BTN April 2010 by Now Media

NOW manage your travel spend better

April 2010

Sanlam

thinks ahead Tredoux swims upstream as third-party travel manager

Get smarter with travel technology! ■ In a tizz about SAABIZ ■ Destination update: Zambia ■ The TMC in-house – a dying breed? ■ How to incorporate video- and teleconferencing

Contents

The lone rider

T’S said technology is dominated by two types of people: those who understand what they do not manage and those who manage what they do not understand. In my view this applies to corporate travel management too – and ultimately to travel technology. In our bumper travel technology feature this month, it’s clear from the industry that while corporations are increasingly keen to embrace technological solutions, there are still many misconceptions and challenges preventing a significant uptake. A technology plan should compliment a greater strategy (with top-level endorsement) to streamline travel management, contain costs and achieve specific requirements. A technology solution is not a lone rider out to save a dusty creaking town in the middle of nowhere. So unless your house (or saloon) is in order prior to implementation, your chosen solution is not going to help optimally. Speaking of saving, we all have high hopes for SAA’s new ceo, Siza Mzimela, who we trust will be doing all the right things at our national carrier. Also inspiring is Sue-Ann Tredoux’s story about how she’s been looking after travel management at Sanlam since 1989 when she managed R500 000 worth of travel annually involving about 50 people at the company! She’s probably one of the longest-serving travel managers in SA and – refreshingly – she remains passionate about what she does. So for all you lone riders out there trying to rid your town of any outlaws, I hope this issue goes a small way towards assisting you in this task, which is no easy feat and certainly not for those who have weak knees or an unruly horse. P.S. Please visit our enhanced website – www.btnow.co.za – which has been recently relaunched. All the best KIM COCHRANE (kimcochrane@telkomsa.net)

COVER STORY We speak with Sanlam travel manager, Sue-Ann Tredoux, about the balancing act of managing travel within a complex, multi-disciplined group of companies. Cover image by Tijana Huysamen.

News

Power Panel

News

Profile

How To

On the radar

Destinations

• Emotional arrival for Air France A380 • BTN speaks with new SAA ceo, Siza Mzimela

The TMC in-house – a dying breed?

• ITMSA forums highlight duty of care • In a tizz about SAABIZ

Sue-Ann Tredoux ‘insures’ travel runs smoothly at Sanlam

How to incorporate video- and teleconferencing

Get smarter with travel technology

Lusaka and Ndola, Zambia

PUBLISHER David Marsh MANAGING EDITOR Natalia Thomson CONSULTING EDITOR Kim Cochrane

trading as Now Media, Now Media Centre, 32 Fricker Rd, Illovo Boulevard, Illovo, Johannesburg, PO Box

Brought to you by Now Media, Business Travel Now is a professional travel publication aimed at South African travel procurement decision-makers in travel-buying companies. This publication aims to reflect an unbiased perspective of the corporate travel industry offering insight and tools encouraging readers to manage their travel spend better.

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April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

News

Emotional arrival for A380

Hundreds of plane spotters lined roads and runways to welcome the arrival of Air France’s inaugural A380 flight, reports Natalia Thomson…

HE recent landing of Air France’s second A380 is one of the most significant events to happen in SA’s aviation history. In fact it’s right up there with SAA’s first B747 landing in Johannesburg in November 1971. While initially Air France will only operate the A380 three times per week, once the third A380 is delivered (probably by the end of April) the A380 will be introduced on the route daily. Effectively, the A380 has 50% more floor space than the B747. But with two decks and each deck separated into smaller cabins, passengers will arguably not get a true sense of the massive size of the aircraft unless they

see it before boarding or after disembarking. The Voyageur Economy Class section with its 449 seats including 106 on the upper deck is a comfortable 3-4-3 configuration with a 48cm-wide chair, a 21cm video screen and more legroom. There are even three bars for economy-class passengers. The Video on Demand entertainment system allows each passenger to select a programme, offering 600 hours of viewing, including about 100 full-length movies and a jukebox of 240 CDs. For Affaires Business Class passengers travelling on the upper deck (80 seats), there are two bars. The configuration has

Hundreds of ground staff and plane spotters waited at OR Tambo to celebrate the arrival of AF990, Air France’s inaugural A380 flight to Johannesburg.

changed to a 2-2-2 configuration and an improved 2m-long seat with a 15-inch video screen has also been introduced. There are only nine seats in first-class (La Première) and for the first time ever, a changing cabin so passengers can change into their sleeping suits. Improvements have been made to the seat and a bar with magazines and a buffet is also available. From March 28, Air France has been operating seven weekly frequencies between Paris and Johannesburg, including three by A380 until the third A380 is put into service, scheduled for end-April. The route will then be entirely operated by A380.

Schedules of JNB-CDG flights: • Johannesburg-Paris: one daily flight (AF 995), leaving at 19h30, arriving at 06h05 the following day. Three flights are operated by A380 until the next A380 is delivered at the end of April. • Paris-Johannesburg: one daily flight (AF990), leaving from CDG 2E at 23h20 arriving at 09h45 the following day. • To meet demand during the 2010 Football World Cup, Air France will be operating three additional weekly frequencies by Boeing 777 in June and July. • Johannesburg-Paris (AF997) leaving at 21h20 and arriving at 07h55 the following day. • Paris-Johannesburg (AF994) leaving CDG 2E at 19h10 and arriving at 05h40 the following day.

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

There are six bars in total onboard the A380 for economy, business and first-class passengers to socialise without disturbing other passengers.

Fast facts ■ The A380’s main deck is the equivalent size of the B777-200 (carrying 264 passengers) and the upper deck the size of an A340-300 (carrying 272 passengers). ■ The A380 produces less CO2 per passenger than any other plane with less than 75g of CO2 produced per passenger kilometre. ■ 22 cabin crew will be facilitating a passenger count of 538 passengers. ■ Boarding and disembarkation via three doors for easier access. ■ Air France has 12 A380s on order. ■ The first airline to operate the aircraft was Singapore Airlines although A380s are also operated by Qantas, Emirates Airline and now Air France. Lufthansa and Emirates are said to be the next airlines to introduce the A380 on the Johannesburg route.

News

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

Pic: Tijana HUYSAMEN

Mzimela wants to rebuild trust

ebuilding trust and repairing SAA’s reputation in the marketplace are new ceo Siza Mzimela’s two biggest challenges as she takes the helm of the airline from April 1. The announcement of her appointment in mid-March came as an independent investigation was completed into alleged bad governance practices by the airline’s former ceo, Khanya Ngqula. Ngqula was suspended following allegations of bad governance and abuse of SAA’s procurement system. Since his suspension, Chris Smythe, who will now head up the airline’s operations, stepped in as acting ceo. Mzimela said that proper governance and internal procedures would need to be built on in coming months to restore faith in the beleaguered airline. “There has been a certain amount of confidence lost as a result of what has happened in the past. There are good things that people have done and continue to do every day, but these have not been visible in the industry. I hope we can rebuild the confidence and trust that has been lost,” she said. Although Mzimela can only comment officially from April 1 (after this issue went to print), BTN managed to ask her a few questions:

What will SAA’s strategy be for the foreseeable future? “Our focus will be to grow and consolidate some routes on the African continent. Part of that will be to enter into strategic alliances and codeshare agreements with partners on the continent. Africa is still relatively closed from a bilateral perspective and any future growth will possibly only come through various alliances and codeshares.” 4

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

By Melody Brandon In what way would you want to work better with the trade, including travel procurement managers? “Given my prior experience of global sales I believe the trade has a few, basic things they need SAA’s support on. One of the most important things needed is proper communication, especially when things go wrong. Things may not go according to plan all the time, but we need to find a way to advise them on what they can do to respond appropriately to their clients.”

What message would you like to put out there? “I really wish people could give us a chance. Don’t allow one or two negative actions to dent the image of the airline and some of the good people who are here. There are thousands who really strive to do their best everyday.”

Fast facts on Mzimela The announcement of Siza Mzimela as SAA’s new ceo has been welcomed by politicians and airline industry leaders. Here is a snapshot of her experience: • 14 years experience with SAA, including, amongst other positions, research analyst, executive vp of global passenger sales and responsibility for the airline’s core business global sales and Voyager, as well as board member of SA Tourism and chairperson of the Airlines Association of South Africa. • Ceo of SA Express, which posted a profit of R235,4 million last year.

