Business Travel Now August 09

NOW managing your travel spend better

August 2009

The great transparency debate

Old Mutual’s Travel Hub saves them millions

■ Reducing carbon footprints: are you cleaning up your act?

■ Pick a venue name and win at the O.R. Tambo InterContinental!

■ Premium products – the latest value-added offerings ■ How to ensure your TMC’s choice of GDS works for you

CONTENTS

The time to act is now!

C

ORPORATES in South Africa are still lagging way behind their international counterparts when it comes to reducing carbon footprints, says Kerry Wright, Cleaner Climate’s director. She was interviewed for our feature on this topic and it seems this slow start is due in part to a lack of carbon change messaging in SA. But companies are waking up to the need to reduce carbon footprints, as global initiatives gain momentum and customers increasingly seek to support businesses that are engaged in cleaning up their acts, writes Max Marx.

There are several aspects companies need to look at when considering a carbon emission reduction strategy and our report touches on a few of these.

Not all corporates are aware of the risks to their businesses in this regard, so much more discussion is needed around the topic.

This is where BTN can play a role.

For example, in conjunction with ACTE, we recently had good fun hosting the first in a series of specialist audio webinars directed at the corporate travel market. How it works is that listeners register online (no charge) and are able to pose questions to a panel who are on hand to respond during the live broadcast.

Our first topic was the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) and as with the issue of carbon footprints, it is still a subject not yet at the top of travel buyers’ agendas.

But it should be.

As Advocate Louis Nel from Benchmark said during the webinar, the Act comes into effect on October 24, 2010 and all businesses should already be going through the CPA to ensure they are compliant before it becomes a mad rush to meet the deadline.

To help companies navigate through all the documentation, Advocate Nel is currently busy with a CPA ‘DIY Toolkit’. He says: “Once completed, it will be available for purchase and enable you to apply the CPA on a prima facie basis to all your documents to ascertain your level of compliance.

It will be sold on a license basis and include copyright restrictions.”

Following that, he will also present a series of workshops countrywide.

The BTN/ACTE Consumer Protection Act webinar can be downloaded from www.btnow.co.za and it will also form the basis of a Power Panel that will be featured in our September issue, so watch out for that!

During July, we also featured a webinar on the closely related subject of Duty of Care and we are planning one for August to take up the issues raised in our carbon footprint feature.

If you’re interested in suggesting a topic for a future webinar – or in being involved as a panellist – please let us know.

Until we speak again, here’s to cleaning up our act – and acting in time for the Act! ■

COVER STORY BTN caught up with Old Mutual’s Roddy Mann and Somaya Parker in Cape Town to learn more about how the correct choice of systems partners has contributed towards a better control of their travel spend.

They were photographed by Tijana Huysamen at the Protea Hotel Victoria Junction.

News

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Power Panel

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Profile

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On the Radar

8

On the Radar

14

Insight

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Destinations

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On the Radar

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How To

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Destinations

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Deal Detective

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New Option

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• FCm ups the ante • Aon crisis management operations centre goes live • Reduce your roaming costs with WorldSIM • Avis MiniLease solution gathers momentum

The great transparency debate

Old Mutual shares the story of its Travel Hub project

Premium Products still in demand

Health issues and travel

‘Let the buyer beware’ applies in tourism too, writes Satsa ceo Michael Tatalias

Oiling the cogs of business travel in Accra, Ghana

Reducing carbon footprints

Ensure your TMC’s choice of GDS does not affect your travel account negatively

The UK

KIM COCHRANE Brought to you by Now Media, Business Travel Now is a professional travel publication aimed at South African travel procurement decisionmakers 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.

Paris, Cape Town or Mauritius: Travelinfo’s latest specials

Pick a venue name and win a stay at the O.R. Tambo InterContinental

PUBLISHER David Marsh MANAGING EDITOR Natalia Thomson CONSULTING EDITOR Kim Cochrane CONTRIBUTORS Linda van der Pol, Max Marx, Hilka Birns, Jeanette Phillips, Liesl Venter, Natasha Tippel, Sue Lewitton DESIGN & LAYOUT Michael Rorke ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Kate Nathan SALES REPRESENTATIVE Diana Comninos, Lisa Jacobs ADVERTISING CO-ORDINATOR Lana Sachs SUBSCRIPTIONS subs@nowmedia.co.za ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RSA full price R275.00, RSA annual debit order R220.00, Foreign on application PRINTED BY Juka Printing (Pty) Ltd PUBLISHED BY Lugan Investments (Pty) Ltd trading as Now Media Now Media Centre, 32 Fricker Rd, Illovo Boulevard, Illovo, Johannesburg, PO Box 55251, Northlands, 2116, South Africa.

Tel: +27 11 327 4062, Fax: +27 11 327 4094, e-mail: btn@nowmedia.co.za, web: www.btnow.co.za

AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

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NEWS

FCm ups the ante F

CM is aggressively focusing on major client retention and new business development strategies and in support of this, it now has four brands under its belt to cater to a wide range of corporate requirements, says FCm gm Ravella Lambert.

The brands include FCm Travel Solutions, FCm Events, FCm Executive Leisure and Flight Centre Business Travel.

According to Lambert, it’s a significant strength for FCm to have these capabilities inhouse, as many TMCs still outsource clients’ MICE and leisure requirements.

“One example of how our extended portfolio will impact positively on corporates is that it enables us to offer consolidated reporting on a company’s general business travel, MICE and executive leisure spend. Many businesses are unaware of the benefits of integrating – and reporting on – all elements of spend and we’re currently working with customers to help them streamline processes and realise savings in this regard.”

A first for the corporate market in SA is that FCm is now offering an airfare guarantee, she says. This means for every quote a client receives, FCm will match it.

She adds: “When there’s a global economic crisis, the first thing corporates look at is their travel spend. Having a TMC like FCm is a good decision to help corporates manage their spend better, whether you look at it from a comprehensive reporting or an airfare guarantee perspective. With our new extended range of services, clients can put their eggs in one basket to enjoy consistent levels of professionalism and service across all facets of their travel portfolios. This is what more TMCs should be doing. There are too many companies out there guaranteeing things that just don’t happen.”

To support the developments, FCm has invested in upgraded systems and extra staff, with the sales team growing from seven to 20 people within a year, as one example.

Aon’s crisis centre goes live THE recently launched Aon Crisis Management Operations Centre (AcMoc) offers cover to SA companies that operate or invest in countries with hostile or politically unstable environments.

Paul Bassett, md of the speciality and chairman of the Crisis Risk Management Global Practice Group for Aon Limited in London, says organisations are increasingly realising the responsibility of duty of care.

“This is the first centre of its kind within Aon and to our knowledge the first inhouse centre to be launched within any insurance broker globally. The initiative has largely been driven out of SA, supported by a core crisis team in London and other colleagues around the world.”

