UpgradeElevating business travel intelligence

Summer 2018

FCM TRAVEL SOLUTIONS UK

What are the key ingredients for

traveller well-being?

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Now also from London City Airport with up to 3 daily flights.

100 direct weekly flights this Summer to Portugalfrom London City Airport, Heathrow, Gatwick& Manchester.C

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0518 ad UK Upgrade mag.pdf 1 22-05-2018 13:01:59

At FCM, the start of the

summer season also

marks the end of our

financial year. So it’s not

just a time for looking

forward to a summer holiday, but also

for reflecting on how our business has

performed over the last 12 months.

And what an amazing year it has

been! I am delighted to report that

we have won a record amount of new

business nationally and globally since

last July. And we have also retained

the custom of a record number of

our clients, in particular several major

companies following extensive re-

tender processes.

Much of this success has been due to

FCM’s renewed focus on developing

ground-breaking, innovative,

customer-led technology, such as

Sam, Seeqa and FCM Connect, whilst

also staying true to our ethos of

personal service.

But we can never be complacent.

Business travel will continue to

be a diverse and fast-changing

environment. Rest assured, FCM will

continue to be at the forefront of

that change over the next 12 months

and beyond in order to flex with the

needs of our clients.

In the meantime, have a great summer!

Jo GreenfieldUK General Manager, FCM Travel Solutions

4

Welcome

4 Value creation Traveller centricity? Mark Frary outlines what’s changing and why it matters

8 Healthy choices The stress points of frequent travel and implementing solutions to drive travellers’ well-being

10 Downloading Amadeus Upgrade interviews Rajiv Rajian, Amadeus EVP Business Travel Agencies

12 FCM news What’s happening at FCM

14 Comparing like with like Catherine Chetwynd unravels ‘extras’

17 Singapore Our guide to this financial hub and gastronomic heaven

19 Soweto Support See what FCM UK staff are achieving for one infant school

20 Blockchain unwrapped Linda Fox explains how blockchain could revolutionise business travel.

23 Back to school Tips for where travel managers can gain skills and learn about the market

25 Airport meetings Upgrade highlights some airport venue options

We’re dreaming about our summer holidays. The sun, sea and cocktails beckon but getting there has required online research and booking. And the experience can differ from that for a work trip.No wonder that one of travel management’s mantras is that business travellers

expect what they get in their private lives in their business lives.

This issue of Upgrade focuses on traveller experience, health and well-being and

that’s very much about the convergence of leisure expectations and corporate reality.

For some traveller centricity means an opportunity for bleisure; for others it means

reducing traveller friction and addressing work-life balance.

But how do you adapt your travel programme without reducing compliance or

increasing cost?

A good place to start is by listening to experts and finding out how peers have

addressed these challenges.

This issue has tips on where travel managers can go to ‘learn’.

And where are you going on your summer hols?

Summer 2018

Betty Low, Editor

Contents

EDITORIAL

EDITOR | Betty Low

CONTRIBUTORS | Catherine Chetwynd,

Linda Fox, Mark Frary

FCM EDITORIAL ADVISER | Vanessa Aves

ADVERTISING

ADVERTISING SALES | Sue Robinson

DESIGN

PRODUCTION & MANAGEMENT

WonDesigns, Caren Johnstone

DESIGNER & ILLUSTRATOR | André Albuquerque

PUBLISHING

MANAGING DIRECTOR | Sue Robinson

PRINTING

REDBOX | Ed Cooling

©FCMUPGRADE 2018

New business enquiries:

salesuk@fcmtravel.co.uk

Editorial and advertising enquiries:

enquiries@fcmupgrade.com

flytap.com

Lisbon and Portoare closer than ever

Now also from London City Airport with up to 3 daily flights.

100 direct weekly flights this Summer to Portugalfrom London City Airport, Heathrow, Gatwick& Manchester.C

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0518 ad UK Upgrade mag.pdf 1 22-05-2018 13:01:59

Value creation

WHAT HAS CHANGED?

Market researchers Gallup have been

measuring employee engagement since

1997. In its most recent study of 1.8 million

employees in 73 countries it found that

companies in the top quartile for its Q12

employee engagement metric significantly

outperform companies in the bottom

quartile: their customers are on average

10% more loyal, productivity is 20% higher

and, perhaps most important of all are 21%

more profitable. More engaged employees

mean your business performs better.

This business philosophy is the

cornerstone in Vineet Nayar’s

best-selling book Employees First,

Customers Second. In it he writes, “The

role of the CEO is to enable people to

excel, help them discover their own

wisdom, engage themselves entirely in

their work, and accept responsibility for

making change.” Nayar, who has made

outsourcing firm HCL Technologies a

$19 billion giant, says this idea is key to

the company’s success.

This employee-led focus intersects with

business travel in a number of ways.

WORK-LIFE BALANCE

Employees are increasingly looking

for work-life balance. This has led

to an increase in employees seeking

bleisure trips, ones that blend business

and leisure. An FCM survey of 6,000

international travellers found that bleisure

travellers were tacking on an average

of two to three days onto their business

trips and dipping into their own pockets

to the tune of $1,000 to $2,000 to do so.

Bleisure trips have come to be

associated with millennials and it is easy

to see why. A business traveller at the

start of their career may well be single

and have no family ties keeping them

at home. However, that is too simplistic

a view and older travellers are also

wanting work-life balance, particularly if

any children have left home.

Work-life balance is becoming so

important that one of Britain’s major

recruitment firms says that employees

are willing to change jobs to find it.1

Travel policy is a vital pillar in an

employee-centric organisation and one,

according to the GBTA Foundation, that

TRAVEL MANAGERS

1UK Salary and Recruiting Trends 2018, Hays. 2Creating a Frictionless Travel Experience, GBTA Foundation.

*Based on FCM global MNC data sourced from ClientBank in April 2018 and 2017 MNC client survey

If you have been to a business travel

industry conference recently, you will

almost certainly have listened to a

session about traveller centricity. Every

magazine seems to have articles on the

subject while industry suppliers raise it

regularly in their discussions with you.

But why should that be? What is it that is

making traveller centricity such a hot topic?

For most of recorded history,

companies have largely been

management or owner-centric – where

great businesses are created by

visionary leaders and employees are

just raw materials like steel or cotton to

be used to produce the final product.

Yet a growing number of companies are

treading a different path – an employee-

centric one in which workers are the most

important part of the business engine.

Traveller centricity has moved beyond a

flirtation with open booking. Mark Frary

looks at where the trend is heading

Staying on for some leisure*

US$1000-$2000Average personal cost

2-3 DAYSAverage add on

04 Summer 2018

TRAVEL MANAGERS

“There is now more of a channel to the

end user and we can show them metrics

on how their booking affects the bottom

line,” says Reddie.

DEMONSTRATING VALUE

A traveller-centric programme can

also help travel managers demonstrate

their value.

“From a travel manager or procurement

sense, we have a lot of clients and

prospects who want to be seen to

be driving

innovative travel

programmes.

They want

to know how

they can use

technology

to drive the

programme,”

says Reddie.

Technology

comes into this

because it can

help reduce the

complexity of

introducing such

a programme.

Travel managers

are often

concerned that

giving travellers

more freedom

leads to less

control.

TRAVELLER EXPERIENCE

Traveller experience is all-important

in a traveller-centric programme. The

2017 GBTA Foundation research cited

above showed that the travel experience

is important for 83% of travellers in

Europe, compared to 79% in North

America. It looks set to become even

more important as younger generations

of traveller move up within companies.

The research showed that for millennials,

88% of travellers in Europe and North

America wanted satisfaction while

travelling to ensure they were satisfied

in their job as a whole.

“Companies are investing a lot more

time in the end-user experience than

they were five years ago,” says Reddie.

Yet more companies are exploring

the idea.

“We are having a lot more conversations

about what would it cost to improve

the traveller experience, he says.

