Achievement award went to Juniper team’s Lee Streetly.

Each of our winners won amazing prizes in the way of flights to the furthest and most exotic reaches of the globe from our airlines partners, who also sponsored the staff awards. We’d like to thank again our sponsors; Turkish Airlines, Jet Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, British Airways and South African Airways.

Company-wide we're all incredibly proud of their continued effort, contributions and commitment which are what makes Diversity Travel a leader in the travel management sector.

Christopher Airey, managing director of Diversity Travel, said:

“Our anniversary celebration was dedicated to all of our

proud and passionate staff, who have been instrumental in

propelling us through the incredible journey we’ve had in our

first 10 years as a business.”

“We have demonstrated strong, consistent growth since the

business was founded, but remain hugely ambitious and keen

to improve further for all of our customers. We are developing

some exciting new initiatives to launch later this year, and

we look forward to an even bigger celebration in a few

years’ time!”

You heard it here first… the future is bright for Diversity Travel.

We’d like to take the opportunity to say thank you to all of our customers, suppliers, partners and our people

who’ve made the first ten years so enjoyable. Here’s to you and the next decade!

DT 10 year celebrations!

10 years of supporting UK & global charities 1,895clients

149,145passengers

261,811flights

2018• Celebrate 10 Year Anniversary

• Held first Diversity Travel staff awards ceremony

• Become an exclusive provider of air travel on Crown

Commercial Service's (CCS) agreement

In the current global climate, and with increasingly diverse workforces, it’s more important

than ever that academic organisations meet their legal and moral obligations of duty of care.

We spoke to Carolyn Pearson, pioneering safety advocate and CEO of the female

traveller safety experts, Maiden Voyage, to pick her brains on everything from traveller

safety to diversity and her top three travel tips.

RFP process and at least one major

investment bank is asking for Maiden

Voyage certification in their hotel

procurement process.

This benefits organisations in other

ways too. With the right provisions in

place they can actually attract and

retain female talent whose roles entail

business travel.

What role can travel management

companies play in helping

organisations meet their duty of care

obligations?

I regularly come across organisations

and TMCs working together with a focus

on cost and compliance, rather than on

duty of care. However, if both parties

focused on duty of care, they would

have a valid reason to push compliance

which then gives them the power to

drive down costs. Both parties have to

be committed to this as an outcome.

Here’s a real-life example.

A female journalist is covering a

political party conference. The hotel

rates are understandably high at this

time, so to keep within budget the TMC

places her out of town. The business

traveller has to take a taxi very late at

night back to her hotel. The total cost

of the trip is higher than exceeding the

capped rate. In this particular example

the hotel was located down country

lanes and the taxi driver got lost. The

female passenger was extremely

anxious in this situation. The risk to her

and her wellbeing increased as a result.

These types of examples are extremely

common.

What do you enjoy most about your

job?

I’m struggling to pick one thing. I love

the variety of clients we have, huge

names in premiership sport, silicon

valley tech giants, luxury brands to

pharmaceutical companies and one

of the world’s biggest entertainment

corporations. I love the genuine

gratitude from the women that we are

helping and some of them become

our biggest advocates. Then there’s

the wonderful opportunities (that often

come packaged as curve balls) that

come our way every week. In short,

it’s been a huge roller-coaster to grow

a business from the ground up but it’s

also a gift.

Finally, what are your top 3 tips for

traveller safety?

1. Research, Research, Research (your

destination).

2. Politeness should come secondary

to personal safety.

3. Complacency is your biggest

enemy.

Carolyn is the CEO and Founder of

Maiden Voyage, an organisation that

provides intelligence and solutions

to support the corporate female

traveller. She is a regular speaker on

the international speaker circuit on the

subject of female business traveller

safety. She represents women travellers

on the Global Business Travel Alliance

(GBTA) Risk Committee, is one of several

travel risk professionals on the advisory

board for PEAR Insights magazine and

was a finalist in the Women in Security

Awards.

What was the reason behind starting

Maiden Voyage?