News

2010

Pic: NATASHA TIPPEL

Meetings Africa

taken to new heights

EETINGS Africa 2010, hosted at the Sandton Convention Centre (SCC) from February 24-26, generated 2 216 scheduled business appointments from 365 online diaries, with exhibitors and visitors reporting that the exhibition had been taken to new heights. A total of 272 exhibitors, an increase of 12,5% over 2009,

marketed their products and services – including conference and event venues, services and incentive travel destinations – to 1 894 local and international visitors this year. Of these, 123 were international buyers hosted by South African Tourism (SAT) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Meetings Africa 2010 placed far greater emphasis on the association market than in

the past, with the hosting of the first-ever Association Day for local associations that aim to attract international events, and the inclusion of more association buyers in the hosted buyer group. Meetings Africa 2011, to be staged once again by SAT and its partners the Gauteng Tourism Authority, the Johannesburg Tourism Company and the SCC, will take place from February 23-25, 2011.

Fly Assist lends a helping hand A NEW company, Fly Assist, which launched in January, offers clients professional, assisted travelling from their airport departure location to their chosen arrival destination and back. The service is available to passengers – on domestic and international flights – with special physical and medical conditions as well as minors

travelling on their own or parents travelling with infants and small children. Fly Assist will meet the client at drop-off, escort them until they are safely in their seat and support the client for the flight’s duration. On arrival, Fly Assist will help with collecting luggage, moving through customs and finding transport from the airport.

According to founder, Juanita Oosthuizen, a comprehensive questionnaire and discussion of the passenger’s needs will be conducted prior to the flight. Trained professionals (e.g. occupational therapists with a diploma in First Aid care) will provide clients with individual attention and assistance.

Flight Centre SA officially launches Corporate Traveller Flight Centre SA (FCSA) has officially launched its Corporate Traveller brand. Corporate Traveller offers numerous benefits, says executive gm for the Flight Centre group in SA, Janine Salame (middle). Among these benefits are: no fixed-term contracts, 24-hour emergency assistance, simple reporting, exclusive partner promotions, a competitive fee structure, leisure services, the CT Loyalty Programme, as well as conference, event and group travel services. Pictured here at the launch event with Salame are Corporate Traveller marketer, Michelle Jolley, and Corporate Traveller air and land contractor, Hayley Atkinson.

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

Power Panel

TheTMC in-house –

a dying breed?

This month’s panel of expertise

The current economic climate together with travel technology advances in recent years have resulted in many corporations questioning the need for TMC in-house agencies. The argument is that for companies doing largely domestic point-to-point travel there is little need for such a service. By Max Marx.

Howard Stephens, Nedbank’s chief procurement officer: Group Shared Services Centre

Ingrid von Moltke, Carlson Wagonlit Travel SA sales and marketing manager

Mandy Diggle, Group Five Supply Chain group travel manager

EDBANK did away with its Sandton-based head office TMC in-house agencies last year and will do away with its Durban and Cape Town in-houses later this year. While the group still uses off-site TMC services for 40% of local bookings and all international travel, it plans to move all domestic bookings away from TMCs later this year and is also considering doing international point-to-point bookings utilising its own travel desk. “Domestic travel has become so simple to book with electronic tickets and internet ordering that there’s no longer a need for a specialised skills set,” says Howard Stephens, Nedbank’s chief procurement officer: Group Shared Services Centre. He says the in-house TMCs apparently wanted to increase fees to cover their high central overheads and seemed incentivised by high-cost carriers, car-rental companies and certain hotels to book with them. “The more we spent on travel the better were their returns and it seemed that they sometimes worked against our strategy of using low-cost carriers, lowcost car rental and the use of restricted hotels.” Group Five Supply Chain group travel manager, Mandy Diggle, says locally some companies with smaller spends are moving their travel to off-site agencies or corporate travel desks, but she feels for larger companies with complex bookings, having an in-house agency is the way to go. While Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) national sales

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

and marketing manager in SA, Ingrid von Moltke, believes TMC in-houses won’t disappear altogether due to their perceived benefits, in the last two years 50% of CWT’s in-house clients have elected to move off site to a CWT Business Travel Centre for space and cost-saving reasons.

Are in-houses really needed? Diggle believes they are. “Nothing will ever completely replace the friendly face at the end of the passage. It’s reassuring to know there is someone who can help in the event of an emergency. And with travel being such an emotional purchase, I think the human element should still be there.” Stephens doesn’t think so. “Agencies can operate from anywhere and offer a telephonic service desk for most requirements. The amount of walk-in business travel is minimal.” He adds that it’s more economical to operate through an off-site TMC with suitable infrastructure that can be shared across multiple corporates if necessary. “Local travel can then be controlled by an internal travel desk.” With everything done electronically today, it doesn’t matter where the TMC is located, says Von Moltke. “Better and more efficient service is provided by an off-site team as they’re not distracted by walk-in visitors and have all the necessary resources close at hand.”

How has travel technology changed the tasks performed by in-houses? Von Moltke says in-house staff still perform similar tasks but ticketing and document issuance is done electronically. “What has changed is the tendency today for back-office accounting functions to be handled off-site.” Diggle says online booking tools don’t work in all corporate environments and in some instances don’t handle multiple or last-minute booking changes. “In many cases, someone still has to pick up the phone and talk to the airline. Travellers are convinced they can do domestic bookings themselves and for less, until the first booking change.”

Decline in value? Stephens says the value of having a TMC in-house has declined, especially for local travel. “Most individuals can book their own private travel electronically so why should corporate travel be any more difficult?” The value most commonly cited is that of convenience, says Von Moltke. “This is more perception than reality, particularly for in-houses that consist of one or two travel consultants only. The convenience factor would be more for the corporate’s procurement or travel manager rather than the travellers or travel bookers.” She adds that with ticketing and back-office accounting

Power Panel

functions no longer required on site, in-houses don’t really add value to corporate travel programmes. Diggle disagrees. She says Group Five’s in-house agency offers great value. “The consultants intimately understand our business, the dynamics of our travel requirements and our changing needs. They often stay after hours to assist with emergency or group bookings, do a lot of face-to-face consulting for complicated reservations and save us time with processing visas. Having an in-house also encourages transparency between corporate, TMC and supplier.”

Cost vs benefit of in-houses Stephens says the cost of in-houses can make them uneconomical, particularly where they do not have a strong-enough mandate to control travel behaviour. “While the charges have not reduced by using an off-site agency, there is less ‘noise’ about the economic viability of running in-houses.” Diggle says the benefits far outweigh the small savings that may be achieved by utilising an off-site agency.

How is the need for an in-house agency measured? It’s based on booking type and volume, rather than on spend, says Diggle. “Our mainly contract-based work requires the movement of huge volumes of people and complex logistics, which we believe is best served by an in-house.” From a TMC perspective, level of spend and transaction numbers are the primary consideration, says Von Moltke.

Is a corporate travel desk the way to go? A corporate travel desk can be the solution for companies whose spend is

largely domestic, says Diggle. “Sometimes better policy compliance is achieved with staff employed by the corporate, which can lead to savings. There is, however, more to a corporate travel desk than just making internet bookings. You need to ensure your accounting/financial system can cope with the volumes and level of detail required for invoices and be able to pull detailed and meaningful travel reports demonstrating savings and lost opportunities.” She questions whether corporates will be prepared to invest in the technology required to produce such reports and if the travel desk will be able to handle after-hours calls and last-minute changes. “How will billing work? If your travellers do not have corporate cards to settle hotel accounts this can become a huge administrative task to manage.” Stephens says if companies have a strong central procurement function that can establish strong policies, rules and MIS, then it’s the way to go. “If not, then it’s better to remain with a TMC.” Von Moltke says corporates with their own travel desk generally still use TMCs for international travel and overall programme management. “While in theory no travel consultants are required if a full end-to-end online booking solution is adopted, the reality can be quite different depending on the tool used and corporates may find themselves just replacing travel consultants with their own staff. The role played by back-office systems is not always fully appreciated.” ■

Next month our Power Panel assesses why billbacks are so entrenched and what the alternatives are.

The benefits of in-house and off-site agencies According to Von Moltke, the benefits of a TMC in-house are: • Personalised face-to-face consulting services. • The convenience of having someone based on-site. (This perceived benefit is linked to the days of paper ticketing when tickets were issued on site.) • The assurance that the in-house team is 100% dedicated to the client. With regard to an in-house or off-site agency, however, dedication shouldn’t be a concern for corporates, as service levels should be governed by a service level agreement. Benefits of an off-site agency are: • More cost-effective: the TMC can allocate resources more efficiently. • More flexible: consultants can be added or removed from the service team dependent on client requirements. • Ability to draw on additional resources from other teams based at the off-site centre. • Close to all TMC departments – business solutions, accounting, account management, senior management, IT services, technical services. This allows for speedy resolution of any issues. • Particularly suited to a self-serve environment – if corporates implement online booking tools, they do not require an on-site presence. • The team can be 100% dedicated to the client or shared with other clients, depending on volume and client preference. • Programme management by the TMC is almost always based off-site, even in an in-house environment.

