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”
EDITION ONE ACADEMIC COMPASS 7
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:
*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?
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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.
EDITION ONE ACADEMIC COMPASS 1312 ACADEMIC COMPASS EDITION ONE
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.
EDITION ONE ACADEMIC COMPASS 1514 ACADEMIC COMPASS EDITION ONE
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.
EDITION ONE ACADEMIC COMPASS 17
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…
EDITION ONE ACADEMIC COMPASS 1918 ACADEMIC COMPASS EDITION ONE
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
EDITION ONE ACADEMIC COMPASS 2120 ACADEMIC COMPASS EDITION ONE
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
EDITION ONE ACADEMIC COMPASS 2524 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
EDITION ONE ACADEMIC COMPASS 2726 ACADEMIC COMPASS EDITION ONE
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
”
EDITION ONE ACADEMIC COMPASS 2928 ACADEMIC COMPASS EDITION ONE
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