“Companies want to quantify the effect

on their

business of,

say, allowing

business class

over six hours

instead of over

eight hours.”

FCM’s survey

of 6,000

travellers said

that while

access to a

wider range of

content was

key to having a

good traveller

experience,

there are

specifics that

road warriors

are seeking in

this new world.

FCM’s global managing director Markus

Eklund says, “With the New Distribution

Capability programme entering the

market, along with increasing platform

integration it will not only change the

landscape of ancillary services but

enhance the traveller experience in

new ways.”

The survey showed that the ability to

select seating options was particularly

desirable to achieve a good experience

on the road.

The traveller experience is increasingly

going to be delivered by mobile apps. It

is very noticeable while travelling today

how many people have their heads

down in a smartphone rather than the

newspaper or book that might have had

them engrossed in previous decades.

The survey found that travellers are

using an average of three travel apps.

What they want from these apps is

illuminating: they want live updates,

direct contact with their travel

consultant and a single place to do

airline check-in.

can directly affect a company’s ability

to recruit and retain key talent: half of

European travellers say that a company’s

travel programme is a key consideration

when looking at a new employer.2

Scott Reddie, FCM’s Global Director

Account Management, says that this

view of travel policy is becoming

more common and the company is

increasingly reporting on measures

such as traveller friction, the metric

popularised by business travel guru

Scott Gillespie for quantifying the wear

and tear that business trips demand of

regular travellers.

This is particularly common in the high-

tech industries.

“For many Silicon Valley clients, travel

policy is a tool for attracting and

retaining talent. There is high demand for

the services of tech workers and if you

are a tech guy and a company can fly

you business class that is going to affect

where you end up working,” says Reddie.

A traveller-centric travel programme

does not have to mean a free-for-all

where travellers can choose whatever

they want.

“The concept of open booking turned

out to be a little like the threat of the

Y2K bug – it never materialised,” says

Reddie. “We had a few companies that

tested ideas but it never really went

anywhere. Yet we are definitely seeing

more generous travel policies that put

the traveller at the centre.”

GAMIFICATIONGamification, much talked about over

the past few years, is now starting to

become a reality, driven by the traveller-

centric trend.

Data has migrated from a central

hub in which the travel manager sits

to a distributed world where data is

collected and can be pushed out to

the traveller’s smartphone – 5 billion

of them and growing, according to the

latest global statistics.

How old is our traveller?*

30%

30-39yrs 33%40-49yrs

28%50-65yrs

1%65yr+

THE AVERAGE AGE FOR OUR TRAVELLERS IS 41

18-29yrs

9%

Where is everyone sitting?*

71.8%Economy

23.7%Business

2.7%Prem.Economy

1.7%First

TOP 5 INTERNATIONAL DESTINATIONS

Sydney Boston London Dehli Frankfurt

(4hr international flights)

05FCMUPGRADE.COM

This is why FCM has invested heavily in

the launch of its own highly interactive

and travel-savvy Smart Travel Assistant

for Mobile, or SAM, an AI-powered

virtual assistant which helps travellers

out on the road.

While they may use a more traditional

method to book their trip, using a

consultant, by phone or email, or an

online booking tool perhaps, once on

the road, the mobile app is your mobile

travel consultant.

Reddie says, “With the mobile platform,

people use it for changing their itinerary

while the chat functionality with a live

consultant is a massive win. People

like the technology but this is not just

a chatbot flicking back automated

messages, it is a blended experience of

live consultant and smart technology.”

TRAVEL MANAGERS

Traditional vs Traveller-centric

TRADITIONAL MODEL TRAVELLER-CENTRIC MODEL

Traveller phones or emails booker to share general outline of trip. Booker responds with options. Research options may be limited causing traveller dissatisfaction

Traveller carries out own research using online booking tool (OBT), TMC app, supplier websites and online travel agents (OTAs). Travellers can access a wider range of content, making them happier

TRAVEL POLICY

Options returned by booker comply with travel policy. Traveller can request out-of-policy options but this is flagged. Policy will be dictated by airline deals and hotel rate agreements and is likely to focus on best value, or more often, lowest price

Best options offered by OBT and TMC app are within policy although others may be shown. Options booked via supplier website or OTA may be out of policy.

An intentionally traveller-centric policy may offer a wider choice of options and perhaps offer open booking or hotel price caps rather than specifying particular airlines or hotels

Often billed through lodged account and sometimes through personal corporate card

OBT and app bookings through lodged account or personal corporate card. Other bookings through personal corporate or individual credit card

Data collected on all bookings through preferred channel

Data collected on bookings through

OBT and app but probably not

on bookings made through other

channels

Made via booker or through TMC app

Made via booker or through TMC app for preferred channels. Traveller will have to arrange own changes for other channels

Travel manager knows where traveller is at any given time as everything has been booked through the preferred channel. Security and safety notifications delivered through traveller tracking platform, email and mobile

Travel manager has gaps in their knowledge of where the traveller is for bookings outside preferred channels

PAYMENT

ITINERARY CHANGES

DUTY OF CARE

RESEARCH

“We are definitely seeing more generous travel policies that put the traveller at the centre”Scott Reddie

FCM

Integration is vital for SAM. “There

are fundamental things you want

have to rely on and by focusing on

the integration of those, it makes the

platform more relevant,” says Reddie.

“For example, if you are going to land at

an airport, you want to have ridesharing

from the airport integrated into the app.

It improves the traveller experience.”

TECHNOLOGY IS NOT EVERYTHING.Marcus Eklund says, “We are investing

heavily in technology and product

integration to align with growing

demand but in our experience

corporate travellers certainly still want

to talk to people for assistance and

complex bookings. High service will not

give way to an offering solely focused

on technology, it will run concurrently.”

In a traveller-centric world, service is

the bottom line.

DATA

06 Summer 2018

TRAVEL MANAGERS

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HIGH SPEED WIFI FOOD AND DRINKS

It’s not just George Clooney in Up in the Air to blame. Airline ads have a

habit of showcasing their cabin crew

dealing with requests for roast beef

off the serving trolley when they’re

not focused on pouring the claret.

For better or worse, business travel has

the image of being glamorous and a

career aspiration. The reality for many is

quite different.

“A review of past scientific studies

noted, frequent business travel,

especially long-haul travel, accelerates

aging and increases the likelihood of

suffering a stroke, heart attack, and

deep-vein thrombosis.”1

According to another study, “frequent

travel leads to unhealthy lifestyles

(eg, poor diet, lack of exercise, excess

drinking), while jet lag causes stress,

mood swings, disorientation, sleep

problems, and gastrointestinal problems,

all of which impair job performance”.2

The high usage and apparently

unhindered steady growth in business

travel is in stark contrast to executives’

increasing use of online rather than

offline for their communications.

Face-to-face meetings are invaluable

to building business relationships

Its findings included that “the top ‘perk’

of business travel among all groups

is the ability to see new places, and

the top detractor among all groups is

spending time away from the family.

“Choice is a key driver of satisfaction

among those who view themselves as

happiest with business travel. Those who

are able to choose the travel provider

(airline, hotel, car rental provider) are

significantly more likely to be satisfied

than those who are required to use the

employer’s preferred vendor.”4

The importance of personal choice

to a traveller’s well-being was also

the finding of a survey by the Global

Business Travel Association: “Two out

of five of business travellers in Europe

(41%) say they have booked a business

trip out of policy to lower stress/anxiety

while travelling.”5

The GBTA also asked travellers “What

do you see as the greatest challenge

you face when traveling for business?”

and developing new business in new

markets. A study by Oxford Economics

found that both executives and business

travellers estimate that 28% of current

business would be lost without in-

person meetings.3

A strategic business travel programme

can contribute to the financial health of a

company but what does it do to the men

and women who are regularly getting

on planes and spending time away from

family and friends?

DIET AND EXERCISE

Even the most health-conscious

business traveller can struggle to

maintain a healthy diet while travelling.