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

News

ITMSAforums highlight duty of care obligations C ORPORATES are responsible for the health, safety and security of their international travellers and assignees. This was the message from Dr Lisbeth Claus, professor of global human resources at the Atkinson Graduate School of Management at Willamette University in the

United States. She spoke at the recent ITMSA forums held in Cape Town and Johannesburg about her 2009 White Paper published by International SOS, entitled ‘Duty of Care of Employers for Protecting International Assignees, their Dependents, and International Business Travellers’.

Directors and senior management in travel gathered to learn more about the challenge to understand how departmental responsibilities – such as travel, legal, risk, insurance, procurement, business continuity, occupational health and HR – fit together in order to fulfil duty of care obligations.

Seen in Johannesburg:

Seen in Cape Town

Pictures by Natasha Tippel

Pictures by Hilka Birns Kerry-Lee Patmore, regional sales manager of Protea Hotels (left), and Nicole Keane, procurement controller central procurement at Woolworths.

Gary Broomberg, Travelport vice president commercial: Southern Africa; Sharon Richards-Lund, ITMSA national sales and marketing manager; Clive Heighway, Galileo national key account manager; Dirk Mertens, Travelport director global accounts: Middle East and Africa.

Dr Lisbeth Claus, professor of Global Human Resources, Atkinson Graduate School of Management at Willamette University; Sharon Richards-Lund, ITMSA national sales and marketing manager; Christine Marincowitz, marketing manager, International SOS.

Mandy Diggle, group travel manager, Group Five; Felicity Meyer, travel manager, Ernst & Young; Niall Johnston, procurement specialist, Ernst & Young.

Steuart Doig, corporate security & facilities manager at Engen Petroleum Limited, with Shaun van der Merwe and Serena Garde, both of International SOS.

Jenny Schroeder, strategic account manager at HRG Rennies Travel South Africa; with Chris Bakker and Hilary Cross, both from mymarket.com.

Candice-Lee Fourie of Qatar Airways; Pam Samsoodeen of 1time; and Marcelle Ross of TravelLinck.

Talitha Redelinghuis, travel manager: Group Strategic Sourcing, Sasol Group Services; Serena Garde, regional sales and marketing director, International SOS; Shaun van der Merwe, divisional head: Corporate, International SOS.

Tania Augustine, Tourvest; Debbie Ashton and Jane Ledger, both from Diners Club International; Michelle de Freitas, Europcar; and Lisa Lombard of Accenture.

Samantha Boucher, travel coordinator, Rehau; Felicity Meyer, travel manager, Ernst & Young.

Jacqui Abrahams, travel manager, Accenture SA; Nadine Clarke, head of travel, Diners Club; Linda Basson, procurement lead, Accenture SA.

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

Dirk Mertens, director global accounts Middle East & Africa at Travelport (left) and Prof Lisbeth Claus, professor of global HR at Atkinson Graduate School of Management, Salem, USA.

In a tizz over SAABIZ By Natasha Tippel

AA has been in the spotlight lately with various negative reports regarding the airline’s customer service. First there was Voyager and issues with the call centre, then flysaa.com was temporarily shut down and now customers are complaining that SAA’s corporate call centre, SAABIZ, is down. BTN has received numerous complaints from corporates frustrated that they can’t get through to SAABIZ. Among these complaints is that when trying to phone the centre on (011) 978-5290, the call has been directed to SAA’s main call centre. From there the customer is either disconnected, told by the operator that the call centre is down, transferred to another call operator, or given another number to call that does not exist. “We’ve been trying to reach the dedicated SAABIZ call centre since January 15 to lodge a new credit card. This is obviously something that cannot and may not be done through the public call centre,” says a frustrated corporate who wanted to remain anonymous. This corporate, like many SAA customers, is asking why SAABIZ’s clients were not informed of the changes. Another corporate has experienced similar problems. “During these past weeks, it’s been impossible to do online bookings on the SAABIZ website and I’ve had countless frustrations when phoning SAABIZ. The phone calls I make to SAABIZ are mainly for changes on my existing bookings and processing payment thereafter. Under normal circumstances, these types of telephonic transactions with SAABIZ never exceed eight minutes. Now, they make me hold on the phone for never less than 30 to 40 minutes just to process a payment on one existing booking!” A former SAA employee from the first team to work on SAABIZ resigned because of frustrations with the product. “This excellent product and tool is not recognised by SAA management. I went through a few hair-raising periods where we did not know whether we had jobs or not. The big accounts, such as Nandos and McDonald’s, were willing to give SAABIZ a chance due to its value. The fact that credit cards were lodged for small to medium companies with no pressure of revenue figures worked perfectly for a lot of companies. How could a product so brilliant not be promoted and taken care of by management?” In response, SAA acting head of group corporate affairs, Vimla Maistry, says: “SAA has not closed SAABIZ and this service is still in place and operational. We have, however, experienced some service disruptions following the outsourcing of our call centre late last year to Merchants/Dimension Data.” According to Maistry, SAABIZ is currently being serviced through the central reservations number (011) 978-1111 while SAA seeks a sustainable, longer-term solution

Survey BTN recently ran a survey on SAABIZ customer service. This was your response: Are you experiencing problems with SAABIZ’s call centre?

Yes = 90% Other = 10% Has this affected your business?

Yes = 70% Other = 30%

As a result, would you consider dealing with another airline? Yes = 89% Maybe = 11%

Have you seen an improvement in service over the past few weeks? None at all = 50% The service has worsened = 30% Yes, a big improvement = 20% When do you expect the problems with SAABIZ will be resolved? Never = 60% During the next six months = 30% Other (the attitude of SAA staff will take longer to change) = 10% that includes the setup of a dedicated SAABIZ helpdesk. “Discussions around this are progressing well and at an advanced stage. As a further effort to ensure increased efficiencies, we are placing experienced staff in the call centre to transfer skills and to increase the present level of knowledge. Numbers dedicated to ONBIZ /SKINS clients are (011) 978-5290 and (011) 510-8468. We sincerely apologise to any of our SAABIZ customers for delays experienced in handling their requests.” April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

Profile

Pic: tijana huysamen

‘Insuring’that travel

runs smoothly

Hilka Birns speaks with Sanlam’s travel manager, Sue-Ann Tredoux, about the balancing act of managing travel within a complex, multi-disciplined group of companies.

UE-ANN Tredoux is by her own laughing admission probably one of the longest-serving travel managers in SA. If you think that makes her an old fuddy duddy, think again! As I wait for her at the monolithic head office of Sanlam in Bellville, in walks a slender, blonde, stylish woman with a huge, warm smile on her face. And that’s the thing about Tredoux: what you see, is what you get! “Being honest and upfront with me goes a long way,” she confides. “Unfairness irks me and dishonesty, especially in terms of work ethics, is just not in my vocabulary!” This ‘salt of the earth’ kind of stuff echoes of her roots in her native Namibia. Born in the little town of Otjiwarongo, Tredoux moved with her family to Cape Town as a teenager, completed her schooling in Bellville and, after brief stints in Pietersburg, Bredasdorp and a diploma in beauty consultancy, accepted a job in human resources at Sanlam 20 years ago. As we walk through the labyrinth-like passages to her office, she relates how she was approached to take on travel management at Sanlam in 1989. On her own, she looked after the administration of what was then R500 000 worth of travel annually involving about 50 people at the company. “I had to write every single bill by hand and balance my own accounts,” she remembers.

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

How times have changed. Now the Sanlam Group has a multi-million rand travel spend and 3 000 travellers, of whom 400 travel regularly. Sanlam travellers undertake on average two-day trips, last year averaging 16 000 trips nationally and 650 trips internationally. Trips into Africa (particularly to Kenya, Zambia, Botswana and Nigeria) and India are increasing, as Sanlam relocates more staff on one- to three-year assignments. Tredoux no longer works directly for Sanlam. In 2000, the company outsourced its travel management to one of SA’s largest facilities management companies, Drake & Scull FM, part of Tsebo Holdings and Operations. The change from employee to consultant brought with it a big mind shift. “We now work from a broader canvas; we benchmark and service delivery is very important,” she explains. “Being a third-party travel manager with no alliance to a travel trade partner or user creates value for the client in that the focus is squarely on service delivery.” Sanlam had acquired several subsidiary companies after the changeover, which meant that as a consultant, Tredoux now had to sell her business offering to them and convince them to use her travel management services. Her biggest challenge from the beginning was to get all ad hoc, maverick spending centralised.