Essentially, the AcMoc is an integrated command, control, communications and information-relay facility, which allows operational staff and crisis management personnel to increase risk-management capability, provide control on the ground during events as well as implement preventative and response measures.

Anton Roux, ceo of Aon Africa and SA, says organisations sending employees into volatile or high-risk areas can be reassured that through the AcMoc, employees can be located and evacuated at the touch of a button.

The AcMoc’s core competencies include emergency communications; warning and informing; safe travel management; live tracking of people or assets and consultancy services.

U-bag moves DUR operation to JNB IN a strategic move to centralise customer service and operations in SA, U-bag clients within the KwaZulu-Natal area will now be handled by the centralised customer service team based at the Johannesburg hub, hereby closing the Durban Airport office.

“Our highly skilled and knowledgeable customer service team is capable of servicing clients throughout SA irrespective of where they are located. Moving the

Durban operations to Johannesburg will have little to no effect on clients, as KZN telephone and e-mail enquiries have been handled by the Joburg hub since November 2008,” says gm of business development, Michele van Rensburg.

“Clients will no longer be able to drop off their bags at the airport office, but for a nominal fee, U-bag will collect them from their door and this can be easily arranged by phone.”

For more indepth solutions or discussion points visit

www.btnow.co.za 2

AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

Virgin Atlantic helps with UK visas!

DURING a recent trip to SA, Virgin Atlantic Airways chairman, Sir Richard Branson, announced that the airline will be reimbursing SA passengers for their UK visas if they book two consecutive return tickets on the airline.

The visa is refunded on the second ticket.

The six-month visa costs R938 and is refunded on the second ticket if flying either Economy or Premium Economy. The two-year visa costs R3 010 and is refunded on the second ticket if flying Premium or Upper Class.

The five-year visa costs R5 600 and is refunded on the second ticket if flying Upper Class. The ten-year visa costs R7 000 and is refunded on the second ticket if flying Upper Class.

This offer is valid for ticketing until September 30 for the first ticket. The first ticket is valid for travel until November 30, 2009 and the second ticket is valid for travel between October 1 and November 30, 2010.

The second ticket must be in the same cabin as the first ticket and be for the same passenger.

Reduce your roaming costs with WorldSIM UNIGLOBE Travel Sub-Saharan Africa has been appointed a distributor to WorldSIM, a pay-as-you-go mobile phone service that allows individuals to use their mobile phone when they are travelling abroad without incurring expensive roaming, calling or texting charges, advises Nikki Gray, Uniglobe’s marketing and events manager.

“Essentially, WorldSIM will reduce the business traveller’s roaming costs by at least 75%,” she says.

WorldSIM provides communication services that enable travellers to save money on their communication costs when travelling internationally. As a prepaid global roaming sim card, WorldSIM enables travellers to receive calls free on their mobile phones when they travel in over 55 countries including Europe, UAE, Australia and SA, as well as make outbound calls at a fraction of the cost of standard operators.

WorldSIM has coverage in over 150 countries, supports prepaid voice, SMS and data roaming and there are no peak rates, hidden fees or call connect charges.

Further benefits include free real time itemised billing to facilitate instant cost management, conference calling (which can be initiated from the traveller’s handset or from the internet), call recording and forwarding facilities, premium quality voice traffic, GPRS/3G data facility and 24/7 customer services.

WorldSIM global roaming sim cards come with a UK mobile number and are available through any Uniglobe Travel agency.

NEWS

The MiniLease solution is appealing to consultants on temporary project management contracts, small businesses, employees with a car allowance and repatriates needing a transport solution.

AVIS Rent a Car’s MiniLease solution, introduced in May 2008, is operating successfully in both the corporate and household markets and making a meaningful contribution to the car rental company’s monthly volumes, says Avis ce, Wayne Duvenage.

Duvenage says the average leasing period is five months and Avis anticipates a broadening interest in the product from Corporate SA. Avis Rent a Car developed the MiniLease product to provide some of the benefits of ownership for customers who want a vehicle for a limited period of time (three to 11 months), without all the costs and risks associated with purchasing a vehicle.

MiniLease is not a standard rental product. It offers a higher level of benefits to the longer-term renter and customers can select any make, colour and model of vehicle within Avis’ fleet. Requests for optional extras such as tow bars, CD shuttles, Bluetooth, bicycle racks, GPS,

medical kits, baby seats and phone kits can be accommodated and the vehicle will be dedicated to the customer for the entire leasing period.

The MiniLease solution is particularly appealing to consultants on temporary project management contracts; small businesses or relocation companies; employees with a car allowance; repatriates needing a quick and simple transport solution; families needing a second vehicle; and individuals needing an interim solution before buying a new vehicle, amongst others.

Vehicles may have three additional drivers and each vehicle comes with 3 000km free mileage per month as well as free delivery and collection. In the event of maintenance work or accident repair, a loan vehicle is provided.

All current Avis Rent a Car benefits apply such as 24-hour roadside assistance, public liability insurance, oil, maintenance and window screen breakages.

Gain weight with Arik!

pic: TIJANA HUYSAMEN

Avis MiniLease solution gathers momentum in corporate market

Paying for overweight baggage to Lagos is now a thing of the past. Arik Air’s new Johannesburg to Lagos service allows economy passengers up to 60kg checked baggage allowance, while premier class travellers can haul as much as 90kg on to the flight. It’s a great unique selling point for your travellers heading to Lagos, says sales and marketing manager Isla Moffett (right) pictured here with Jannie Claassen, reservations supervisor.

AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

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POWER PANEL

The great transparency debate Everyone has their own idea of what transparency in the business travel arena is all about and what supplier information corporate clients have a right to access. Kim Cochrane spoke to some industry leaders to see how well our industry is coping in this regard.

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A’S business travel industry is obsessed with transparency, believes Asata ce Robyn Christie.

“There’s an overwhelming notion from corporates that they should know every last detail as to the TMC’s income. This does not always promote a healthy situation as far as service level agreements and trust is concerned, particularly in this environment where corporates are negotiating deals directly with suppliers. They agree a price and the TMC agrees (at a price) to undertake the process of booking on behalf of the company. Why then should that customer have any further claim on the TMC’s revenue?”

She continues that because we operate in a free market, this gives corporates the freedom to select partners based on their requirements. “With the amount of travel agents available within the market as well as economic conditions, pricing is competitive.”

But, she says, the transparency debate extends much further than price. “Customer information, the disclosure of that information and how that information is stored are surely also transparency related issues? Or is the corporate market only concerned about how much their suppliers earn?”