Most meals will be consumed in

restaurants where fat and sugar are

liberally used to create the food that’s

popular on menus but travellers can

follow a few simple rules to make their

away-from-home diets healthier.

The lack of exercise that comes from

sitting in an airline seat and being

whisked by taxi from destination to

destination can also take a toll but

a strategy of including properties

with gym and fitness facilities in the

corporate hotel programme can go

some way towards keeping travellers’

minds and bodies fit.

To travellers a poor diet and lack of

exercise can pale in comparison to the

effects of being away from friends

and family.

TRAVEL AND TRAVELLER WELL-BEING

Global expense management company

Chrome River conducted research

among US, Canadian, British and

Australian travellers to discover the

relationship between travel policy

and traveller satisfaction. The survey

was completed by 1,456 people who

travelled a minimum of three times a

year for business.

“Even the most health-conscious business traveller can struggle to maintain a healthy diet while travelling”

Healthy choicesBusiness travel may drive company

prosperity but it can have consequences

for traveller health. What might improve

traveller satisfaction?

CONVENIENT/

COMFORTABLE HOTELS

NON-STOP FLIGHTS

A B

BOOKING FLEXIBILITY

PAID TIME OFF FOR LONG TRIPS

1Scott A Cohen and Stefan Gossling, A darker side of hypermobility, Sage Publications, 2015. 2Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, The Health

Risks of Business Travel, Harvard Business Review, November 3, 2015. 3Oxford Economics, The return on investment of US Business Travel,

2009. 4Chrome River, 2017 Global Benchmark Survey: Business Travel Satisfaction.

08 Summer 2018

TRAVELLERS

Source: GBTA, Creating a Frictionless Travel Experience

The top answers were “The time it

takes” and “Finding a balance between

the time spent travelling and being

away from family/friends”. This echoed

the Chrome River study finding that

“Spending time away from the family”

was the most frequent answer to

“What is the Worst Aspect of Business

Travel?” with 35% of both medium

and frequent travellers as well as Brits

giving it as their answer. This was also

the highest scoring reason for all age

groups although it was thought so by

only 30% of Millennials in contrast to

40% of Generation X and 36% of Baby

Boomers. The differences might very

well be attributed to the likelihood of

family responsibilities at different ages.

An executive may have to travel

to deliver on their corporate

responsibilities but there are things

that corporate travel policy can

address to improve the well-being of

their employees (see chart).

• Impact on ageing

• Exposure to rising radiation levels

• Effects on immune systems

• Higher risk of obesity

• Concerns about mental health

• Impact on stress levels

Health impacts for business travellers

Satisfaction with Booking Process by Managed vs Unmanaged

The GBTA report seems to indicate

that a more flexible travel policy and

delegating some of the decision-

making can make a huge impact on

traveller satisfaction and therefore

well-being. It concludes, “Importantly,

traveller well-being can align with other

company goals. For instance, two out

of five business travellers in Europe

have booked a trip out of policy to

lower stress or anxiety while travelling.

A better travel experience could make

some of these bookings less likely.

Frictionless travel might be impossible

to attain on every trip, but a better

experience can still be the goal and

ultimately can also make it easier to

attract and keep top employees.

Source: Maxis (Met Life and AXA),

Business Travel – Good for business,

bad for health? The potential impact of

frequent, long-haul travel on the health

and wellbeing of your employees

To What Extend do the Following Influence Your Business Travel Experience? % saying "a lot"

62%

54%

40%

39%

29%

29%

25%

17%

CARRIER TYPE

CLASS OF SERVICE

BEING ABLE TO EXTEND A

BUSINESS TRIP FOR LEISURE

BEING ABLE TO BRING

FAMILY OR FRIENDS ALONG

75%MANDATES GUIDELINES

81%UNMANAGED

93%

Source: GBTA, Creating a Frictionless Travel Experience

5GBTA and Sabre, Creating a Frictionless Travel Experience A global study on business traveller

satisfaction, October 2017.FCMUPGRADE.COM

George Clooney at the "Up In The Air" LosAngeles Premiere © Photographer: s_bukley/Shutterstock.com

09

Downloading Amadeus

FCM’s technology partner is a leading player in

the distribution revolution. Upgrade navigated the

changing landscape with its EVP Business Travel

Agencies, Rajiv Rajian

10 Summer 2018

INTERVIEW

IATA, the airlines’ trade body, has

consequently been working with GDSs

and some of their clients to develop and

implement NDC, the new distribution

capability by which travel management

company corporate clients will be

able to have a research and booking

experience similar to that of the airlines’

own web sites.

The onward march of NDC means that

travel distribution and merchandising is

bound to change. Amadeus is working

with selected partners to enhance

the “digitalisation” of the industry and

increase and improve options and

processes for airlines, intermediaries

and their customers.

Amadeus’s role in this evolution is

“massive”, according to Rajian. The

20-year travel industry veteran says,

“The investment to make it work end-

to-end is a massive undertaking for us

but I believe we have the technology to

deliver on commitments.

“There’s more and more content out

there from suppliers. We’re looking

to integrate traditional content and

NDC content and make it seamless for

corporate customers.

“Our goal is to bring NDC to the

forefront.”

According to Rajian the fact that

airlines like NDC because it promises

to generate extra revenue does not

preclude benefit for both corporates

and travellers. He says, “We believe

NDC has the potential to deliver new

benefits of all players. This is why we’re

investing. From a traveller perspective

they want consistency, transparency

and choice.”

And he should know. Rajian himself

is one of Amadeus’s most frequent

business travellers.

“The speed of change in the travel industry continues to increase”

NDC (IATA’s New Distribution

Capability) has been lurking

in the wings for at least

half a dozen years. But this

year it’s taken centre stage,

prompted in no small part by Lufthansa,

IAG and Air France KLM all announcing

their intention to levy booking fees for

any direct bookings made via the GDS.

FCM customers, however, will enjoy an

exemption from charges on BA and

Iberia bookings because Flight Centre

and the two carriers have agreed to

work together on developing the future

roadmap of NDC with a view to begin

integrating content via this channel

during 2018.

Flight Centre is doing this with

technology partner Amadeus.

Amadeus is one of the three large travel

technology companies which distribute

suppliers’ content to intermediaries,

notably travel management companies,

who in turn do the booking and

fulfilment for clients.

It is commonly referred to as a

GDS – global distribution system –

because that is how it started life but

rapid developments in technology

in the twenty-first century mean

that distribution, although still vitally

important, is only one element in the

travel technology portfolio.

It is a trend that Rajiv Rajian, EVP

of Business Travel Agencies, Travel

Channels acknowledges: “One thing that

is constant is the speed of change in the

travel industry and that speed continues

to increase. It’s not static.”

He strongly believes that the changes

in business travel distribution are a

direct result of changing customer

needs. For example, he believes that risk

management has moved from a tick box

to a strategic necessity. “[Corporates

need to] look after their business

travellers so they arrive home safely.

This is more important that it was 10

years ago because parts of the world

are more volatile.”

The nature of the demand for some

elements of travel programmes

that have always been important to

suppliers, TMCs and corporates is

changing. A notable example of this

is content. According to Rajian, “The

business traveler is looking for more

choice and that is accelerating.” He

boasts that Amadeus has the “broadest

selection of content” including over 700

airlines, 800,000 hotels, 90 rail lines,

53 car rental companies and 16

insurance providers.

But corporates’ – and suppliers’ –

attitudes towards content access

are changing. Ten years ago the

familiar refrain was for “full content”

agreements and access. The demand

for content may be greater but

technology and market developments

mean the approach too has changed

and there is more of a clamour for

relevant content rather than full content.

Earlier this year Amadeus announced

NDC-X, a programme to respond to

the inevitable consequence of

increasing personalisation that

“travellers expect brands to know them

and adapt offers accordingly”.