Fuelled by the global recession and plummeting revenue, the Sanlam Group in 2009 embarked on the Helix Project, a cost-cutting and rationalisation exercise involving all aspects of its business, including travel, procurement and IT. This resulted in what Tredoux had long been hoping for – the formation of one, central Sanlam Group travel policy in May last year. It covers, amongst other departments, Sanlam Personal Finance, Sanlam Group Office, Sanlam Investments, Sanlam Capital Markets, Glacier, Simeka, and Sanlam Developing Markets. “This means procurement happens on one platform. In terms of policy implementation, we have a preferred partnership with Amex,” Tredoux explains. Sanlam’s central policy requires all employees to fly economy class. Only the executive members of the various business units are allowed to fly business class, but many prefer not to, to save money, Tredoux says. Employees are not allowed to change their flights if there is less than one and a half hours’ difference in departure time. They must fly on the cheapest ticket available on either SAA or BA/Comair. Even though they are quoted low-cost airline fares, they are not forced to fly with them. Car rental must be chosen from Avis’ Group B. Since the Helix Project, the list of preferred

Profile accommodation suppliers has shrunk from 1 382 to 950 nationwide. The list was compiled from statistics on historical choices of accommodation and took into account location, security, convenience and a baseline price. Any out-of-policy travel choices are logged in terms of an exceptions report and in terms of management information systems (MIS) reports. Irregular choices have to be motivated by the traveller and the permission of the exco concerned is sought before travel takes place. This, says Tredoux, has proved to be an effective disincentive for employees to transgress policy. She says operational objectives of the policy include high productivity, cost efficiency, high-quality service and – very important – good relations.

What are the challenges? The different business units within the Sanlam Group make for a complex and often difficult environment for a travel manager. There are various organisational cultures and accounting systems. Every business unit has a travel budget managed independently. “In terms of accounting, half goes through a Sanlam ledger account, while others receive a monthly invoice for travel cost incurred, because for historical reasons, not every business unit in the group has its own book-keeping system.” Another challenge is that group organisational systems such as HR and IT aren’t integrated. Motivating and implementing a cost-saving online self-booking tool has been more difficult than she expected. “Amex in 2008 introduced Amadeus’ e-Traveller, but it has been difficult to get people to use it. PAs end up doing the bookings but because they are inexperienced, it takes longer than a phone call to a professional consultant with a personal touch. As a result, we’ve seen only a 2% adoption rate.”

Success stories • The Helix Project was a success in terms of cost cutting. Results in 2009 were as follows – accommodation spend: down 35%; average accommodation cost per night: down 34%; domestic airline spend: down 30%; airline cost per sector: down 32%; cost per car rental: down 7%; increased use of low cost carriers: up 12%. • Compliance has improved since the Helix Project because of increased awareness of the need to curb costs, buy-in from management and because of improved communication around this. • Sanlam Group has moved closer with regard

Advice pointers

I’m a fairly private person. I’ve been married to Henk for the past 26 years and we have two kids: our Dobermanns Zoë and Mia. Henk and I are both motorcycle fans and we love spending time on our bikes exploring the country. to deal-making, negotiation of better rates and tariffs the sharing of management information and has moved towards a single group policy. • The centralised policy has allowed for more useful, intelligent information gathering for greater control over the service level agreement (SLA) and for improved management of costs through a more structured workflow and management process. • When commissions fell away, Sanlam was one of the first companies to introduce transaction fees based on the cost of the ticket. It managed to balance the volume of travel with travel agents’ service costs, resulting in an economically viable model. • In partnership with Amex, Tredoux has created efficient reporting (other than MIS), which is communicated monthly to Sanlam Group management. For example: a hotel exceptions report picks up if bookings have not been from the preferred supplier list and if they have transgressed policy or not. A monthly change and upgrade fee report on airline tickets monitors which tickets were changed, who travelled, the cost involved and the time differences of changes made.

• Always keep the communication lines with your travellers open and communicate regularly with them. • Educate your travellers on travel terms, e.g. booking a ticket does not mean the same as issuing a ticket and cancelled tickets can be reused. • Handle each travel request on merit and be sensitive towards the travellers’ needs. • Stay informed and up-to-date with changes in the travel industry. • Benchmark regularly. • Use your network. • Make the travel booker (PA) feel special and important. They are the gateway to the travellers.

Goals for 2010? “Driving costs down more will remain a major objective of mine this year and we will have to come up with more initiatives to increase low-cost carrier usage and improve self-booking online. There are still one or two businesses outside of Drake & Scull’s scope. Our goal is to manage travel for the entire Sanlam group. “There is still maverick buying from smaller areas within Sanlam, which is difficult to track. We need to capture these and bring them into the centralised process”, says Tredoux. “Although we have very good information and statistics, I’d like information to be accessible on a platform that can be accessed by everyone in the group, so every traveller can monitor his/her own travel spend,” she says. As the interview draws to a close, I remark on the passion Tredoux displays when talking about a job she has done for the past 20 years. “I love my job!” she smiles. “I have such passion for what I do! I love working with people and I love satisfying my clients.” Enough said, I think.

Fact File: • Destinations: domestically – mainly Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town; Africa – Kenya, Zambia, Botswana and Nigeria and

internationally – increasingly India. • Preferred suppliers: Air – SAA, BA/ Comair, kulula.com and 1time. Hotel – City Lodge. Car – Avis Car Rental. ■

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

How To

How to

incorporate

& teleconferencing video-

Christie Olivier

The new workforce wants a better quality of life and does not want to spend 11 hours on a flight away from families and friends for days at a time.

by Natasha Tippel

HE 2009 recessionary climate taught many corporates to think more smartly about their meeting and conferencing needs, with many turning to technology solutions to change the way business people work and meet. “Global enterprises today appear to be insisting on the best of all possible worlds – workforces are spread across the globe, skills are being tapped into irrespective of location and more and more teams are needing to collaborate on projects, sharing critical information speedily,” says Christie Olivier, cio of Accenture Africa.

“These tools and technologies allow for information to be discussed face to face without having to incur all the costs associated with travel.” Olivier notes the following visual conferencing technologies as the most prevalent in helping companies reduce their travel costs: ■ Telepresence videoconferencing: features a ‘like being there’ meeting experience with the ability to support multiple locations in one meeting, voice and video in synch and using existing corporate network infrastructure. ■ Microsoft Roundtable: an economical videoconferencing solution that uses 360-degree video camera technology, using eight built-in cameras and high-quality microphones. ■ Peer-to-Peer web conferencing: allows face-to-face meeting without moving from place to place using a webcam. ■ Another key technology is instant messenger tools, which allow business people to communicate easily through a standard software tool such as Microsoft Office Communicator.

How should companies implement such tools? “Companies should look at their requirements, identifying where key pressure points are based so as to build a solution and introduce policies to address these issues. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all model – companies should turn to their IT Departments or alternatively seek help from consultants who can create a road map of what they should be working towards,” says Olivier. When taking steps to implement such a policy, he suggests that organisations look at their spend carefully, identifying where the big ticket items are, and then 12

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

build a technology architecture platform to drive down these costs. “Companies should look at having an overall high-level strategy in terms of where they ultimately want to be. They then have a plan to work towards with investments spread across a number of years.” But leveraging technology to drive down costs is not the only benefit of implementing technological solutions for meetings and conferencing. Video- and teleconferencing also increase efficiency by allowing corporates to do more with less. “Once companies have made this collaborative technology available, the key then is to focus on the change management component – getting people to think about how they can use the technology and ensuring they know what is available. Then you need to measure adoption levels and report on this.” He adds: “We’ve found that it’s best to drive these new technologies into the business in a top-down approach, making sure your senior executives become the ultimate sponsors. They are generally very open to this given the benefits for an organisation.” Olivier affirms that companies will need to put together a task team, which comprises senior people from within the business and people from IT who understand the technology. “If you create channels whereby teams can share and collaborate information quicker than their competitors, decisions can be made faster and deliverables delivered quicker – deals will be won, teams will be more successful, etc.” But he notes there will always be a need for travel. “At some point you still need to sit in front of your client or team. There will still be those longer sessions required where it does become more cost effective to travel to the actual location.” ■

Technology on the radar

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

Technology on the radar

ravel echnology

Get smarter with

Like it or not, technology plays a major role in streamlining a travel programme and ultimately saving costs. But there are still many misperceptions about travel technology that corporates need to move beyond. Kim Cochrane provides this update.

Pic: TRAVELPORT

I TRAVELPORT expects increased interest in its solution Carbon Tracker following renewed attention on emissions and global warming. Carbon Tracker provides a way to calculate,

compare and report on travel-related carbon emissions in line with corporate policy or to set targets. It follows internationally recognised environmental standards.