Monique Swart, ACTE regional director: Middle East & Africa, says often when speaking about transparency, it’s assumed that clients need to be able to trust their TMCs/suppliers. “Similarly, TMCs/suppliers need to trust their clients and know if they are honest and disclose what other companies might keep hidden, their clients won’t automatically try to use this information as a bargaining chip. Education is vital for the industry to understand what is and isn’t the norm as well as what can and can’t be expected as far as levels of disclosure or streams of income go.”

Since there’s such a large crossover within industry sectors, it’s sometimes difficult to know who the clients are and what information they should have the right to access, she adds.

“When cost-cutting and containment are such big issues, one needs to understand the full picture to have effective leverage. Without transparency, this picture is hazy.”

(clear pricing structures, key performance indicators, policies, abolishment of ‘trade secrets’), communication (direct and honest feedback, timeous communication) and accountability (ownership of your action and its consequences).”

Carel Aucamp A: “Transparency really comes from an open, honest relationship with the client, whereby the client is fully informed of all products and their benefits. Ideally, in a service industry, clients should have the final say in what is being purchased on their behalf, but the TMC is responsible for giving them the information to make an informed choice.

It is also imperative that facts, not perceptions, are handed to end users.” Des O’Connor

“Transparency is the next level of responsible corporate business practice and should be embraced as the next best thing after sliced bread within supplier relationship management.”

- Carel Aucamp

A: “The industry has become far more transparent.

I can only speak for our own business where we are questioned around every cost and revenue source. The TMC is obviously the easiest to unpack whereas other suppliers are far more reluctant to expose their business models. This places the TMC in a difficult predicament, as it’s the only partner willing to expose the detail in order for shared clients to know they’ve paid a fair price for services rendered.” Claude Vankeirsbilck A: “Unfortunately there’s still a perception of ‘trade secrets’ and underhand dealings within the industry and reports of salacious scandals between TMCs and airlines do not help improve the situation. But the industry has come a long way to fight this perception and the level of transparency is raised year on year. A great success story would be if the industry realised the need for continuous transparency as a benefit and not a requirement.”

Carel Aucamp A: “The industry has improved, but is still far

Your definition of ‘transparency’?

A: “Transparency is where both client and TMC completely understand each other’s business and key business drivers.” Claude Vankeirsbilck A: “Transparency by definition implies openness 4

AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

Why is transparency important?

A: “Being transparent in effective cost-management strategies means there’s a clear direction of what the strategies are and that the travel programme is focused on these. A total partnership is formed to achieve the objectives of all entities. Transparency would ensure customers have a clear understanding of all the cost components relative to their total travel spend.

This would mean suppliers of the services are also transparent with their cost models. It aids an understanding that a TMC is only around 10% of the total cost of travel, in other words, only the ‘tip of the iceberg’.” Claude Vankeirsbilck A: “Transparency is the building block within a business relationship. If the foundation is sound (i.e. all parties are clear on the expectation and what has to be delivered), it will be easier for the parties to re-evaluate cost, optimise a solution and drive world-class practice.” Carel Aucamp A: “Transparency enables clients to make informed decisions on their purchase requirements. A full understanding of the actual facts, not perceptions, is critical. If a client decides to opt for a more expensive product based on these facts, they’re then easily able to justify its additional charges.”

Des O’Connor

Is our industry transparent?

from transparent. A lot of areas leave room for improvement, such as preferred agreements, which are often not disclosed to end users and can have significant costs involved. The second is supplier pricing. There should be a standard pricing policy in place (here I’m talking from an airline viewpoint) and items such as fuel levies and general taxes should be regulated if they’re to be disclosed separately from the price. Everyone should be using all-inclusive pricing. If they want to show a breakdown of the price, that’s fine, but the amounts shouldn’t detract from the overall cost of the item when advertised. Booking fees by third parties also need to be transparent. To date, we have numerous people who still aren’t aware of the fees they are paying and why. They become very frustrated when they discover them.”

Des O’Connor

When does the need for disclosure become an intrusion?

A: “When clients try to dictate what our margins and costs should be (every business is entitled to a fair margin and has stakeholder expectations).

When paying a doctor’s consultation fee, does anyone ever ask for the costs to be unpacked and then proceed to try negotiate each line item? One should be prepared to pay a fair value fee for the value of services rendered.” Claude Vankeirsbilck A: “Full disclosure should not be seen as an intrusion. If so, transparency is not correctly implemented and understood within the business relationship (intrusion is not the antonym for transparency). Full disclosure should raise the level of the relationship between parties and build on cooperative strategies to enhance both businesses.

If full disclosure translates to anything else, the transparency of the request, or the action, should be questioned. Full disclosure should ideally be implemented within a mature relationship and should not be confused with transparency, which should be implemented from the outset of the relationship.” Carel Aucamp A: “As a service industry, I don’t believe it does.”

Des O’Connor

How fine is the line between privacy and underhandedness?

A: “There is a clear line. Each business is entitled to its own privacy and how it operates its business.

If it operates underhandedly then it will get caught out and ultimately lose its reputation as a professional business entity. Unfortunately there are those who perceive general business practice to be underhanded in the travel industry. The industry should not shy away from where and how it generates income. It’s how this is communicated with partners that will determine whether it is private or underhanded.” Claude Vankeirsbilck A: “There’s no fine line when it comes to underhandedness! If you need to keep something quiet or hidden, there’s something wrong!”

Carel Aucamp

Claude Vankeirsbilck, Tourvest Travel Services chief sales officer

A: “I believe the line is very clear and it’s obvious when one does cross the line that it becomes underhanded. We have experienced several cases of this over the years and it is very prevalent.” Des O’Connor

“Privacy and underhandedness are very different. The right that the TMC has to earn an income is neither private nor underhanded. Underhanded is deviant and just because a TMC is not disclosing its revenue streams does not mean it is deviant. It means it is managing its income – so long as the agreed pricing with the customer has not been implicated.”

- Robyn Christie Are percentage-based remuneration structures transparent?

A: “No. But it’s critical to understand that industry is becoming more aware of its cost structures and for that reason, a shift to a fair margin on costs is ultimately the way to move forward. It should no longer matter what the price of a trip is. The fee should be based on what it costs to provide the transaction (including the added value) with a fair margin added.” Claude Vankeirsbilck A: “In theory, the remuneration cost structure is transparent and sound. The lack of transparency occurs with the implementation and day-to-day operation of the costing structure due to a lack of understanding and clear measurements.”

Carel Aucamp A: “Definitely not, although more end users are realising they exist. These percentage-based remuneration structures have been detrimental to the travel industry. I speak for airlines here, but by being excluded from certain travel agency brands due to these type of schemes, suppliers have been forced to look for alternative ways to distribute inventory. It is ironic now that certain members of the trade complain that suppliers are going direct, or using other channels, when previously it was the travel consortiums who would exclude these suppliers in the first place, which led to the disclosure to clients of what was going on behind the scenes.” Des O’Connor

Carel Aucamp, British American Tobacco South Africa supply chain project manager

Desmond O’Connor, 1time commercial director

Are TMC fees overinflated in terms of value?