In their private lives business travellers

are accustomed to being able to access

the same information and purchase the

same content on different channels.

This has not been possible in the past

when buying business travel because

the legacy GDS did not contain all

the product information that was on

airlines’ websites. Nor did it allow all

components of a journey – so-called

ancillaries such as seat selection or

a checked bag – to be booked and

purchased at the same time.

Airlines devote a lot of time and money

to differentiate their products through

marketing and develop their websites to

show product differences and provide

greater functionality such as the ability

to pay for extras with the booking.

Margin-conscious airlines crucially want

that revenue and are also seeking a

lower distribution cost per segment

than they have historically paid GDSs.

The GDS has worked well for more than

half a century in delivering one effective

and comprehensive travel platform.

But that legacy system does not have

the rich content and fuller options that

customers want and the airlines want

their customers to have access to.

“We’re looking to integrate traditional content and NDC content and make it seamless for corporate customers”

11FCMUPGRADE.COM

FCM has released a White Paper which examines how

corporates can make use of behavioural economics to reduce

traveller friction.

According to FCM, traveller friction is exacerbated when travel

policies are too rigid or inflexible, fail to factor in the human cost

of travel or prioritise financial savings over traveller well-being.

The report flags warning signs of traveller friction including

employee absence post-trip, resistance or reluctance to travel,

poor employee retention among frequent travellers, frequent

non-compliant bookings and unproductive business trips.

“Behavioural economics looks at how people make decisions

about what they will buy, how much they will pay for a product

or service and what factors drive these decisions,” says Jo

Greenfield, UK General Manager, FCM Travel Solutions.

“Traveller friction can occur when your people are travelling too

much or they are having poor travel experiences in-trip. In order

to address the causes, you need first to identify and understand

the key challenges your travellers face. These insights into

traveller friction can then be used to tweak your travel

programme to achieve better compliance and engagement –

and to reduce the human cost of frequent travel.”

By understanding behavioural economics, travel managers

can implement subtle changes to their travel policy to ‘nudge’

travellers to make cost-effective or time-effective choices, the

White Paper explains. For example, offering travellers a choice

of three different hotels, at different price points, instead of two,

leads to the majority selecting the mid-priced option.

The report also highlights how business travellers value simplicity

within the travel process from the use of digital passports via

smartphones to keyless check-in and cardless payments.

A copy of the White Paper is available on the FCM website

(https://www.uk.fcm.travel/white-paper-download-

behavioural-economics-and-your-travel-programme)

NEW EUROPEAN HEAD FOR FCM

FCM and parent company Flight Centre

Travel Group have joined forces with

Amadeus in the development of its new

NDC-enabled solution for business and

retail travel agencies. The move means

that FCM is the primary TMC customer

working with Amadeus to shape the

technology provider’s NDC-X programme.

Marcus Eklund, Global Managing

Director, FCM said: “We believe NDC

will play an increasing role in travel

distribution and our priority is to ensure

that our customers benefit positively

from the opportunities it presents.

Together with Amadeus, our objective is

to find the best possible way to integrate

NDC content so our consultants can

service their customers quickly and

simply, providing them with an even

richer choice of fares and the option to

Andrew Boxall has been

appointed to the new role of

European Managing Director

for FCM. Based in London

he will be responsible for

overseeing and growing

FCM’s businesses on the

European continent. Boxall’s

extensive career with Flight

Centre Travel Group spans

20 years in diverse retail,

procurement and corporate

product

roles.

For the

last nine years he has held

the position of Managing

Director for Flight Centre

Travel Group in the United

Arab Emirates, playing a

significant part in growing

the business to an annual

turnover of USD 100 million.

FCM DRIVES NDC ROADMAP WITH AMADEUS

Marcus Eklund, FCM Global General Manager with Gianni Pisanello, Amadeus VP NDC-X Program

Summer 201812

NEWS

TOP STORY

Reducing traveller friction

FCM played a leading role at the

Institute of Travel Management’s recent

conference.

The ITM is the UK and Ireland’s buyer-

led organisation with 3,700 members

of which 900 are travel buyers. The

organisation’s annual conference,

which was this year held in early May

in Aviemore, featured an extensive

programme of plenary and break-out

sessions examining trends and hot

topics in the business travel industry.

FCM supported the event as a gold

sponsor and also showcased its new

online booking tool Seeqa on the

TMC’s stand in the exhibition area. Plus

Graham Ross, FCM’s Head of Sales,

represented FCM on a panel which also

included suppliers and buyers entitled

“Fixing a Broken Process – RFP Tennis”.

The session encouraged delegates to

think outside the box when approaching

RFPs rather than automatically

repeating what had been done before.

Ross commented: “These events are

vital for educational and networking

processes for all the delegates and

FCM has announced plans to enhance

its AI ‘pocket travel assistant’

application Sam with extra features for

use by travel managers, in response to

client demand for greater visibility of

their travellers in-trip.

Sam blends a powerful mix of Artificial

Intelligence with the expertise of real

FCM travel consultants to deliver

personalised, relevant information to

business travellers’ mobile devices

through a chat-based interface.

The new version for travel managers,

EAs and bookers will help them to

manage their current travellers and

itineraries, so that they are aware of

potential issues, can take appropriate

action or communicate directly with the

traveller to ensure their wellbeing.

Meanwhile the premium version of Sam

for use by FCM clients’ travellers, which

was launched via the global app store

last November in the UK, USA, Canada,

France and Switzerland, has now been

deployed in 15 additional markets

including: Hong Kong, Singapore,

Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and

the Nordics. Sam’s premium features

include auto-synching the traveller’s

bookings, integrated self-booking

tool,live chat with an FCM consultant

to provide service and make or amend

bookings on the move; and the option

for the user to ‘share location’ via FCM’s

Secure risk management technology.

Sam will also soon provide enhanced

safety and duty-of-care features as

the app will recognise the traveller’s

location via a blend of itinerary

information and GPS and match this

to any critical incidents, triggering real

time relevant alerts with an ability to

respond with appropriate action for the

individual traveller.

Another new feature in the pipeline is

Sam Community – a chatbot assisted

‘community’ for business traveller

users to share tips and advice, anything

from flight delay updates, to quiet and

comfortable places to rest or the best

place to find power-points in an airport

to charge a laptop.

FCM PLAYS LEADING ROLE AT ITM CONFERENCE

SAM ADDS FEATURES FOR TRAVEL MANAGERS

suppliers who attend. These sessions

are extremely useful and you can

guarantee you will learn something you

didn’t know before.”

See “Back to School”, pp 23-24

FUTURE OF TRAVEL TODAY

A new campaign ‘The Future of

Travel, Today’ has been launched

by FCM to showcase the TMC’s

progressive approach to using

technology and innovation to improve

customers’ business travel experience.

At the heart of this journey is FCM

LAB, which brings together experts

around the globe who are dedicated

to testing, building and delivering

ground-breaking new solutions. The

highly visual campaign will feature in

FCM white papers, website and social

media channels.

book NDC-powered ancillary services

within our core booking systems.

“We have been asked frequently if we

are afraid of NDC. But the answer is

‘No’. We see great opportunities and

are proud to be on this journey with

Amadeus in defining how NDC becomes

a reality in the corporate travel sector.”

See “Downloading Amadeus”, pp 10-11

13FCMUPGRADE.COM

Comparing like with likeThere is no standard menu for

what airlines and hotels consider

to be “extras”. Catherine Chetwynd

describes the challenges in evaluating

options and analysing data.

Airline fares were once

all-inclusive – checked

baggage, a designated seat

and a meal. But when low

cost carriers took to the

skies, such so-called ‘extras’ became

an optional extra cost. As a result,

ostensible fares dropped measurably.

Legacy airlines followed suit to compete.

The total cost of a hotel room has been

similarly disaggregated. Breakfast was

generally only included with “executive”

accommodation but use of a gym and/or

pool came with the room rate. However,

because hotels had entered into

expensive contracts with WiFi providers,

access to the internet came at a price.