Mobile technology moves up

Pic: AMADEUS

The 2008 ‘Upwardly mobile’ report by Amadeus and ACTE showed that mobile technology would increase traveller flexibility, welfare and productivity. Travellers are able to book and amend flights (in accordance with policy), make reservations and complete expense forms while travelling. Other time-saving features

include flight check-in, virtual room ‘keys’, as well as electronic boarding passes sent directly to the mobile device. Security alerts or advice about delays can be sent via SMS and travel managers can track employees using GPS systems. Other ways of using smartphones as travel tools include searching for local services and

attractions, maps and navigation. Users can also read and post reviews on the go as well as locate fellow travellers at their destinations via social networking sites. Amadeus GTD Southern Africa solutions manager, Andrew Shaw, says: “On the back of this, Amadeus has developed a range of mobile solutions for travellers as well as travel approvers and managers. Functionalities include efficient approval workflow while on the road, on-demand itinerary based location information and employee security tracking.”

NSTEAD of a major change in focus regarding travel technology this year, there’s been a consolidation and intensification of effort by corporations, advises Ingrid von Moltke, Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) sales and marketing manager in SA. “Technologies that can assist in smarter travel programmes – allowing for improved efficiencies through automation, better quality data and reporting, better travel policy compliance, and better expense management – are therefore of considerable interest to corporates.” She says a global CWT survey – ‘Travel Management Priorities for 2010’ – conducted recently revealed ten focus areas that would have a higher priority this year, the five most important being: optimising hotel spend, improving traveller compliance, optimising simple bookings, driving air and ground transportation savings and further consolidating the travel programme. “In each of these areas, technological solutions can play a significant role, the most obvious example being online travel management solutions, especially when it comes to optimising simple point-to-point bookings and improving traveller compliance.” Natasha Venter, South African Travel Centre (SATC) IT manager, says due to economic pressures, travellers now have to travel within tighter restrictions and at the lowest possible rates. “Corporate online booking tools need to handle these changes in policy, quickly and seamlessly.”

Von Moltke advises that adoption of an online travel management tool is, however, only one component in driving savings and optimising the programme. “The focus now is also on seamless integration of systems such as GDSs, TMC back-office systems, online travel management solutions and ERP systems as well as mobile technologies. In other words, closing the gaps between these disparate systems and removing the hidden costs associated with what are often manual processes in the back-end.” Von Moltke cautions, however, that a company’s focus on online travel management solutions as the key to driving down costs can be problematic for TMCs as many of these tools still require manual processes in the back-end, which don’t necessarily reduce costs for TMCs. “The corporate, however, sees only the front-end and expects to pay a lower fee for the online transaction.” Wings Corporate Travel head of Products and Solutions, Pano Stamatiadis, agrees data consolidation is especially useful in cases where a client may have more than one TMC. “Reporting tools that provide specific statistics and analysis are therefore making a big difference. Our goData tool can give information on just about any aspect of a travel programme, right down to individual travellers and their spend. Reports such as most utilised airlines and airports can also be pulled.”

Continued on page 20

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

Technology on the radar

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

On the radar

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

Technology on the radar

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

On the radar

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

Technology on the radar

Private investigators at work For consolidated – and transparent – business intelligence to help decision-makers negotiate more cost-effective options with new and existing vendors, mymarket.com offers interdependent procurement solutions and/or customised modules depending on corporate requirements, says Wayne Muirhead, sales director (pictured left). Benefits include fully automated approval, consolidated reporting, multi-carrier functionality (ability to book multiple legs across different vendors in a single booking and a single transaction fee) as well as electronic issuing of tickets, vouchers and documentation. The team offers local, remote and onsite support as well as consulting and advisory services. Pictured with Muirhead, ‘looking for clues in the data’, is Marc Emert (consultant – strategic business development).

Another increasingly important corporate requirement, Stamatiadis believes, is missed opportunity reporting. Tools that automate and simplify the waitlist process are also useful because they enable procurement of seats on flights that are often full and often available at lower fares than standard tickets, he adds. Other popular tools include the company’s goTrack, a refund management tool which tracks and locates unused or forgotten tickets, and the carbon offsetting tool, goCO2. Venter believes the carbon emissions reporting trend is likely to gain momentum, as countries that participate in the Copenhagen Accord gear up to support it by offering corporate business tax rebates or by imposing a carbon tax. She says SATC’s online reporting tool provides clients with detailed reports on their spend as well as the ability to refer to copy invoices and credit notes. The carbon emission reports are due for release mid-2010. In addition to measuring emissions, Chantal Kliche, Thompsons Corporate sales and marketing manager, has noted that TMCs are driving exceptions reports with clients to ensure that preferred supplier agreements and savings are maximised. Mobile authorisation is also a requirement. Von Moltke emphasises that mobile technologies enhancing the traveller experience are changing the travel landscape with regard to cellphone usage on flights, mobile check-in, mobile paperless boarding passes and in-flight internet usage. “The challenge for corporate travel managers is to integrate these mobile technologies into the travel programme.”

Pic: TIJANA HUYSAMEN

Continued from page 15

Technology features driving change According to TravelLinck’s Roderick Ross, features of technology driving change are: • Rapid availability searches across multiple suppliers (accessing both corporate and public fares) coupled with simultaneous booking and payment of multiple suppliers. • Highlighting missed savings during the booking process, which enforces visual guilt. • Upfront electronic requisition and approval systems ensure only authorised travel actually takes place. • Real-time reporting coupled with business intelligence tools bring life to data and facilitate proactive travel management.

• Enhanced authorisation and traveller notification tools account for the increased mobility of travellers. • Improved card reconciliation saves time for payment processors and prevents late payment penalties. • The inclusion of carbon footprints into reporting and booking processes helps travellers and authorisers understand the impact of travel on the environment. • As an example, the TravelLinck accommodation and shuttle services supplier portal links the buyer to the supplier more closely than before, offering real-time reporting, direct and rapid settlement and electronic invoicing.

Corporate commitment is key Automated travel management systems allied with properly researched and constructed travel policies will continue to produce improved process costs, fare selection, performance reports, trend indicators, travel policy compliance and value information, says Sure Corporate manager, Jim Weighell. But, he emphasises, the key to achieving these improvements does not lie with the technology or travel policy. “It lies in the corporation’s will and commitment to recognising that increased control of travel spend lies in a more coordinated travel management ideology.” Unfortunately one of the biggest misperceptions corporate travel buyers have about travel technology is that automated systems replace or bypass the TMC, Weighell says. “High-complexity, multi-sector reservations still require professional human initiative, experience and understanding of traveller needs.” Venter agrees and says corporations should understand that they can receive benefits and savings from having a strong relationship with

their TMC while still benefitting from the travel technology. Dr Roderick Ross, TravelLinck ceo, adds: “A big misconception is that the only way to benefit from technology is to put it entirely in the hands of travellers and that benefits revolve entirely around the booking process. The term ‘self-booking tool’ has been unfortunate in this sense.” Uniglobe Travel Sub-Saharan Africa’s president Mike Gray believes these solutions are not a ‘silver bullet’ that will solve cost and management problems that haven’t been resolved previously without technology. “If you couldn’t do it manually, you probably won’t be able to do it much better with the new ‘gizmo’, which merely helps the overall system’s efficiency.” Gray says corporates (after many failures) are eventually beginning to realise that a complete solution of strategy implementation, with requisite operational skills and support systems, is the only real solution that will outgun any fad implemented by people who don’t really know how to use it.

Corporates must remember technology is just one tool to assist in realising cost savings. Using it effectively will provide you with far greater insight into your individual travel trends. – Pano Stamatiadis, Wings Corporate Travel Continued on page 22

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

On the radar

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

Technology on the radar Continued from page 20

Model , model on the wall…

Which is the fairest

of them all?

Over recent years, corporates have introduced various models that take the travel management function away from travel agencies. Models include the complete in-sourcing of travel, the introduction of online booking tools, and a combination of these strategies. Duma Travel executive chairman, Themba Mthombeni, puts forward his views. Corporate-driven online booking tools

The first ground for this model’s lack of sustainability is that it goes against the grain of modern management theory, which mainly urges companies to focus on their core functions. Secondly, current in-sourcing models have a few inherent weaknesses: • The emphasis is on short-term cost savings or low-hanging fruit instead of culture change to ensure sustainable cost savings. • Not all costs are declared when justifying the need to form a travel desk. The actual costs of running the travel desk are hidden within the company’s administration bureaucracy and are far higher than the fees TMCs charge. • The corporate loses out on economies of scale derived from outsourcing to a TMC, which handles large volumes of travel. • In-sourced agency staff start relaxing because there’s no threat of losing the account. This breeds poor service in the long run. • Labour costs of running the in-sourced agency will rise over time, as staff begin comparing their salaries to comparable jobs within the corporation. Travel industry salaries tend to be lower. • Most in-sourced efforts are led by strong travel managers with both travel knowledge and intimate company experience. These efforts normally collapse when the travel executive leaves.