A: “This depends on who you talk to. Those who view travel as a commodity will agree with this statement. Those who see travel as a complex service, often a highly emotional purchase which at times feels completely out of control from an expenditure perspective, will understand and appreciate the value a TMC delivers – and will be prepared to pay a fair fee.” Claude Vankeirsbilck A: “This is a difficult question, as a number of definitions can be derived from ‘true value’ depending on which side of the fence you’re on and the maturity of the corporate and TMC’s business relationship. The coin flips: if you as a corporate believe the fees are overinflated, how are you managing the commodity to align the expectation and cost? If you as a TMC believe the fees are overinflated for the value you are delivering, how are you ensuring that the value is raised to meet your client’s expectation?”

Carel Aucamp

Is it the corporate’s business if TMCs rely on undisclosed income?

A: “Each business has revenue streams and each business ensures it protects these revenue streams to sustain its business. In a true partnership, these are disclosed to the point where there is a clear understanding of the drivers to maintain the various revenue streams.

Income from suppliers works to the benefit of corporates in that it covers a lot of the indirect costs not covered by fees charged, which means clients benefit from reduced fees.”

Claude Vankeirsbilck A: “Undisclosed income? Income generation should be something to be proud of, as it measures business success. If you have an income stream which you wish to ‘hide’, a number of questions should be raised internally with regard to the business you operate and/or are associated with. If you receive income from a supplier based on volume and the volume was generated with the addition of the corporate’s business volume, the income should be redistributed in accordance to the percentage contribution per party. This will place the TMC in a higher regard with the client and build a business relationship that will most likely span a number of years and possibly end in a partnership.” Carel Aucamp A: “I believe it is, as effectively the corporate’s money is earning that undisclosed income! In addition, the corporate is paying for a service upfront.” Des O’Connor

Next month our panel will debate the implications of the new Consumer Protection Act. AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

5

PROFILE

The Travel Hub project Kim Cochrane caught up with Old Mutual’s Roddy Mann and Somaya Parker in Cape Town to learn more about how the correct choice of systems partners has contributed towards containing a cost that was not quite under control.

Photographs: Tijana Huysamen

With a project methodology to secure upfront funding, Mann and his team subsequently presented the Travel Hub business case at executive board level in 2006/7.

“Funding required was less than one percent of our annual travel spend. The business model suggested that the transaction fees required to recover internal staff and overhead costs was less than the value of fees paid externally at that time. This has since been vindicated. Old Mutual had purchased a company which had moved travel bookings inhouse and subsequently enjoyed a reduction of 20% on domestic travel costs. Their policy was similar to our existing policies so we didn’t require major changes in that regard. We had a live pilot site that was already delivering the promised benefit percentages so all we had to do was align the rest of the group. This comforted our executives.”

In tune with Old Mutual’s travel requirements ... Roddy Mann, procurement analyst.

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HREE years ago, the boards of Nedbank, Old Mutual SA (OMSA) and Mutual & Federal decided to look collectively at the various commodities within the procurement space and travel was one of those up for assessment, advises Roddy Mann, Old Mutual procurement analyst at the Group Procurement Office, who heads up travel procurement at OMSA. “This was the beginning of a group awareness of travel spend and what is now known as the Travel Hub project at Old Mutual. The combined review incorporated an assessment of trends, benchmarking and total spend, which was thought to be over R200m across the group, excluding MICE spend.”

Speaking with BTN specifically about travel management changes at OMSA, Mann clarifies that OMSA and Nedbank work closely together in terms of sharing best practice and leveraging volumes across the group to secure better travel deals. This profile focuses on the OMSA case study and our October issue will feature Nedbank’s story.

Mann, who has an accounting and engineering background, subsequently contracted the services of independent business travel consultant, Digby Johnson of TravelWorks, to help analyse travel activities and various savings opportunities.

“There was a suspicion we 6

didn’t have our travel costs under control. As an example, when we had access to Galileo, we could see fares available at costs lower than we were being offered. We were also informed by ex-travel agency staff on several occasions that the fares offered were not the lowest available due to pressures on TMCs to meet airline turnover targets.”

“OMSA staff were being overcharged for fares and therefore using webfares to save money. There was also a lack of travel policy enforcement.”

To date, the Travel Hub project has focused on general corporate travel, but incorporating MICE spend within the total travel portfolio is a future project. The greatest challenges at the project’s outset were that reporting was late and often full of errors, which made accurate trend analysis difficult.

“OMSA staff were being overcharged for fares and therefore using webfares to save money.

There was also a lack of travel policy enforcement.”

AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

Additional concerns included travel requisitioning, approval, accounting and payment reconciliation processes that were manual, labour intensive and slow.

“We wanted to avoid billbacks and get direct access to suppliers to enable electronic uploads for multiple payments to the same vendor.”

Under the microscope OMSA was also missing out on achievable cost savings because its TMCs across all the major groupings were finding it challenging to rapidly search for the best available deals across multiple suppliers.

Furthermore, group leverage on supplier deals was not effective.

“We would negotiate rates with Supplier A and then find the TMCs had placed bookings with Supplier B where they enjoyed higher revenue through kickbacks and rebates. Use of low-cost carriers (LCCs) was the most prominent example. We were given pages of reasons by TMCs suggesting why LCCs did not suit corporate requirements. Even when we asked specifically for LCCs, we were told that agency consultants did not like doing LCC bookings because they had to do more bookings to make historic turnover targets. Some suppliers asked if we could book direct so they could avoid GDS charges and TMC payments.”

A multi-pronged approach The solution was to adopt a multi-pronged approach that included a more aggressive approach to travel policy implementation and enforcement as well as a re-assessment of business systems, processes and partners.

“We started implementing the project by accommodating travel requests that called for a LCC. The use of LCCs surged. The results of the additional savings encouraged our managing director to lend his support to tougher policy compliance, which directed more staff to use LCCs – even if for only one leg of the journey – and manage their expenses more assertively. The md wanted all the business units to reduce expenditure, including those who did not want to use LCCs. The expense reduction approach was extended to hotel selection as well.”

Adds Mann: “Our view is that our business travellers know their needs. We see senior executives flying on LCCs, but if they have important meetings, they fly in Business Class on a traditional carrier.

“Overall, we’ve seen a decrease in terms of where we might have been if we hadn’t put the controls in place. Our executives agree that millions have been saved (as confirmed by an independent audit review).”

PROFILE

“Overall, we’ve seen a decrease in spend with regard to where we might have been if we hadn’t put the controls in place,” says Roddy Mann.

OMSA presently works with three systems partners, namely Oracle, TravelLinck and Galileo.