WiFi is now pretty much a given but

premium WiFi often attracts a charge.

Gym facilities have been upgraded but

are now generally run on a franchise

basis which means income for the hotel

but a fee for customers. Parking charges

vary between city centre, airport or

country and the model on which a

property is run also affects pricing. In

short, it is all much more complicated.

“WiFi has become a commodity and many

hotels do not charge for it,” says hotel

industry consultant Melvin Gold. “Because

people bring along devices and want to

stream content, which can take up a huge

amount of the hotel’s bandwidth, some

hotels have a two-tier system, where you

can easily pick up emails but if you want

to watch football on line, you are going to

struggle or pay for premium WiFi,” he says.

“Where WiFi is not free, it would generally

be packaged with a corporate contract

because it is not worth a hotel losing a

corporate agreement for the sake of

£15 on WiFi.”

“People are now trying to sell other

products on the back of WiFi,” continues

Gold. Hotel companies now commonly

have a coffee bar or café which they

encourage guests and the public to use.

Because these are often franchised, like

gyms, companies can have a Costa or

Starbucks included in their negotiated

room rate. “The traveller enjoys it, it

improves their feeling of wellbeing, their

company is getting a nice cost benefit

and it does not cost the hotel a great deal

to give it,” says hotel product manager –

corporate team leader for Flight Centre

Travel Group Rachel Newns.

A hotel breakfast can otherwise be

expensive – up to £30.00 – and time-

consuming and, if negotiated into the

rate, could leave a company paying for

a buffet groaning with food which their

travellers are not eating.

Radisson Hotels is experimenting with

a grab & go breakfast. “The majority

of corporates want room only. That

applies to 75% of the corporate rates we

have,” says Radisson’s Sean Philby. “We

have a handful of corporate clients who

still require B&B and we will negotiate

that but it is difficult from their and our

perspective because they can’t predict

how many breakfasts they are going to

have to pay for and we don’t know how

many we have to produce or how many

staff we will need.”

If parking is either on arrangement with

an independent provider or rented, a

hotel may increase its corporate rate

to include it. In city centre properties,

travellers can use public transport

but where employees need their cars,

negotiating parking into the rate may be

justified by the reduction in expenses.

The trend for hotel chains to move from

owning properties to franchising and

management contracts has affected

ancillaries. Two Hiltons, for example,

within a stone’s throw of each other

may be operated by different parties, so

even where a company has negotiated

a corporate rate nationwide, it may

negotiate directly with a specific property

as well if it has lots of people staying there.

“NDC is an opportunity to have more imaginative corporate fares”Mark Avery

Head of Business Services, PwC

14 Summer 2018

SUPPLIERS

“Agreements could be reached with one

manager, which are different from what

another manager in the same city might

do, because the company may not be

negotiating with one brand even though

that’s what you see,” says Gold.

For buyers, unbundling causes a number

of problems. “Hotels don’t always classify

items properly, for example food &

beverage, and a bed and breakfast rate

is often not split out but just says ‘room

rate’,” says head of hotels and venues for

PwC Samantha van Leeuwen. “We tend

to bundle WiFi, breakfast, F&B discounts,

parking (if the hotel owns it) but of course

we have to assume the hotel and traveller

monitor this at check-out!”

And according to Rachel Newns:

“Where ancillaries are charged

separately, it is hard to collect the

information in one place. If it is on

billback, it will feature on the invoice but

if the traveller is paying separately and

claiming on expenses, it goes through a

different process.”

“Rather than unbundling fares, the

deals we put together for corporates

are tailored to the requirements of

the account. Most deals include seat

selection and flexibility in the time the

person travels – additions we know

are important for business travellers,”

says head of corporate sales at British

Airways Marie Hilditch.

Delta also takes a flexible approach. “We

have made it possible for customers

to upgrade their flight experience for

tickets,” says country manager UK

and Ireland Nadia Clinton. “Premium

products can be purchased as an add-

on for all or part of their journey.” Delta

Comfort+ specifically applies to tickets

that are bought from an agency and

benefits include four extra inches of

leg room, greater recline and priority

boarding.

“Most of the things airlines are offering

as extras tend to be in the lower classes

but we fly business class long haul and

our deal fares include a package with

all the elements,” says head of business

services for PwC Mark Avery.

“However, we see that changing with

NDC and are trying to get involved

early to influence thinking on how NDC

Baggage Fees

Onboard Services(Food, Seating, Duty Free)

Sales of FFP Miles

Other a la Carte Services

Travel Retail(Hotel, Car, Insurance)

is provisionally delivered,” he says. “It

is seen as an upsell and we don’t need

that; it needs to be delivering additional

value. On a flight that costs £3,000

across the Atlantic, why pay $3 for

WiFi? NDC is an opportunity to have

more imaginative corporate fares and

to negotiate things like that into the fare

so that travellers don’t have to get out a

wallet and card to pay for it.”

Unbundling, it seems, is a bundle

of problems for buyers, who have

to juggle convenience and traveller

well-being with cost and gathering

easily comparable data. Though some

have got it down to a fine art, the

proliferation of ancillaries looks set to

multiply rather than decline, ensuring

the battle will continue.

This graphic depicts the annual worldwide ancillary revenue estimates for 2011 through 2017. Two numbers are offered for each year, the total ancillary revenue and the portion represented by a la carte activities. The latter consist of the amenities consumers can add to their air travel experience, such as: 1) onboard sales of food and beverages, 2) checking baggage and excess baggage, 3) assigned seats or better seats within the same cabin, 4) call centre support for reservations, 5) fees charged for purchases made with credit cards, 6) priority check-in and screening, 7) early boarding benefits, 8) onboard entertainment systems, and 9) wireless internet access.

15

Key Ancillary Revenue Components

Traditional Airlines Outside the US 27%

25% 15%

12%

21%

Source: CarTrawler Worldwide Estimate of Ancillary Revenue for 2017

Distribution based upon analysis of 2016 results of non low cost carriers based outside the US

Ancillaries have become too valuable to disappear

Total Ancillary Revenue

$32.5 billion

A la Carte Portion

$17.5 billion

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

$36.1 billion

$19.9 billion

$42.6 billion

$23.7 billion

$42.6 billion

$23.7 billion

$59.2 billion

$36.7 billion

$67.4 billion

$44.9 billion

$82.2 billion

$57.0 billion

Source: CarTrawler Worldwide Estimate of Ancillary Revenue for 2017

FCMUPGRADE.COM

fadvert

SingaporeDOING BUSINESS IN

DESTINATION

Singapore is undoubtedly one

of the most prominent and

successful of the world’s

financial capitals which

is why “Friday evening

from Singapore to London” was long

understood as an industry shorthand

for an overbooked flight.

Its strength in financial services, coupled

with a reputation for being a tax

haven, probably go some way towards

explaining why this island city-state has

a high standard of living and one of the

highest GDPs per capita in the world.

GETTING THERE

British Airways, Qantas and Singapore

Airlines all offer direct flights from

Heathrow which take about 13 hours. If

Heathrow isn’t the local airport, a journey

from the UK to Singapore will require a

connecting flight.

There are choices of how to get from

Changi airport to city centre including

hotel transfer services as well as the

bargain option of a train to Tanah

Merah MRT (mass rapid transit) station

Tanah where a traveller can change to

a subway. Taxis from official taxi stands

attract an airport surcharge in addition

to the metered fare; cost will be $20-

$40 depending on destination.

GETTING AROUND

Taxi stands in Singapore are clearly

marked. Taxis are also easy to hail,

metered and the drivers speak English.

MRT stations are well positioned and it is

extremely efficient.

Bertrand Saillet, General Manager, Asia, FCM Travel Solutions

• In Singapore punctuality is much

appreciated but it is generally quite

relaxed. A suit is not expected – for

men, shirt and tie with trousers are

acceptable and for women, a work

dress with heels.