Common pitfalls of these strategies are:

• They are normally introduced without the necessary training or sufficient change management, thus resulting in poor adoption or early failure. • Booking of air travel with multiple stops or complicated manoeuvres (e.g. hidden-city booking and open-jaw-trips etc.) should only be attempted by an experienced travel consultant. • Most self-booking takes place through websites where changes are difficult or almost impossible to do. Phoning call centres of suppliers is a possibility but the waiting queues are legendary. • Rules of each fare are generally not read or understood by the self-booking population, resulting in exorbitant costs when changes are made. • Corporates who strictly self-book are generally not covered by a 24/7 emergency service.

Themba Mthombeni

Companies need to appoint a competent travel executive – who has a regular platform with senior management – to oversee the travel function. The TMC remuneration model should be aligned to the broader travel objectives of the corporate.

What should TMCs do? TMCs need to embrace, master and thus own the travel technology space to consult with clients professionally. Rather than aligning themselves with a specific technology platform, solution or

provider, they should understand the intricacies of each platform in the market. TMCs also need to realise that they are not IT solution developers but they need to develop mastery in implementing appropriate technology solutions for clients. TMCs must master highlevel, strategic consulting skills. They should be able to advise clients on payment systems and technologies, design and implement change management programmes, conduct travel audits and offer travel technology strategy consultations, etc.

Editor’s note: Technology webinar Pic: TIJANA HUYSAMEN

Complete in-sourcing of the travel function

What should corporates do? Corporates need to appreciate that travel procurement has become a strategic function and as such it requires senior management attention or oversight. There also needs to be an appreciation that travel is a complex and specialised function.

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

For more debate on online travel management solutions, download BTN’s webinar on ‘Self-Booking Tools’ from www.btnow.co.za. Speakers include Kananelo Makhetha (BCD Travel SA), Wayne Muirhead (mymarket.com), Dr Roderick Ross (TravelLinck) and Jacqui Abrahams (Accenture).

Continued on page 24

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

Technology on the radar

Continued from page 22

When will you see a return on investment?

Pic: Amadeus

Once your solution is in place, your people must use it. Some corporations mandate, some ask nicely and train, others use incentives. Each corporation has a different approach, but increasing the adoption rate is critical. – Andrew Shaw, Amadeus

Uniglobe expects to have 50% of its domestic and 10% of its international bookings booked via its Uniglobe Essential Access online travel management system by year-end. Since its launch in SA in 2008, the solution has been successfully implemented in large and small companies, from JSE-listed groups to one-man bands. In all cases significant savings have been achieved not only on travel services but more importantly on inhouse indirect costs. - Mike Gray, Uniglobe Travel Sub-Saharan Africa

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

THE ‘in-sourcing’ trend, says mymarket.com sales director, Wayne Muirhead, enables commodities like travel to be in-sourced to achieve greater control, accountability, transparency, responsibility and access to consolidated reporting when requested. The mymarket.com solution, he adds, advocates an overall saving of between 25%-30% on immediate usage. “One major blue chip company literally cut their spend by 100% in one year. Other major blue chip mymarket.com clients have achieved savings in excess of 40%.” He says mymarket.com data shows a consistent adoption rate of over 90% for new clients. He adds there’s been a greater push by corporates to consolidate and report on procurement spend regardless of commodity. “Mymarket.com offers full order, approval and reporting functionalities across all commodities, from stationery to security.” TravelLinck is currently busy with ten new client implementations, which indicates a marked increase in corporate awareness of and willingness to use technology, believes Ross. “TravelLinck has achieved a ROI for clients long before full take-up. Implementation costs are low in relation to international solutions available and are usually paid back before the end of full implementation. Our clients achieve savings of between 20%-30% of domestic travel spend. Depending on how aggressively they change their policy, even higher numbers are achievable.” Kliche says Thompsons has seen more corporate travel managers embracing travel solution demonstrations and talks on advancing technology. “We believe the initial saving ratio to be in the region of 30% and this would depend on adaptation by the company. Increased savings can clearly be seen within a three-month period of which we’ve had personal experience. But a transparent, trustworthy relationship is important in implementation of full utilisation of an online booking tool.”

Smoke and mirrors Yet Gray believes trying to justify initial investments in travel technology on some future saving greater than the upfront investment is just smoke and mirrors. “You need measureable savings now and in the future. I believe in saving money from day one of the project and there are sufficient solutions available off the shelf not to have to justify unnecessary upfront investment. ROI justifications are normally required because people really don’t have a clue where the savings will come from. They then end up with huge, unnecessary infrastructure and people.”

He says, as an example, Uniglobe recently implemented a cost-reduction strategy for a large multinational company. “The strategy involved online travel management and in-house support from us with significant change management within the client. From the first month of implementation, they were producing significant savings of 25% to 50% of previous period costs per cost centre. Within the first year, they halved their travel bill, reduced our support team from ten to three, had faster turnarounds, enforced the lowest price at time of booking and could report real reduced costs rather than rely on some fictitious savings report against some irrelevant benchmark.” He adds there are great new technology solutions out there, some tried and tested, some evolving and adapting to needs, some still undergoing R&D. “And there will be new ones. Your ability to benefit from any new technology relies on you and your TMC’s (if you use one) understanding of your strategic objectives and your combined ability to implement the change at speed.” Shaw says Amadeus has scalable, affordable technologically advanced solutions to suit the needs of small to large corporations. “Our resellers are also adequately skilled to provide advice, consultation, implementation and support.”

Lowest fare available Weighell adds that many companies still confine their travel policies to a lowest fare available basis. “This is not always truly effective given the variables present in the request process and is difficult to measure objectively. Travel policy should take into account the company’s culture and recognise travel patterns prevalent to the business. The Sure Corporate Amadeus e-Travel Management system, in combination with our online management information product, is our primary solution for effective management. We offer a client-specific, secure web-based intranet system within which all information relative to a travel management programme is stored for easy access by key staff. Savings measured are conservatively at least 10% to 15% on supplier pricing, particularly air transactions measured against real-time and valid benchmarks. ROI is variable depending on total transaction volume and adoption rate. Typically we would expect 100% ROI within 18 months on a small to medium programme with 75% adoption.” Venter says from a SATC perspective, six to 12 months of monitoring the solution can give an accurate measurement of any savings realised. “The problem with many corporates is that bookings are segmented and through multiple channels so they don’t have accurate figures.”

Continued on page 26

Technology on the radar

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

Technology on the radar Continued from page 24

An end to billbacks?

RAVELBUY’s new iVoucher system could be the beginning of the end for the billback. The new iVoucher (also marketed as eVoucher by mymarket.com) is an electronic payment system that speeds up payment between hotel, TMC and corporate account. It guarantees immediate electronic payment of hotel reservations when a deposit for a booking is made or on check-in/out, depending on the contract between hotel and booking engine. No matter whether payment is through a lodged card, or a corporate’s bank account, it ensures there are funds available to fulfil

the voucher and enables corporate booking engines to automate settlement of those funds. As soon as a customer checks out of a hotel, an encrypted electronic invoice with detailed MIS information is sent through to the consultant/agency that made the booking, enabling them to pass this on to their clients and use the information for better travel management. Another benefit is that corporate credit card information is no longer left lying around on front desks of hotels, greatly reducing the risk of fraud. iVoucher also automates corporate travel

by Max Marx

policy and enforces compliance because it enables business rules to be attached to it. It can be issued as a pre-authorised voucher, a pre-paid voucher, or as a post-paid voucher. Linette Mulder, Edcon corporate travel manager, says Edcon is very keen to rid itself of the billback system. “The eVoucher will enable immediate payment of our hotel bills, enable quick receipt of invoices and management information rather than waiting six to eight weeks for these, do away with costly billback service fees, and we won’t have to pay the merchant fees on credit card transactions because these will be absorbed by the hotels.”

New Travelport products available for SA market

Pic: TRAVELPORT

Travelport has an agreement with kulula.com, which displays its content on Galileo Interceptor. Advantages include that it’s four times quicker to complete a booking on Galileo than on the low-cost carrier’s website. A search function allows travel managers to see the schedule in neutral availability display. They can also see real-time availability, flight information and pricing as well as get fare quotes including passenger descriptions (adult, child, infant). Instant confirmation is provided when the booking is made and mixed itineraries can be booked on the same PNR (e.g. sectors on kulula.com and another carrier, plus hotel and car hire). MIR processing is available for kulula.com content allowing back-office integration.