I was on a business trip working in

Hollywood. As a prolific ‘bleisure’

traveller, I had taken the weekend

prior to my business meetings to rest

and get out and see the city, however

the reality was very different. I found

myself staying in a soulless business

hotel in downtown LA, not the kind of

place for a woman to venture out alone

in the evening. I figured there must

be thousands of women in the same

position as I who were either holed up

in a hotel and bored, nervous about

venturing out alone or indeed avoided

it because of unwanted attention. There

must be a solution I thought, perhaps a

site through which I could connect, but

there wasn’t so I created it.

How did you end up working in travel

management and training?

At the time of launching Maiden

Voyage, it was really just a ‘hobby’ to

satisfy my own desire to have more

connections around the world. I was

leading technology at ITV and then

went on to work at the BBC and Easyjet.

Maiden Voyage continued to grow

in the background, evolving rapidly

into female friendly hotels, corporate

solutions and female traveller safety

training. At a certain point the business

got so big that I had to make a choice

between a secure and well-paid career

that I loved and a totally reckless risk

to follow my instinct and passion. I took

the leap 4 years ago and in 2016 we

secured close to £500K in investment

which allowed me to build a team

around me and develop a series of

travel safety eLearning modules.

Because I’ve been active in the industry

from the start, I’ve built hundreds of

fruitful relationships so now it’s very

easy to collaborate and partner with

others in business travel who share our

values. They know and trust us because

I’ve actually been building the Maiden

Voyage brand for close to a decade.

At the time, I couldn’t have foreseen

the explosion in social media or the

emphasis on duty of care, and with

more women now travelling on business

this created a ‘perfect storm’ that got

me to where I am today.

What do you find are the key issues

facing women travellers?

It’s still the original impetus which is that

lots of women don’t feel comfortable

venturing out in their spare time, so

they miss out on the cultural experience

and from a wellbeing perspective they

don’t get a break from work. They are

more likely to sit in their hotel rooms

and work, unlike their male colleagues

who can pop to the bar with less risk of

being subject to unwanted attention.

Of course, some of the safety concerns

are very real. One in four women have

suffered a negative incident when

travelling on business and half of those

are related to sexual harassment.

What progress have you seen in travel

and accommodation suppliers catering

to the needs of female travellers and

what work is there still to do?

Last year we ran the Women in

Business Travel Research and partnered

with Virgin Trains, International SOS

and a number of other organisations.

That was a major milestone in creating

a benchmark to really understand

where the industry was. Sadly, from

this research we learned that 70% of

women felt that travel providers should

try harder to meet the specific needs of

women travellers.

Not surprisingly, safety and security

is at the top of the list and the

accommodation sector has a great

opportunity to make some of the

easiest but most effective changes.

Simple things such as not announcing

room numbers out loud at check-in and

installing separate locks that cannot

be overridden with a master key or

lead to embarrassing situations when

hotels bedrooms are double-allocated;

something that happens far too

frequently.

A number of hotels have started to install

double-locking doors in order to get the

Maiden Voyage certification but there’s

also got to be a commitment from the

hotel leadership, Tony Elvin at Hotel du

Vin in Birmingham is a real stand-out

pioneer in this area.

It also makes good business sense. 80%

of travel decisions are made by women

and the Cornell School of Hospitality

concluded this in its report ‘Creating

Value for Female Business Travellers’.

Workforces are increasingly diverse,

what do organisations need to do

to reflect this change in how they

approach travel and traveller safety?

The worst thing an organisation can do is

to shy away from gender-specific travel

safety conversations. The world isn’t

equal and if you are sending a women

traveller or a member of the LGBTQ

community to a country where there

are cultural,

religious

or legal

restrictions

affecting

them, you are

failing in your

duty of care

if you don’t

arm them with

the relevant

information.

We’ve seen an increase in the number of organisations asking what provisions are in place for female travellers during the TMC

Travelling smart, travelling safe.

Carolyn Pearson, CEO,

Maiden Voyage.

The worst thing an

organisation can do

is to shy away from

gender-specific travel

safety conversations

”


30 ACADEMIC COMPASS OCTOBER 2017

What does your job involve?