“Internally we developed an Oracle requisition system, which links into our Oracle reporting and HR systems. It will be integrated into our TravelLinck system during the project’s next phase. Our internal systems have complicated existing workflows, which we were able to use for travel approval. We are able to validate that cost centres are active before approving travel against them. This is critical in our organisation where we close a lot of project cost centres and change business structures frequently. We also use Galileo SA for times when we are unable to access the internet.”

The big picture

Says TravelLinck ceo, Roderick Ross: “OMSA had been investigating various travel technology solutions on offer, locally and internationally, before they approached TravelLinck in late 2005. We’ve been in consultation with OMSA for the past few years to design and develop a travel management platform to proactively manage expenditure from request through to reconciliation. We don’t underestimate the need to use technology in conjunction with a well thought-out change management strategy to enforce (revised) policy and achieve various goals. The strategy was to obtain executive support at an early stage and then to implement a phased roll-out, combined with internal communication to enforce the revised travel policy, at various levels across the group. The need for cost containment was communicated at an executive level and any reasons for slow uptake were addressed. Highlighting the benefits of the big picture helped to overcome any resistance to change.”

Adds Mann: “The value delivered by TravelLinck is now bigger than any investment we put in. We’ve probably taken 10%-20% off all travel costs through this process. The investment in the widest sense has paid for itself. Included are all costs paid to external consultants and costs of staff who have managed the project, systems, licenses, etc.”

Mann says OMSA has achieved savings that were a few million rands more than expected.

TravelLinck’s mandate TRAVELLinck’s mandate was to design and develop a platform that could deliver:

Travel Hub manager and travel procurement specialist, Somaya Parker (pictured before she went on maternity leave), is a key member of the software team and manages regular travel forums that incorporate representatives from each business unit.

“And we’re not half-way yet. The change will become the new way of managing travel, with TravelLinck staying onboard. It’s comfortable to know the project is clearly self-funding and as such, we hope to extend it through to Old Mutual park, OMSA offices in SA and possibly to the rest of the group.”

• Huge cost savings • Cost transparency, with direct access to suppliers for flights, cars, accommodation and conferencing • Technology that would prevent ‘lock-in’ to any one TMC. Old Mutual wanted to own and control its destiny and data • The freedom to choose the role that any third party travel agency plays in the fulfilment of travel requirements • Direct payment of suppliers with no third party billback fees • Real-time data to manage travel portfolios proactively, with pre-emptive reports prior to travellers commencing trips • An end-to-end solution

Future projects Going forward, there are still opportunities to book travel smarter based on underlying trend analysis. “We’ve also noted that staff who have a better understanding of travel find it easier to cope with the changes inherent in business travel.”

Other plans include looking at the B&B sector and hosting more travel forums. “These sessions really helped with the recent implementation of UK visas, which impacted us significantly, as we have a head office in London.”

Mann says the Travel Hub system enables OMSA to report back on the best and worst travellers in terms of spend patterns. “We also identify the best booker and approver – and then send it to the business units so they can acknowledge the relevant people. We find this to be very powerful change management tool.”

He expects to see a continued relationship with the various TMCs for consulting purposes, but to rely less on them for bookings fulfilment.

Illustrated is an internal travel hub (OMSA’s approach) where travel consultants, employed by the corporate, use TravelLinck as the technology platform. “Our data now has better integrity,” says Mann. “We don’t just capture that someone’s flown – we capture why they’ve flown, who approved it, right down to the staff code of those people.”

Says Ross: “Corporates and suppliers are seeing the benefits of embracing technology.

Suppliers want to move closer to their clients to offer better deals and foster stronger relationships. TravelLinck facilitates this move on behalf of the corporate’s preferred suppliers. TravelLinck is independent of any TMC. There are no hidden costs or management fees associated with our solution.” ■

AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

7

ON THE RADAR

Premium products Premium products are still in demand despite the economic downturn. But product owners need to improve their offerings to stay in the game, as corporates cut down on travel. Natasha Tippel reports.

A

LTHOUGH still popular with corporates, there is a noticeable decline in the frequency of usage of premium products for business, as travel budgets diminish.

“There has been a slight decline in premier-class travel, mainly due to curbed corporate travel policies and some downselling to economy class,” notes Gabriel Leupold, director of Southern and Eastern Africa for Lufthansa and Swiss International Airlines.

Qantas manager for Africa, Michaela Messner, agrees: “We’ve noticed a drop in demand on international flights for our premium products, in particular business class.

Our corporates have reviewed their spend, resulting in some cutting their travel budgets by 50%.”

But rather than eliminating these options, corporates are looking at innovative ways to make use of premium products. “Customers appreciate the value gained through premium products. Premium products are still being used, despite the economic downturn, because the benefits offered by such products outweigh the costs,” says head of Diners Club corporate division, Nadine Clarke.

Arik Air’s country manager for SA, Rodger Whittle, agrees: “Business travellers are still looking for the quickest, best-possible way

“For car hire, our ‘premium’ is an air-conditioner. For accommodation, a three- or four-star hotel is quite comfortable.” - Nomvula Mthombeni to get to their destinations. Price is normally not the deciding factor, but a good fare with added benefits are attractive to all travellers and even more so in this current economic climate.”

Marketing manager for Virgin Atlantic Airways SA, Caren Parkinson, notes that corporates are looking for cost-effective solutions to business travel. “Some corporates are purchasing economy or premium economy class tickets and using their personal loyalty miles to upgrade.”

Not only airlines are noticing a change.

Sales director for South America, Africa, the Middle East and South East Asia for Rail Europe, Xavier Theret, says: “Even though we’ve noticed a slight decrease for first-class tickets, the trend is to look for better-value options and as our second-class carriages are also good value for money, some companies choose this option instead.”

Peermont invests over R20m in re-launch of Mmabatho Palms

The newly renovated and rebranded Mmabatho Palms in North West Province.

TUSK Mmabatho near Mafikeng in the North West Province has undergone a major makeover worth over R20m and has been renamed the Mmabatho Palms Hotel, Casino and Convention Resort.

The renovation includes the upgrade and rebrand of the four-star Peermont Walmont hotel, the refurbishment of the casino, the addition of a conferencing facility and the revamping of the Motswedi Terrace Restaurant and Bar.

8

AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

“The Peermont Walmont hotel at the Mmabatho Palms offers comfort and quality to leisure and business travellers together with value for money,” says ceo of Peermont, Anthony Puttergill. “With the variety of entertainment and world-class conferencing facilities under one roof, Mmabatho Palms offers any guest an experience that is guaranteed to have them returning for more.”

“When flying, our main aim is to get to the other side safely, cost effectively and on time.

As such, we are prepared to use low-cost airlines or economy class,” says Duma Travel md Nomvula Mthombeni.