• Singaporeans will spend a few

minutes to get to know someone

when meeting for the first time

before discussing business.

• Many Singaporeans will ask

someone if they have had lunch

or dinner. This is not an invitation

but a way to show their concern

for a guest’s well-being.

• When dining out with a local,

you will often find that food is

shared, especially in a Chinese

restaurant. The bill is also often

split equally.

• Singapore does not have a

tipping culture. Most restaurants

include a service charge in the bill

but it is fine to tip if you receive

exceptional service.

INSIDER’S TIP

17FCMUPGRADE.COM

Oasia Hotel Downtown

Smoke and Mirrors

STAYING THERESingapore is a major business hub so it’s

no surprise that there’s a wide range of

suitable accommodation.

Road warriors will love the Oasia Hotel Downtown with its two roof-top pools,

24-hour gym and Cin Cin bar which

boasts 100 kinds of gin. This 27-storey

modern property is as well-located as

it gets sitting in the Central Business

District and only two minutes away

from Tanjong Pagar MRT and 20

from Changi.

Business people such as consultants

and architects whose trips often involve

more than three nights might opt for

an extended stay property such as

the Capri by Fraser Residences. This

serviced apartment group’s brand

comprises such hotel service stalwarts

as 24-hour gym, concierge and

security in addition to the requisite

separate bedroom, living room and

kitchen facilities.

Those executives who know what they

want and like large hotels might choose

the Fairmont Singapore (769 rooms in

two 26-storey towers) with its in-room

desks, meeting rooms and high speed

WiFi. It also has fabulous views, 15 bars

and restaurants plus the Willow Spring

Spa. “Spa” is misleading. It’s also a

fitness centre including six tennis courts

and a pool on the eighth floor which

is shared with its neighbouring sister

hotel, the Swissôtel.

Its other close neighbour, which is

also managed by Fairmont Hotels, is

Raffles, one of the most iconic hotels in

the world.

DRINKINGRaffles Hotel is famous for being famous.

More than a century ago a bartender

in its Long Bar launched what would

become a global taste for cocktails by

mixing gin with some fruit juice. Ordering

– and drinking – a Singapore Sling at its

birthplace is a quintessential Singapore

experience – but beware, the hotel is

currently undergoing restoration and not

scheduled for reopening until the second

half of this year.

Two other bars to try – both on rooftops

and offering spectacular views of the

city – are Smoke and Mirrors, on top

of Singapore’s National Gallery, and Mr Stork, at the Andaz Hotel.

EATINGThere’s more to Singapore’s global

reputation for cuisine than a bowl of

Singapore noodles but everyone should

sample its street food. Good places to try

it out are in the open at Newton Circus

or air-conditioned comfort at Straits Kitchen in the Grand Hyatt Singapore.

Travellers who plan to entertain a

client might try The Black Swan. Its

location in the central business district

plus its recreation of a 1930s New York

atmosphere complete with chophouse

menu makes it a popular choice for

business lunches.

Well-known Australian chef and

restauranteur Luke Mangan is behind

the Salt Grill & Sky Bar on Level 55 of

ION Orchard in the heart of Singapore.

The views and the food are perfect for

impressing a special client.

Travellers just wanting a meal might head

to Dempsey, an enclave of restaurants

including Atout (casual French dining),

Jim Thompson (Thai Cuisine) and PS Café

(casual American).

18 Summer 2018

DESTINATION

The current kitchen is in a shipping container

FCM UK’s team has been busy – even busier than usual. They’ve been

using their spare time to raise money towards Flight Centre

Foundation's target of the £40,000 needed to rebuild Qhobosheane

Primary School’s kitchen.

The Flight Centre Foundation invests time and money in development

projects in destinations with which it has a commercial relationship. The UK team is

gearing their efforts on one of these international initiatives, the five-year ‘adopt a

school’ project at the Qhobosheane Primary School in Soweto, Johannesburg.

The Foundation has sponsored the

renovation of the Qhobosheane Primary

School. This included the painting of

interior walls, fixing the ceiling, replacing

the existing flooring, electric works, new

carpeting, fitting of chalkboards and

noticeboards, external floor tiling and

built-in pigeon holes as well as erecting

a palisade fence around the play area.

The kitchen still remains to be

completed. The current kitchen is a

stove and sink in a shipping container.

This is where food is prepared for the

school’s nearly 500 pupils every day,

some of whom get their only meal each

day here.

FCM staff raised almost £19,000 of

the £40,000 target in April alone with

members of the team participating in a

range of activities including sponsored

runs in the Paris and Brighton marathons.

One of Flight Centre Foundation’s

projects has been to renovate

Qhobosheane Primary School in

Johannesburg.

Hopes are high that the target will be

reached by the end of July. Twenty-

two Flight Centre employees are being

sponsored for taking on the 24-hour

Three Peaks Challenge while other

colleagues have organised fund-raising

activities at a Flight Centre global event

in Berlin.

Their efforts mean that a new kitchen

to improve the Qhobosheane Primary

School children’s lives as well as being

community resource is getting ever

closer to completion.

CHARITY

FCM UK powers Soweto refurbishment project

Flight Centre staff helped out in the kitchen on a recent visit to the school

19FCMUPGRADE.COM

It’s not only about BitCoin and cryptocurrencies.

Linda Fox highlights some potential ways that

blockchain may transform business travel

Blockchain unwrapped

Blockchain - hype or reality?' -

that Is often the question you

hear when approaching what

is one of the experimental

technologies in travel for 2018.

And the answer is, well, a little bit of

both. Such was the conclusion of John

McQuillan, founder of Dublin-based

TravelTechLabs, who presented at an

Enterprise Ireland event recently.

Hype because of Bitcoin, and other

cryptocurrencies often mentioned in the

same breath as blockchain, the value

of which varies widely on any given

day and the amount of venture capital

that has been invested - some $2 billion

according to McQuillan.

And, reality for the potential of

blockchain to disrupt, and improve, some

industry models, as well as for some of

the projects that have already emerged.

BUT WHAT IS IT?

There are many descriptions out there

but in its simplest form, blockchain is a

database – somewhere to store digital

information whether that be contracts,

biometric information in the case of

business travellers, or transactions of

some sort.

In the travel industry, Sabre Labs, in its

Emerging Technology in Travel report,

has come up with one of the best

explanations of blockchain so far. It says:

"At its core, a blockchain is a concept

for a particular kind of database. Going

back a step further, a database is just a

means for storing a collection of digital

information, usually in a way it can easily

be updated and searched. Information

within a database can be any kind of

value – birthdates, property records,

biometric information, taxes, healthcare

records, etc. - anything."

WHY ALL THE HYPE?

As mentioned before, most of the

noise around blockchain is to do with

the associated Bitcoin and its value.

However, there are also stories out there

of companies adding blockchain to their

names and seeing their share prices sky

rocket overnight.

Stepping away from the Wild West

image it is attracting for a minute, it's

more useful to look at why blockchain

has potential, some of the use cases and

what they could mean for travel.

The Sabre Labs report is useful again as

it lays out the benefits of blockchain such

1. PAYMENTS Making settlements between different parties, like hotels, travel agents and

aggregators, can be an extremely complex process, especially across borders.

Blockchain could streamline this process by reducing the intermediaries and

the settlement timing while increasing the overall flow transparency.

2. TRAVELLER ID VERIFICATION Today travellers are required to show their ID at multiple stages in the journey,

from booking to boarding to checking in at the hotel. Blockchain could make

this more secure while simplifying traveller identification at every stage.

3. BAGGAGE TRACKING Another challenge is keeping track of travellers’ luggage as it changes

hands from airlines to ground handlers at airports. Blockchain will allow all

parties to exchange information even if they are not in the same alliance or

related to the same segment improving the accuracy of baggage tracking

across the industry.