I am responsible for ensuring that all

our staff, whatever their experience, are

trained in the Diversity Travel approach

to customer service and quality. As

an ISO-9001 accredited company,

managing quality is a daily priority and

it is my job to monitor standards and

identify and meet training needs. Along

with our Training Supervisors, I deliver

our classroom-based induction training

for new recruits, and have designed a

programme of continuous professional

development for existing staff, making

sure they are up to date with all the

latest developments in our industry,

which is very fast-changing.

Are you working on anything

interesting/different at the moment?

We have been focusing on customer

service and making sure clients have

a great experience when dealing with

Diversity.

All team members take part in a one

day workshop with the aim of having

an open discussion about why clients

chose us and remain loyal to us. The

workshop is to demonstrate that while

maintaining high levels of productivity

and quality in everything we do, we

must never forget the customer’s needs

in order to complete each and every

successful interaction. Closer contact

with our clients will result in higher levels

of customer satisfaction and greater,

successful communication will allow us

to understand the client’s needs more.

What do you enjoy most about your

job?

I love watching our new recruits

graduate from the classroom and join

their operations teams in reservations or

ticketing for further on-the-job training.

This is where they start to really develop

and progress their skills. Our main goal

at Diversity is to nurture and retain

talented people as we grow who can

build strong working relationships with

clients. Many of the qualities we require

just can’t be taught in a classroom.

What has been your biggest challenge

at Diversity?

Adapting our training programmes

to each individual’s experience and

personality, ensuring they “get” what

Diversity is about as a company and

know how to deliver that. It’s about

so much more than teaching the right

procedures. We founded this business on

exceptional customer service, going the

extra mile for a client. It is my job to bring

that to the surface, make sure people

understand what it means in practice.

Where is your favourite place in the

world?

Jordan, without a doubt. It is such a

beautiful part of the world, the people

are wonderful and welcoming and,

being Spanish, I really identify with its

Mediterranean-influenced culture. Petra

is the place most people associate with

the country, but having spent almost a

month travelling around, I found there

were so many other places you don’t

hear about that are just as amazing.

Where would you like to go?

Kyoto – I find Japanese culture

fascinating and maybe a little

misunderstood in the West so I would

love to learn more about it. Plus, I

would love to see the Snow Monkeys

of Jigokudani, who survive winter

temperatures of below -15 °C quite

happily: they have a thick coat of sand-

coloured fur and bright-red faces and

spend most of their time hanging out in

hot springs.

If you could take anyone in the world

with you living or dead, who would it

be and why?

The Spanish poet Federico Garcia

Lorca who died in the 30s – his work is

incredibly powerful, and as a teenager I

was besotted with him!

What’s your top travel tip?

Whether it’s places to eat and drink,

markets, or cultural places that aren’t

in the guidebooks, always ask for their

recommendations.

Auxi is a fixture at Diversity

Travel and has held a number

of roles over the years. A

highly experienced and

knowledgeable member of

staff, she currently heads

up Diversity’s training

department. Here, Auxi

talks about the rewards and

challenges of ensuring that

the entire workforce delivers

to our quality standards, and

why Kyoto, Japan is top of her

must-visit list.

Auxi Castillo, Head of Training

"Go where the locals go”

"We want to nurture and retain talented people as we grow”

Meet the team

30 ACADEMIC COMPASS EDITION ONE

We won’t lecture you, it’s simple...

British Airways academic fares will save

you time and money on your travel

As well as being available on all routes for return journeys,

British Airways academic fares provide a whole host of

advantages for Diversity Travel’s clients.

Unlimited

changes

permitted

Savings of up to

80%£

28 days

Hold tickets

for up to

No Saturday night stay restrictions

Available on

Premium and

Economy flights*

To make a booking, contact your Diversity Travel

Reservations Team today.

*Cabins include Euro Traveller, Club Europe, World Traveller, World Traveller Plus and Club World.

No minimum stay

requirement

c mpass - diversity travel · 2018-11-23 · c mpassacademic diversity travel 10 and counting find...

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