Cutting down on travel Area manager of risk and security for Volvo Southern Africa, Paul Raley, says: “The first thing we’ve tried to do is cut down on travel.

Only if a trip is really necessary is it approved.

We make use of teleconferences more often.”

Raley also notes that the company is looking at negotiating an agreement with a low-cost airline. “In the past, we’ve allowed a lot of our senior staff to fly business class on international flights; this we have changed in line with instructions from Sweden. Everybody now flies economy. Volvo also has a bigger emphasis on using guest houses that are on average about 40%-50% cheaper than hotel accommodation.”

Premium service with Arik Air

ARIK Air’s first scheduled service started in early June between Johannesburg and Lagos. The daily flight, which operates a new A340-500, departs Johannesburg at 13h45 and arrives in Lagos at 19h00. The return flight departs Lagos at 21h35 and arrives in Johannesburg at 04h50 the following morning.

The airline’s business class features 36 full flat-bed seats in a 2-2-2 configuration, 75-inch seat pitch with no intrusion from seat recline movement, an electronic mirrored privacy divider, a premier class suite control unit, built-in seat massage functions, USB jack and PC power outlet at each seat, in-flight entertainment on a 17-inch monitor at each seat, an onboard bar that serves drinks and snacks, a sleep suit and duvet turn-down service with large feather pillows.

ON THE RADAR

Corporates are looking at innovative ways to use premium products rather than eliminating them as options.

New Lufthansa lounges at Frankfurt Airport LUFTHANSA has added another highlight to its services for premium customers with the recently opened Welcome Lounge at Frankfurt Airport. The lounge concept is geared to the needs of passengers arriving on long-haul Lufthansa flights and can be used exclusively by first- and business-class passengers. The lounge features a spacious comfort area with lounging armchairs, a quiet zone for relaxing and a bistro area serving a breakfast buffet. Wireless internet access is available, while in the dedicated work area workstations and free internet terminals are provided.

The recently opened Tower Lounge offers Lufthansa’s premium passengers an array of amenities, including separate workstations with WLAN access equipped with complimentary internet PCs, a fax and copier, credit card payphones and power points to re-charge mobile phones.

A new spa has opened at Frankfurt Airport’s First Class Lounge. The spa’s bathing area is equipped with six superior-quality shower rooms (two of them with jacuzzis), and two massage rooms. The new lounge seats more than 100 guests and provides a spacious comfort area, two quiet rooms, enclosed office units equipped with telephones, PCs with internet access and writing utensils. Free WLAN access is also available.

Diners Club introduces business lifestyle guides Diners Club has launched Diners Club Choice – three business lifestyle guides created specifically to meet the needs of the Diners Club corporate member.

These include: ‘Business Travel’, a succinct directory aimed at busy executives who travel frequently where time, efficiency and professional service delivery are of the essence; ‘Conferences and Incentives’, a comprehensive source of value-adding and peripheral services offered by various establishments; and ‘Business Lifestyle’, which is focused on the leisure side of business.

The three guides include preferred Diners Club merchants and offer Diners Club members preferred rates and special offers when paying with their Diners Club card.

AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

9

ON THE RADAR

PREMIUM PRODUCTS AT A GLANCE Airline

Aircraft

Seat width (cm)

Seat pitch (cm)

Recline

Seats

Configuration

FIRST CLASS

Air France

B777-300 B777-200

61 61

208 208

Flat bed Flat bed

8 4

1-2-1 1-2-1

BA

B747-400

51

198

Flat bed

Depends on configuration

1-1 or 1-2-1

Cathay

B777-300ER (new product end of October)

91

-

180°

6

1-1-1

Emirates

B777-300ER

-

160

Flat bed

18

2-2-2

Etihad

A330-200

60

234

Flat bed

10

1-2-1

Lufthansa

B747-400

52

231

Flat bed

16

2-2

Qantas

B747-400

54

198

Flat bed

14

1-2-1

Swiss

A340-300

56

211

Flat bed

8

1-2-1

Air France

B777-300 B777-200

54 54

51 51

180° 180°

67 48

2-3-2 2-3-2

Arik Air

A340-500

60

190,5

Flat bed

36

2-2-2

BA

B747-400

54

185

Flat bed

Depends on configuration

2-2 upper deck 2-4-2 main deck

Cathay

B777-300ER (new product end of October)

60

-

180°

57

Herringbone

Delta

B777LR B767-300ER (ends August 29)

66 47

112 152

Horizontal flat 160˚

45 34

Herringbone 1-2-1 2-2-2

Egypt Air

A330-200

51

varies

138°

22

2-2-2

El Al

B767 B767ER

-

152 152

165° 165°

24 24

2-2-2 2-2-2

Emirates

B777-300ER A330-200 (Durban route)

23,5

117 175

Flat bed Cradle seat

42 27

2-3-2 2-2-2

Ethiopian Airlines

Boeing 737-700

-

112

-

16

2-2

Etihad

A330-200

51

224

Flat bed

22 or 26

1-2-1

Iberia

A340-300

66

152

Flat bed

42

2-2-2

Kenya Airways

B777-200ER B767-300ER B737 all series

58 58 58

191 193 193

Flat bed Flat bed 60°

28 20 16

2-3-2 2-1-2 2-2

KLM

B777-200

51

152

170°

35

2-3-2

LAM

B737

-

-

-

12

2-2

Lufthansa

B747-400

51

150

Flat bed

80

2-3-2

Olympic

A340

52

147

39°

32

2-2-2

Qantas

B747-400

60 50

199

20°

Depends on configuration

2-3-2 2-3-2

Qatar

A330-200

51

150

165°

24

2-2-2

SAA

A340-600 A340-300E A340-200

60 60 60

183 183 183

Flat bed Flat bed Flat bed

42 38 24

2-2-2 2-2-2 2-2-2

Swiss

A340-300

52

153

Angled bed

48

2-2-2

TAP

A340-300

51

137

77°

36

2-2-2

Turkish Airlines

Airbus 330 Airbus 340

51 54

178 185

Flat bed 159

22 34

2-2-2 2-2-2

Virgin Atlantic

B747-400

56

140-152

Flat bed

45

1-2-1 main deck

BUSINESS CLASS

Disclaimer: BTN has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this table, but accepts no responsibility for incorrect information supplied by the airlines.

10 AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

Premium products are still being used because the benefits they offer outweigh the costs.

Flagship service to Atlanta with Delta Delta’s new nonstop service between Johannesburg and Atlanta is operated using one of the airline’s flagship Boeing 777-200LR aircraft, which features 45 full-flat, 180 degree seats in BusinessElite. Each seat has PC power and USB port, oversize consoles and personal reading light, a sculptured privacy screen and individual upper and lower lumbar massage controls. BusinessElite passengers also enjoy personalised dining from an international menu with five courses.