KDS Portal 6 This is the latest version of a self-booking tool that enables SMEs with less than 500 employees and TMCs to compete with online retailers by offering lower fares and superior support. Version 6 of the KDS Portal advises on and highlights travel trends. KDS Portal offers Galileo, low-cost carrier, hotel, car and rail content plus agency and corporate negotiated fares and rates, all presented in one easy-toview display. The product is supported though a team based in Johannesburg.

e-Pricing e-Pricing is currently in an advanced test phase in SA. This is a low-fare shopping solution providing quick, easy access to millions of fare combinations to obtain the best available fare. Features include searching for the lowest fares prior to booking an itinerary; finding the lowest

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

available fares for an existing itinerary across airline alliances, multi-city airport combinations and other criteria; and showing low fares based on multiple dates or special fares. An additional feature to be released as an add-on after the initial launch is Flex Shopping, which finds low fares based on travel dates or destinations.

eTracker eTracker is a web-based solution from Travelport that enables travel managers to record and check all electronic tickets that have been issued. About 4% of e-tickets that are issued remain unused. Using the tool’s extensive search, managers can view the current status of tickets and refund and exchange when required, hereby reducing wastage. They are also able to produce reports and download these for use in applications such as Microsoft Excel.

Travelsoft Document Producer Travelsoft Document Producer allows users to generate travel documents directly from Galileo. Users have access to itinerary formats (and the ability to merge multiple PNRs into one itinerary sorted by segment date); automated flight, hotel and car hire quotations with options to book; system-generated confirmation and quotation numbers; and the ability to automatically add Galileo Timatic information for visa and health requirements. It also integrates 1Time fare searches with GDS fares, offering the ability to create one consolidated air quotation including GDS airlines and low-cost carriers. Kulula.com is currently being integrated and will be available in the next version. It also incorporates Galileo SMS functionality within the same application on subscription, among other features.

New virtual travel card greeted with enthusiasm DINERS Club has introduced the first virtual card in South Africa and the fact that card images can simply be emailed to TMCs has been met with great enthusiasm by the business travel industry, says Nadine Clarke, Diners Club SA head of Corporate. “The Virtual Travel Lodged Account Card has effectively refined the processes associated with corporate travel. Added security and efficiency levels have also been achieved through the introduction of a CVV2 number for online booking tools.” This development is just another benefit of being a Diners Club member, she says, particularly as the company constantly strives to offer members convenient, time-saving services. “One such service is Diners Club Advantage, a technological business tool that simplifies time-consuming tasks such as account reconciliation.” Advantage is a secure application that via access through username and password allows users to view accurate reflection of their Diners Club accounts at any time, she says. “Data is updated every 24 hours, making it possible to view yesterday’s transactions today. Monthly as well as interim invoices can be downloaded in PDF or CSV formats. A number of management information reports are also available for download including a vendor analysis report and an analysis of foreign charges report.”

The fact that card images can simply be emailed to TMCs has been met with great enthusiasm by the business travel industry. – Nadine Clarke, Diners Club SA She says the solution also has the functionality to grant users different levels of access and can therefore be tailored to suit individual company policy. “Another example of a travel-related process that has had the hassle taken out of it by Diners Club is the purchasing of ever-important travel insurance. Members can simply make use of the Diners Club Online portal to purchase insurance at the click of a button, which is particularly especially useful at the eleventh hour!”

CWT provides local clients with multi-national tools CARSLON Wagonlit Travel SA is now able to provide the local offices of its multi-national clients with the three cornerstones of CWT technology solutions that form the gateway to all other tools and services, advises national sales and marketing manager, Ingrid von Moltke. These include CWT Portrait, a secure web-based traveller profile management system that allows travellers and travel arrangers to create and update their profiles 24/7, 365 days a year. “The created/ updated profile is automatically synchronised with the GDS, CWT agency operations and third-party

online booking tools, ensuring profile preferences are applied to all reservations (online and offline).” The second tool is CWT Portal, which serves as the central access point for all web-based services offered by CWT. “Travellers and travel managers can access a suite of online booking and reporting tools, i.e. Portrait, pre- and post-trip services, company travel news and general travel tools.” Thirdly CWT Aqua, a quality control and pre-trip reporting tool, supports the correct application of the client’s travel policy and ensures preferences are met.

Continued on page 28 April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

Continued from page 27

TraveluXion to sell new

Amadeus/Fraxion solution

MADEUS and Fraxion have entered into an intellectual property (IP) partnership whereby both parties are co-developing a corporate travel and expense management solution to meet the needs of corporations in developing markets, initially focused in Africa and the Middle East. The solution – scheduled to go live in August this year – will provide control over T&E spending, integrating tightly in corporate ERP systems, and offer support for online and offline travel booking. According to Amadeus GTD Southern Africa gm, Peter Long, the solution has been developed as a combination of Fraxion’s T&E spend management module and Amadeus E-Travel Management Solution. The partnership is exclusive to Amadeus and in this region the jointly developed technology will be sold exclusively through a newly licensed publishing software company, TraveluXion. The deal is not unlike the global alliance signed recently between Amadeus and Concur, which resulted in the two partners bringing key technologies together for a combined T&E management solution to extend core offerings in the US and Europe. This is the

first time Amadeus has provided this type of technology to a third party and Fraxion is now the strategic partner for developing markets. Says Long: “Amadeus has been the market leader when it comes to corporate travel e-procurement tools for the past five to six years in SA. We realised, however, that to maintain our position we had to invest in this partnership to meet corporations’ T&E requirements as well as to allow companies to integrate the solution irrespective of their ERP systems.” Adds Fraxion ceo, Stanton Jandrell: “This combination will bring robust enterprise-level control over T&E spending across all ERP systems. The solution provides real-time analysis of spending behaviour and budgetary impact to corporations.” According to Long, the solution is completely “TMC agnostic”, which means the client determines the fulfilment partner. TraveluXion will not be involved in any traditional TMC fulfilment activities but will accredit TMCs to operate on the technology. In this way, corporations have control over the entire spend cycle from request through to reconciliation.

New mobile applications for Miles & More members TWO new Lufthansa applications for mobile devices such as iPhone offer the airline’s customers more options to access Lufthansa services or to communicate with other Miles & More members while on the move. An optimised iPhone application offers Lufthansa customers access to a fund of practical information about services. With a navigation function resembling a flight instrument in the cockpit, iPhone users can view the Lufthansa timetable, update flight arrival and departure

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

times or store frequently used flight connections. With a ‘Webview’ function in the application, they can access flight bookings, check-in online, retrieve booking information and check their Miles & More mileage accounts. MemberScout allows Miles & More members to communicate with others on the go to exchange travel experiences. The application can also be used to assess offerings from Lufthansa partners at a user’s actual destination.

Technology on the radar

Overcome the perceived challenges

ECHNOLOGY can be prohibitively expensive, says Stamatiadis, and this, combined with the fact that it becomes outdated so quickly, makes a lot of companies apprehensive about spending too much. “Cutting-edge technology, however, is crucial for effective and safe travel these days so you cannot hold back on technology spend.” According to Weighell, often the size or importance of travel spend within a company is not perceived to warrant additional investment in technology or resources aimed at improvement of performance. “There’s limited senior management ‘ownership’ of travel management as a key portfolio function, resulting in lack of acceptance and adoption. There’s also often not an understanding of the motivation, function and objectives behind the introduction of automated solutions. Entrenched travel procurement habits, long-standing relationships and ineffective or inappropriate travel policies are further challenges.” Kliche supports this view. “Not all

companies have a dedicated travel manager, which means travel is just one of many tasks performed. There’s often fear of transition to an online booking tool and subsequently time constraints limit corporates from maintaining and updating client profiles and supplier agreements.” Shaw says because corporations don’t understand travel, they often need a partner who is able to offer advice and support. “Once a solution is chosen, the main challenge is to get people to use it and for this, an effective adoption campaign is needed.” Yet corporates cannot expect a fast adoption rate when a shotgun approach is followed, advises Ross. Muirhead adds that corporates also mistakenly believe that solutions are too complicated to manage and that in addition to requiring intensive company technology such as servers, a high degree of IT skill is required due to a lack of helpdesk/support availability. Corporates must not be afraid to ‘go it alone’, reassures Ross, as solutions do have back-up.

