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The risks of unmanaged travel

Are you thinking of foregoing your travel policy in favour of unmanaged travel?

 

Read on to ensure you are fully clued-up on the risks to both your travellers’ safety and your bottom line...

 

What is unmanaged travel?

 

Unmanaged travel, also known as ‘open booking’ or ‘travel management 2.0’, is essentially where business travellers book through any channel; for instance suppliers’ own or aggregated content sites, with data capture being achieved via an expense management tool.

 

What are the risks?

 

Increased cost – Travellers spend 15-20% more when booking outside of their travel management company (TMC), according to a pilot programme led by Sapient and reported by BTN Group/TRX in Open booking: Is it right for your travel programme? (December 2012).

 

Loss of data – Data leakage and complexities with consolidating the information for financial and procurement reasons may occur when the purchasing process becomes fragmented. 

 

Loss of time – Employee productivity is reduced when travellers must spend more time managing their travel than when a TMC was on-hand to help eg when they require complex bookings, ticket changes/refunds or support during emergencies.

 

An open booking policy can also weaken vendor relationships with airlines, hotels or ground suppliers; which in turn might reduce both hard (best rates) and soft benefits (such as complimentary lounge access).

 

Four tips to travel programme success

 

Instead of travelling down the unmanaged route, include these four things in your travel programme and achieve traveller compliance:

 

1.  Rates that are otherwise unavailable: In addition to the fares published in the GDS, specially-negotiated corporate and TMC rates encourage travellers to book via preferred channels.

2.  The facility for instant and targeted communications: When given the right information at the right time in the booking process or journey, travellers will generally do the right thing. One tool that can help is CWT Programme Messenger .

3.  The facility to book and plan a trip, fully-informed: If the information the traveller needs is readily available by you or your TMC, then there is no need for them to look (and potentially book) elsewhere. CWT Hotel Intel allows travellers to provide feedback on preferred properties, which subsequently provides value to other travellers (and helps with supplier feedback and negotiations).
4.  Interactive advice when travelling: This is essential for travellers who want to stay connected via their mobile and tablet devices while on the road. CWT To Go™, a mobile app exclusively for CWT clients, provides secure access to itineraries, preferred travel providers and real-time travel information.

 

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