New Premium Voyageur cabin being phased in Air France’s new Premium Voyageur cabin on longhaul flights offers 40% additional space compared with economy class. Personal space is guaranteed by a fixed-shell seat, which is 48cm wide, has a seat pitch of 97cm and reclines 123 degrees. A wide individual video screen enables passengers to enjoy 500 hours of viewing on demand.

The cabin is gradually being phased in on Air France’s entire international long-haul network on flights operated

by Boeing 777s, Airbus A340s and A330s. Customers travelling in the Premium Voyageur cabin also benefit from the frequent flyer programme Flying Blue. A trip in the Premium Voyageur cabin enables passengers to earn Miles more quickly: a full fare ticket in Premium Voyageur will earn customers 25% more Miles than with a full-fare economy ticket.

Brief round-up ■ Swiss International Airlines is adopting a mould-breaking new seating concept for its intercontinental Business Class cabins. The new seats, the first of their kind in the world, are gradually being installed throughout the Swiss long-haul fleet. The air pillow system, developed by Lantal, is adjustable from soft to firm, for seating and resting. The new seating also has green benefits: the air cushion makes the new seats around four kilograms lighter than those made from conventional foam padding. The weight reduction will save the airline over 650 tons of kerosene annually, lowering the company’s annual carbon emissions by over 2 000 tons.

■ Qantas has introduced International Advance Seat Selection. The new product allows premium customers exclusive access to preferred seating requests based on their Qantas Frequent Flyer Tier Status.

Customers can request or change their seat through their travel agent or via the Qantas website up to 24 hours prior to their flight departure.

■ Cathay Pacific’s new cabin design will be available on all daily flights from SA later this year. ■ AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

11

ADVERTORIAL

FCm swims upstream I

N support of its vision to be the leading travel and expense management specialist of choice for companies in South Africa within five years, FCm now offers four brands that provide a comprehensive range of services to meet the different requirements of its growing corporate client base. These include FCm Travel Solutions, FCm Events, FCm Executive Leisure and Flight Centre Business Travel.

k c a b e v i g to clients to its

A comprehensive yet diversified new service offering ensures FCm is a force with which to be reckoned in the business travel arena.

Flight Centre Business Travel enhances presence in office parks Since its launch in July 2008 with a store in Eco Park (Centurion), and its transfer from Flight Centre to the FCm stable, Flight Centre Business Travel (FCBT) offers an alternative to the costly concept of traditional in-houses.

While corporates are increasingly moving away from TMC-operated agencies within their businesses, FCBT has enabled FCm to implant its offering in corporate office parks to service existing clients, canvas for new business and match business traveller requirements through specialised service levels, advises Lisa Hemphill, FCm national sales manager.

Effective from July this year, a new FCBT store opened in Retail Park (Boksburg) and more stores are planned for other locations, including Cape Town. By the next financial year-end, FCBT will be operating five stores in different office parks nationwide, she adds.

In essence, FCBT is the storefront for the FCm powerhouse and a proactive way to enhance relationship building with clients.

Says Lisa Featherstone, FCm marketing manager: “The eye-catching Flight Centre branding has been retained, as people

The FCm Executive Leisure value-add The FCm Executive Leisure department launched in July this year to service the leisure requirements of FCm corporate clients.

“The premise behind it is that because we specialise in corporate bookings, it is too time consuming and distracting for consultants to give proper attention to the leisure needs of clients and as such, there’s been a huge gap in this virtually untapped market. FCm Executive Leisure consultants will do the proper analysis for corporates in terms of their holiday requirements – presenting the different ideas, beautiful quotes and pictures – by using existing traveller profile information such as

preferences or habits as a base from which to explore leisure options,” says Featherstone.

She adds: “Since we’ve already built up relationships with travellers on a business travel basis, they feel comfortable with us handling their leisure bookings. This new service is a value-add to existing clients because it offers something extra that they wouldn’t get if simply walking into another retail store where they are not a client.”

FCm Executive Leisure will incorporate products that are used in the Flight Centre space and as such backed by global buying power, in addition to newly sourced alternatives.

12 AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

who’ve never heard of FCm are more likely to recognise and respond to the Flight Centre brand.”

FCBT stores will initially be staffed by two FCm consultants who have the appropriate retail store personas and experience as well as a background in corporate consulting, but as levels of business increase, so too will the staff complement.

FCBT stores will also assist clients with leisure options, which can be accommodated through the newly launched FCm Executive Leisure division.

LAUNCH SPECIAL! Five-star Beverly Hills Hotel, Umhlanga Rocks, SA – R1 680 pps per night. Rate includes overnight accommodation; red wine and fruit in your room on arrival; intimate dinner for two (inclusive of a bottle of wine); indulgent bath menu and sumptuous breakfast. Valid until September 30, 2009.

“FCm Executive Leisure consultants will do the proper analysis for corporates in terms of their holiday requirements by using existing traveller profile information as a base from which to explore leisure options.” – Lisa Featherstone

LAUNCH SPECIAL! Four-star Tamassa resort, Mauritius – from R16 799 per adult. Pay for six nights, stay for seven. Rate includes airfare, seven nights’ accommodation on an all-inclusive basis, return airport transfers and applicable airport taxes. Children’s rate from R9 607. Valid: 45 days advance purchase, with a set departure date – December 10-17, 2009.

The FCm MICE division was rebranded at the beginning of the year and is now FCm Events, catering to the meetings, incentive, conferencing and event requirements of clients.

Says Hemphill: “We have five extremely knowledgeable project managers in the Johannesburg office who also handle the annual Flight Centre ball, which hosts over 2 000 guests, as well as all our internal conferencing and events.

FCm Events opened at our Cape Town office in March.”

As part of its new corporate social responsibility initiative, FCm is exclusively looking after the Philile Foundation in downtown Johannesburg.

“This is the only charity we are supporting, as we want to see how our contribution is making a difference,” says Hemphill.

The foundation is an emerging NGO that is expanding rapidly to transform the lives of children and disadvantaged communities in SA. It aims to run a full range of initiatives with an in-depth focus

on two core areas, namely education and health care. It provides quality pre-primary social support schools, psycho-social care, an empowerment teacher programme and HIV/Aids awareness and prevention.

“It’s delightful to be involved in their lives and the foundation is doing a marvellous job. In the new financial year, every FCm store will have one day a year for corporate responsibility leave, which they need to use towards helping the foundation when their turn comes around,”adds Featherstone.

FCm staff get involved in initiatives such as taking the children from the Philile Foundation for golf lessons.

Airfare guarantee –

Some of the Philile Foundation children with FCm gm, Ravella Lambert.

we’ll match any quote

“Our airfare guarantee ensures customers feel they don’t have to go anywhere else but us and as such, they’ll eventually stop looking around because they know, no matter what, we’ll give them the best fare.” – Lisa Hemphill

BBBEE contribution FCm recently received its Level 6 BBBEE Contribution certificate and is working towards Level 5. Its ultimate aim is to obtain Level 4 certification, states Hemphill.