How Nedbank did it “Nedbank realised that with ease of use and without significant investment, we could implement a best-of-breed technical solution. This included a fit-for-purpose solution incorporating technology, the TMCs for complicated travel and the passion of Nedbank travel staff to get the savings. We’ve eliminated the high overhead for simple travel whilst retaining cost-effective specialist TMC skills where necessary. We have contingency plans for the loss of key staff. The journey would not have been possible without a super

user-friendly system with business-critical MIS readily available. The back-end processes have stabilised and a new card feature is being implemented. The initial cost of the system has already been recovered many times over. The travel expense line was the only one to show negative growth in Nedbank’s latest Financials. The key to our success has been the partnership with our technology providers, our TMCs and the greater travel industry.” – Howard Stephens, chief procurement officer: Group Shared Services Centre

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April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

Technology on the radar Continued from page 29

How to enhance your

travel technology

OMPANIES need to constantly monitor and measure the success of current programmes, advises Stamatiadis. Ross adds that corporates need to fully understand their travel policy and vision around how and why they travel. “They then need to determine how they wish to incorporate technology and service providers to achieve the solution that meets their needs. They also need to assess what they want to in-source and what they want to outsource. It will not be cost effective to spend unnecessary funds developing solutions for parts of the process that can be bought at a nominal fee. For example, they may choose to develop a travel requisition system internally and then integrate that to the online travel management solution of their chosen technology company and TMC.” Von Moltke cautions that too often companies believe that individual technologies can operate in isolation and provide

plan

a total solution. “For effective business travel management, all online and offline systems need to be integrated as seamlessly as possible and your TMC can perform a critical role in managing this process.” Amadeus adds that corporates need to re-engineer internal processes to support the chosen strategy, i.e. online or offline travel procurement. “The initiative must be sponsored and enforced by top management, be user friendly and be easy to implement. Implement your chosen system by virtue of its benefits as well as potential integration into other applications such as your ERP system.” Venter advises corporates that when choosing a solution, they look at a transactional fee versus a monthly fee to determine or verify the total return on investment. “In some instances, a transactional fee may work out to be more viable than the monthly fee, especially in cases where corporate travel decreases over a few months.”

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

Questions you need to ask yourself SATC’s Natasha Venter suggests travel managers ask themselves the following questions: • If you want to partner with a TMC, which TMC will you use? • What will be an acceptable cost and duration of integrating the solution within your environment? • Does the booking solution need to be integrated into your ERP solution (i.e does the solution need to handle authorisations with/without integration into your ERP system)? • Will the tool need to handle corporate policy down to cost centre/user level, with the

ability to override should there be a need to? • What reports are required? • Does the application security comply with requirements of programmes such as MasterCard SDP and Visa AIS based on the PCI security standards as defined by the SRC Security Research & Consulting industry GmbH and the CyberTrust Certifications? • How flexible or adaptable is the solution and how quickly can the solution be modified when your need changes? ■

Destinations

Lusaka & Ndola,

Zambia

Zambia has much more to offer its visitors than just the Victoria Falls, as Liesl Venter found out during a recent visit to its capital, Lusaka, and Ndola in the Copperbelt.

AMBIAN people are friendly. From the moment you step off the plane, the hospitality and graciousness of this nation is evident. In the vibrant capital city of Lusaka, development can be seen everywhere. It has become a boomtown of late. With new buildings going up everywhere including chain stores and shopping malls, Lusaka is truly the glittering capital where many rural Zambians come in search of fame and fortune. With its more than two million inhabitants, it is a hive of activity. Markets make for a vibrant scene. As you walk amongst the vegetable and fruit sellers, the fishmongers and flower stalls, you do, however, become acutely aware of the underlying poverty. Unemployment in Lusaka is rife with some 60% of its people not working. In the Copperbelt where people are reliant on the mining industry, the 2009 global economic downturn hit hard. The dusty city of Ndola, situated some 320km from Lusaka, has also seen much development in recent years, becoming an important commercial centre. On the outskirts of the town, the new national soccer stadium is taking shape while copper artefacts and art work can be found for sale along the roads. Both cities are full of opportunity, as people are hungry for business. Much effort has gone into developing facilities and services for corporate travellers.

In your leisure time In Lusaka, those wanting to shop should not miss the Kabwata Cultural Village. Here local crafters have goods on display that are sold at reasonable prices. For those wanting to spend a bit more, gemstones and the finest of jewellery can be purchased at Jagoda. They specialise in the mining and export of quality rough gemstones and are one of the largest producers of Tourmaline in Africa. Other sights worth seeing while in the city include the Munda Wanga Environmental Park. It is one of Zambia’s main educational and recreational centres. The site houses a beautiful botanical garden. Tourists can watch many types of animals who reside in this park and appreciate the Freedom Monument. Ndola, on the other hand, does not have much to offer the weary traveller in the way of sightseeing activities once the day’s work is done. Those interested in the history of the mineral activity in the area should take time to visit the Copperbelt Museum, which has interesting samples of the minerals found in the area as well as some cultural arts and crafts on display. Lake Chilengwa is also worth a visit, as it is one of two sunken lakes in the Copperbelt. It is situated some 16km from the city while Lake Kashiba is more south. The lakes offer good swimming and bird watching opportunities.

Where to stay Lusaka offers a range of upmarket accommodation: • The Taj Pamodzi is set amidst tropical gardens in the heart of Lusaka’s business and government district. Spacious and comfortable, this luxurious hotel has 193 elegant rooms and suites as well as five meeting rooms including a boardroom. Catering from casual, all-day eateries to formal, fine dining, the hotel also has a coffee shop, bar, a gymnasium, sauna and spa. • The Southern Sun Ridgeway is conveniently located in Lusaka’s business district close to embassies and government offices and is only 27km from the airport. The stylish hotel is ideally suited to business travellers. The guest rooms are tastefully furnished and offer every modern facility including free wireless internet access, which is available throughout the hotel. • The Protea Hotels Cairo Road is located in the heart of Lusaka’s CBD close to the Arcades shopping and entertainment complex. With spacious, air-conditioned and en-suite accommodation in 68 rooms and seven suites, corporate travellers will find Protea Hotel Cairo Road ideal. The hotel restaurant serves buffet breakfasts, lunch and dinner and the bar is open until 22h00 daily. Conference facilities comprise three 15-seater boardrooms and two conference rooms seating 40 delegates. In Ndola: • The first choice of accommodation for most business visitors to Ndola is the Mukuba Hotel, which is set on a 16-acre landscape, ranch-style retreat ten minutes away from the city and 4km from the airport. It has 52 air-conditioned rooms, a restaurant, fitness centre, conference room and two bars.

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April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

Destinations

Fast facts • Language: The official language spoken is English although there are 73 dialects spoken in Zambia. Bemba is the next most commonly understood language. • Currency: The kwacha, which has denominations of 50, 100, 500, 1000, 5 000, 10 000, 20 000 and 50 000. There is no limit to the importation of foreign currency provided it is declared on arrival through a currency declaration form. • Car hire: There are many car-hire companies in Lusaka and a few in Ndola, offering a small range of vehicles. Some offer a flat weekly rate but most charge a daily rate plus mileage, insurance and petrol. Most cars come with a chauffeur. • Getting there: Many airlines fly in and out of Lusaka International Airport. Interair flies into Ndola International Airport. Domestically there are scheduled flights available to Chipata, Kitwe, Livingstone, Mfuwe and Ndola. • Departure Tax: Departure tax is at airports is US$25 (international) and $8 (domestic), payable in hard currency. Travellers’ cheques are not acceptable. Most tickets issued are now inclusive of departure tax. You should check this when buying your ticket. Source: Zambia Tourism

April 2010 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

Air Namibia promotes direct service into Lusaka AIR Namibia launched its direct service from Johannesburg to Lusaka, five flights a week, in October 2009. The schedules depart from Johannesburg on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 11h40, arriving in Lusaka at 13h40. The return flights are on the same days and depart Lusaka at 14h40 to arrive in Johannesburg at 16h40. On the Lusaka route, passengers in economy class enjoy 32kg of baggage allowance and business-class travellers a generous 42kg of baggage per person. Fares are from R1 240 per person with taxes of about R1 440. Air Namibia also offers a special companion fare from Johannesburg to Lusaka return of R1 000 each for two passengers travelling together plus taxes. The Air Namibia frequent flyer programme, ‘Rewards’, is now automated and passengers over the age of 21 years can register onboard, at Air Namibia ticket offices or airports or on the airline’s website.

Don’t miss this Vic Falls conference special

WHILST Sun International does not have a hotel in Lusaka or Ndola, for those wanting to use Livingstone as a base, Sun International Dreams is currently offering a special to the resort along the Zambezi River. A few minutes walk from the Vic Falls, the resort inside the Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Wildlife Park comprises the 173-room five-star Royal Livingstone and 212-room three-star Zambezi Sun Hotels as well as The Falls Entertainment and Convention Centre, which seats 450 delegates theatre style. The special is selling to conference groups from R9 999 pp sharing and valid for SA residents until June 30, 2010. It is only applicable for new bookings with a minimum of ten passengers. The rate includes return airfares JNB/LVI/ JNB, airport taxes, return airport/hotel transfers, three nights’ accommodation at Zambezi Sun Hotel, meals and beverages, three-day conference, a plenary room (minimum 30 delegates), equipment hire, group star gazing with Russell Gammon (specialist guide and keynote speaker), African Queen sunset cruise, group nature walk in the Park, four days’ travel insurance including hazardous pursuits and unlimited access to the Victoria Falls. ■