How blockchain can transform the future of travel

Source: Amadeus White Paper, Blockchain: harnessing its potential in travel

as the difficulty of undoing or changing

information held on the blockchain. This

is called immutability.

The transparency, with anyone able

to see a record of transactions, is also

seen as a benefit because it helps to

cut down fraud. In a public blockchain,

the idea is the data is shared around or

"distributed" to many places but even

with a private blockchain, a number of

people can still see the transactions that

have taken place.

One further benefit that has been

highlighted is the bypassing of

third parties with blockchain. For

example, why do you need a bank, if

all transactions are stored in a shared

database distributed to many? And,

some start-ups argue the same for

intermediaries in travel such as the

global distribution giants and online

travel agents.

McQuillan says: "A mutually trusted

virtual computer is what blockchain

intends to deliver."

TECHNOLOGY

£

£

£

A

How a blockchain works

1. A wants to send money to B

'

20 Summer 2018

REAL LIFE TRIALS IN TRAVEL

Winding Tree is one of the main start-ups to emerge in the

travel industry. The company is seeking to disrupt travel

distribution by using blockchain. The idea is that the company

would introduce its own distribution platform, remove the

need for the global distribution companies and offer a

cheaper solution for suppliers.

Lufthansa announced last year that its innovation hub would

work with Winding Tree to bring blockchain applications to its

digital products and services.

Aviation technology specialist SITA has partnered with airlines

and airports including British Airways and Miami International

Airport to experiment with blockchain. One of the areas it has

been trialling is 'smart contracts' whereby blockchain would

act as the "single source of truth" for flight data.

This "FlightChain" blockchain would offer all parties shared

control of the data in a secure environment.

Amadeus is working with San-Francisco based Loyyal to see

how blockchain might be used to make loyalty programmes

more user-friendly. Various areas are being explored including

how points are switched between schemes as well as real-

time access to points and redeeming them. For corporate

travellers this could mean instant redemption at airports or

for transfers or hotel products and services.

A second area that Amadeus is working on is identification

where a traveller's "verified data" is stored via a smartphone

application and can then be used as their official

documentation. Both Amadeus and SITA have highlighted

the benefit of blockchain for identity management and how it

could be used to speed travellers through airports.

A number of hotel projects are also underway. Nordic Choice

is working with Winding Tree on ways to distribute inventory

using blockchain.

Payments is one final area being explored and Travel Ledger,

set up by Dolphin Dynamics CEO Roberto da Re, is working

on using blockchain to create a settlements platform for non-

air products but similar to what BSP does for air.

REALITY CHECK

It's wise to read up on blockchain and follow its progress but

the reality is it's probably some time before it might really

catch on – some say as much as 10 years. There are also a lot

of misconceptions about it that people need to be aware of.

Some of the main ones, as pointed out by McQuillan, include

the fact that it is not anonymous, security is not an "inherent

quality" and it's not only about cryptocurrencies.

He adds to that other downsides such as its slowness and that

it might be expensive.

"One of the things promised was that transactions could

be low cost. The cost of transactions is starting to climb. It

probably will get cheaper but as of now, it's volatile."

WHAT ELSE?

There are public blockchains out there such as the Bitcoin

example which is spread across, or hosted, by millions of

machines. There are also private blockchain where all the

computers storing the information are controlled by one

organisation. A final variation is permission blockchain which

is a sort of hybrid between public and private where the

information is hosted by many but you have to be invited to

become involved.

FCMUPGRADE.COM

POTENTIAL FOR USE CASES IN TRAVEL

A number of ways the travel industry could employ

blockchain have already been identified. Amadeus in its

report on the technology highlights loyalty schemes and

the potential to make them more user-friendly, identity

management, baggage tracking and simplifying payments.

From a corporate travel standpoint all of these cases have

huge appeal because they could remove some of the friction

from the airport experience.

£

££

B

2.

3.

The transaction is represented online as a 'block'

The block is broadcast to every party in the network

4. Those in the network approve the transaction is valid

£

5. The block then can be added to the chain, which provides an indelible and transparent record of transactions

6. The money moves from A to B

21FCMUPGRADE.COM

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AF_A4_ANUNCIO_GUIA_SELLING_TRAVEL_06072018.pdf 1 6/7/18 9:50

“I describe BTiQ as the business travel

management British Library,” says David

Chapple who is responsible for this as

well as being Director of the Business

Travel Show which includes nearly 70

conference sessions at which people

with different levels of knowledge and

experience can learn.

Back to school

Regardless of their party

affiliation, political junkies

are always fascinated by the

cabinet go-round. Someone

without any experience of

medicine moves into the Department

of Health and immediately assumes

responsibility for thousands of doctors

and nurses while someone with no

military service record takes over at the

Ministry of Defence.

Politics can imitate life – just think of

all the people you know who had no

travel market knowledge or corporate

experience who just one day discovered

that they had become a travel manager.

What do they need to learn? Where?

How? Yikes.

CHANNEL CHOICES

Scott Davies is CEO of the Institute of

Travel Management. The UK industry

association has 3,700 members, of

which 900 are buyers. He says, “People

often fall into travel. When you first go

in, you think it’s like everything else and

then discover it’s not.”

Davies is alluding to the seemingly

irrepressible corporate trend for travel

to sit in procurement rather than, say,

facilities or HR. It is not uncommon for a

procurement professional, accustomed

to processes, procedures and templates,

to wake up one day and find that the

travel category has been added to their

portfolio of responsibilities.

He continues, “It’s emotive – taking

people away from their homes and often

travelling over long distances. And how

the ecosystem of travel hangs together,

how money flows around the industry.

It’s bewildering when you first enter.”

The travel buyer parvenu quickly

discovers that there is a plentiful range

of learning sources – and resources.

As well as industry associations, there

are websites and business travel

publications, including Buying Business

Travel and The Business Travel Magazine,

industry conferences and events.

Catherine McGavock is Regional Vice

President EMEA of the GBTA which is

the global umbrella organisation to which

national travel buyer associations, such as

ITM, belong. She points out the value of

different channels for different buyers.

The range of choices include classroom-

based training, mixed audience workshops

and closed sessions such as the “buyer

only” ones which the ITM currently offers.

There are also online repositories such

as the GBTA hub and Business Travel IQ

which both eschew news but contain

white papers, high quality research and

toolkits on best practice in different areas.

“It used to be about procurement and the cost. Programmes are now a lot more traveller-centric and talk is about the value of a trip.”Catherine McGavock

Regional Vice President EMEA, GBTA

Corporate travel managers have no clear career path but they

still need to learn about the market and sharpen their skills

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23FCMUPGRADE.COM

“For the first time this year we had a

workshop for creating the building

blocks of a travel programme – topics

like why use a TMC? policy creation,

compliance, duty of care, reporting.

“This is geared primarily to PAs and

secretaries who are booking lots

of travel but not managing it. Our

‘Fundamentals’ sessions are more

geared to people new to travel in a

professional capacity.”

MARKET V SKILLS

Chapple’s comments suggest that

those providing the knowledge, be they

publishers or industry associations, need

to bear in mind the two very different

kinds of knowledge gaps that travel

managers might have: how the travel

market itself works and professional skills.

The characteristics that distinguish

buying travel from the proverbial paper

clips – perishable inventory, the difference

between price and cost, the dynamic

nature of pricing, the differences in

expectations among sectors, size

of company and markets – are at the

forefront of people’s minds but ACTE’ s

Acting Regional Director EMEA Stephanie

Smook is keen that the skillset needed to

manage travel is not forgotten.

“The profession of a travel executive

is underestimated. You need to know

so much because there are so many

stakeholders – risk management, IT, HR,

etc. You also need to be at the forefront

of technology, but you can’t do it on

your own because there’s usually only

one of you in each company.”

The potential isolation of travel

managers – after all, the main business

of an organisation might be professional

services, energy, manufacturing, retail,

etc so travel managers are often thought

of as part of the business support

brigade – is one reason why everyone

interviewed for this article was keen to

emphasise the benefits of networking

which their events could deliver.

Companies may operate in different

markets and be of different sizes but

some skills are commonly needed

although some are needed more in some

positions than others. This is recognised

in industry associations such as ACTE.

Smook continues, “The skill sets,

such as data analytics, negotiating or

communications, of a travel manager

need to be developed.

“Data analysis is so incredibly important.

You have to learn how to read data, how

to obtain it and how to work with it.”

McGavock adds, “When I got this

job I knew I’d have to do a lot of

presentations so I signed up for a

presentation course.”

She points

out that

membership

of a global

organisation

such as GBTA,

which currently

boasts more

than 9,000

members, can

itself include

development

training.

“Members can

get involved in

committees and

boards. They

share expert

knowledge but

this is also a

great personal

development

opportunity.

This is very beneficial for someone trying

to raise their own profile and build their

own network.”

The distinction between organisation

activity and professional achievement

is underlined by Davies who says,

“Sometimes travel buyers have a good

standing in the business travel community

but in their own company they struggle to

get the air time their programme needs.”

He urges buyers not to “assume you can’t

take learnings from travel buyers who are

working on a very different scale as you.

A large buyer can learn from small, agile

buyers. A small company can learn about

best practice from global programmes.

"There’s more commonality than

people think.”

A CHANGING CURRICULUM

Travel management is not a “dead”

subject as we often describe Latin. It

evolves all the time.

Smook describes how in 2003 she

implemented an online booking tool.

“But what we have now is a whole

different ballgame. We still have them

but they’re so far advanced. How do

you make sure that you have that

technology integrated in all your

systems? How about TMCs? Should

they still be working with you or have a

different role?”

McGavock also points to the dynamic

nature of the content in which buyers

are interested:

“The key areas now are risk, new

technologies and capabilities and

traveller engagement.

“GPDR is the hot topic of the minute”

because of an immediate need to

know but “how to demonstrate an

ROI and measure performance” is a

current focus.

She says, “It used to be about

procurement, the cost and mandated

programmes. Programmes are now a lot

more traveller-centric and talk is about

the value of a trip. What’s the purpose

of the trip? Are there better ways of

doing something?”

Davies, however, reminds us that

knowledge is not the prerogative of

industry associations and publishers:

“TMCs are an invaluable source of

benchmarking. You should expect a lot

from your TMC and what they share with

you. They are the ‘go-to’ place in addition

to your industry peers and contacts.”

Events such as the ITM conference are valuable learning resources

“The profession of a travel executive is underestimated. You need to know so much because there are so many stakeholders.”Stephanie Smook

Acting Regional Director EMEA, ACTE

24 Summer 2018

TRAVEL PROGRAMME

Most travellers just want to go as

quickly as possible through an airport to

get to their destination.

But there’s a cohort for whom the airport

is actually the destination because it’s

the best place to have a meeting.

In certain circumstances airports can

be the most time-efficient venue for a

meeting. Internal company meetings

involving participants from different

destinations can cut down the need for

overnight stays and the total time of

travel. They are also very useful for a

senior manager who is based elsewhere

to catch up with team members based

at a flight connection such as a CEO

based in New York who has been in

Africa on business meeting with British

team members at Heathrow before

boarding a flight to JFK.

Airport hotels are often attractive

places at which to hold client dinners

and conferences which include a fair

proportion of guests or delegates who

do not live in the city – clients’ time is

valuable too.

Just as for any other meeting, booking an

appropriate meeting room is necessary.

The big difference is that there will be far

less flexibility on time. Meeting with the

CEO will mean a very narrow window

when an appropriate room at the right

location (onsite or offsite?) is available.

Effective timing is necessary for the team

meeting to ensure that the time gained by

avoiding travel into the city or the hotel

stay isn’t lost because of the requirement

to sit in a terminal for three hours waiting

for a return flight.

Such meetings are commonly held

either at airports that are hubs, such

EVENTS

Airport meetingsMany people use airports for

meetings. Check out Upgrade’s

ideas for some destinations

as Manchester, Heathrow, Schiphol or

Dubai, or at airports that have a large

volume of daily flights from relevant

business destinations.

Here are a few of our favourites:

HEATHROW

If your corporate travel policy is to use

BA, the Sofitel London Heathrow could

be ideal for either a team meeting or one

with the CEO. It’s connected to Terminal

5 by a walkway so total travel time is

minimised. With 45 meeting rooms this

property can cater for everything from a

small boardroom meeting for 2 to a large

conference for 1300.

Located on the Bath Road the

Renaissance London Heathrow is

perfect for meetings where delegates

The Sofitel Heathrow is connected to T5 by a walkway

The Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel

are arriving from multiple locations. For

those travelling from elsewhere in the

M25 corridor there is ample parking

and there are frequent bus transfers

from every terminal as well as Hatton

Cross underground station. There is

ample choice and capacity for any room

configuration up to 450 theatre-style

in the Westminster suite (360 for that

client reception).

FRANKFURTFrankfurt Airport is very well resourced

for meetings.

The Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel,

which is located at Terminal 1, also

has its own conference centre with 60

meeting rooms to choose from. It can

also be easily reached by Skytrain from

Terminal 2 and has parking for local

participants, making it ideal for both

national and international meetings.

The airport also has its own Airport

Conference Centre, again with extensive

parking and easy access from the

terminals. There are 35 meeting rooms

of various sizes which can be hired on

an hourly basis, if desired.

25FCMUPGRADE.COM

26

The Citizen M Schiphol Hotel © Photographer: citizenM hotels & Richard Powers

Concorde Conference Centre, Manchester; Below, Dubai Airport © Photographer: Helen Pe Patryk Kosmider / Shutterstock.com

AMSTERDAM

Schiphol offers space for all-size and

style of meetings, both landside and

airside. The Hilton Schiphol’s dedicated

conference and meeting facility has a

ballroom which can accommodate 640

while its boardrooms, fully equipped

with state-of-the-art AV facilities, suits

more standard business meetings. It

is only a 10-minute walk via a covered

walkway from the international terminal

so is perfect for

meetings which

require delegates

based in different

countries.

For those who

have the extra

minutes to meet

at a slight distance

from the terminal

on the airport

perimeter there is

the Citizen M which

describes its style as “perfect for a cross-

country brainstorm or international sales

meeting”. Its rooms all come with smart

TV and conference ready connectivity

ports and all the basics – including tea

and coffee! – included.

Planning a meeting at an airport is

quite a different exercise from one at

which all the participants aren’t also

equipped with boarding passes and

Summer 2018

EVENTS

MANCHESTER

The 131 destinations served by

Manchester include direct flights

between the city and all the leading

business centres of both the UK and

Europe. The hotel’s Runway Conference

Centre, which houses an actual

Concorde to explain why it’s also known

as the Concorde Conference Centre, has

the requisite boardrooms and parking

to accommodate a conference for

delegates from different bases.

But if you want something different try

the Quarry Bank which is only minutes

from Manchester Airport. This National

Trust property surrounded by extensive

gardens was once an eighteenth-

century textile and is now open for

conferences. It’s a perfect place to have

a very private meeting which needs air

access from multiple cities but has a

very non-airport environment.

DUBAIGiven its growing

importance

as a hub for

long-distance

international flights

it’s perhaps no

surprise that Dubai

Airport is well kitted

out for meetings.

Business centres

and meeting rooms

are located on

the Arrivals level

in Terminal 3 and

on the Hotels level

in Terminal 5 so

perfect for those

who have a

gap between

changing flights.

checking schedules. The ability to carry

the traditional branding material and

hand-outs will be severely limited and

the planning has to include adequate

time to transfer between aircraft and

meeting room for all without wasting

any participant’s time unnecessarily.

But your participants won’t miss having

a night at home and one less room night

on the corporate accommodation bill.

26 Summer 2018

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