Pic: Tijana Huysamen

A unique selling point for FCm is that it now offers an airfare guarantee promising that for every quote a client receives across FCm Travel Solutions and FCBT, the travel managers will match it.

“This ensures customers feel they don’t have to go anywhere else but us and as such, they’ll eventually stop looking around because they know, no matter what, we’ll give them the best fare. This is a new concept for the corporate market in SA and one that the retail leisure sector has always done very well,” says Hemphill.

A greener climate While FCm has since 2007 offered customers the facility to monitor their carbon footprints by linking through to the Cleaner Climate website, in September this year there will be a stronger focus on this aspect of FCm Travel Solution’s travel management services. As a result, FCm will be producing a product to enable clients to procure the relevant reporting on their carbon emissions and enjoy the resulting peace of mind when their impact on the environment is minimised.

A diversified, yet integrated team. From left: Hayley Atkinson, business leader for FCm Events and FCm Executive Leisure; Stephanie Grove, a FCm Events project manager; Lebogang Ntoagae, a travel manager for FCm Travel Solutions; and Patrick O Connor, a business development manager for FCBT, FCm Events as well as FCm Executive Leisure (as a business development manager he sells all of FCm’s services to prospective clients).

In summary...

Featherstone concludes: “Our ultimate aim is to give clients unparalleled service and to create long-term relationships with them.”

To this end, a new customer relationship management (CRM) programme has also been introduced to ensure all requirements are met at the different levels.

This growth has brought FCm closer to realising its five-year plan, which according to Hemphill, focuses on people (upstaffing, training and retaining), technology (to support clients better), marketing (greater brand awareness), appropriate financial systems, enhanced supplier relationships and the continuous improvement of products so as to constantly give clients what they want and need. While FCm has traditionally focused on the small to medium corporates, its extended offering positions it firmly on a new playing field to service larger companies too. “For us, a client is a client, irrespective of size.” ■ AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

13

ADVERTORIAL

Need help with your events?

ON THE RADAR

In sickness and in health Today it takes much more than just an apple a day to keep the doctor away – especially when travelling. Liesl Venter finds out more.

A

S headlines of swine flu deaths continue to dominate news media, the reality of the global village is finally starting to sink in. In a tally at the beginning of July, the World Health Organization found that a staggering 77 201 people had been diagnosed with swine flu during the first few months of the year. At least 332 people had died from it already.

“Anyone planning a trip to a foreign country without having the appropriate immunisation is being unwise, even if it is to a ‘disease-free’ country,” says Glenda Seeger, operations manager of Netcare Travel Clinics.

Dr Fraser Lamond, regional medical director of International SOS, agrees. He says travellers must be aware of their health status, vaccination requirements of the destination countries and prophylaxis or other preventative measures before they leave.

Whilst SA has been lucky that the current wave of the H1N1 virus (swine flu) has not impacted largely on the country, it has proved to the world how quickly a handful of cases in Mexico could develop into a global epidemic.

Forewarned is forearmed While it may not be necessary to panic yet over the possibility of getting swine flu on your next business trip, being prudent and taking precautions ahead of a travel schedule is necessary. Experts say informed travellers tend to be healthy travellers.

“In a globalised world, all it takes is one sick person on an inward-bound plane to spark an outbreak,” says Dr Pete Vincent of Netcare Travel Clinics. But with so many diseases to worry about – where does one start?

According to the South African Society of Travel Medicine, it starts with visiting a local travel clinic where up-to-date information is kept about diseases, immunisations and vaccines. Discussing travel plans with a medical doctor is always advised, as is ensuring a clean bill of

14 AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

health before setting off on a trip regardless of your end destination.

According to Dr Lamond, the most common issues affecting travellers are still generally minor ailments and illnesses often requiring little more than advice or a referral to a local healthcare facility.

“Certainly in the developing world, infectious and so-called tropical diseases like travellers’ diarrhoea and malaria are again becoming more common due to more travellers going to areas where these conditions are endemic or common.”

According to the WHO, pandemic influenza is still described as the most feared threat to health security in the world. Influenza, an infectious disease caused by viruses that affect birds and mammals, is spread by contact with bodily fluids containing the virus. While scientists have long known that flu can be dangerous, new strains are always evolving, clearly making it difficult to halt.

ON THE RADAR

Preventing disease is about stepping up on your own infection control. It's also about the basic stuff your mother taught you, such as washing your hands or covering your mouth when you sneeze.

“If you have to travel internationally, consult your doctor or travel clinic beforehand for an assessment of your risk factors,” says Dr Vincent.

“People with compromised immune systems, people who have recently had a serious illness or surgery, elderly people and the very young, and anyone with a respiratory or other organ complication, will likely be given a course of antiviral prophylaxis.”

He says people should visit their doctor at least four weeks before travelling. “Update all other medication and vaccinations that protect you while travelling – if you fall ill with a different disease, your ability to fight the flu would be reduced.”

It is all about information, says Dr Lamond.

“We urge companies to have plans in place that can deal with the outbreak of any pandemic or serious disease – whether it is Avian or swine flu, cholera or TB.” According to Pharmaco, distributor of Travelan, a new product that reduces one’s risk of acquiring travellers’ diarrhoea, a condition that affects tens of millions of people every year, it is about reducing the risk more than treating the symptoms after the condition has begun.

“The quality of healthcare varies from one country to another, as do healthcare practices.

It’s vital to know the systems and understand the risks,” says Dr Lamond. “It is all about proactive health risk management in the form of controlled health checks, having effective travel-related

Traveller’s tips • Research your destination and know what to expect in terms of accommodation, food and water preparation, and the available local medical services.

• Make sure you have the necessary information about vaccinations and plan ahead. Many immunisations and vaccinations need to be taken up to six weeks before departure.

• Have a medical and dental check-up before you leave. If there are any problems, get the proper medication and

• • • • •

treatment before your travelling starts.

Eat carefully when travelling – avoid uncooked or raw food, street vendors and unpasteurised dairy products.

Drink bottled water at all times.

If you are going to a country with a risk of malaria, take preventative medicine.

Protect yourself against insects that can bite and cause ill health – wear correct clothing and use insect repellents.

Have medication on hand – always travel with a well-stocked medical aid kit.

communications encompassing country specific health and security risks, having an associated communication strategy to ensure travellers are aware of the possible threats as well has being able to prevent and treat any condition.”

But vaccines and medications are only one component of disease prevention, says Seeger.

“It is just as important to take appropriate food and water precautions. It’s all about stepping up on your own infection control. It’s the stuff your mother taught you – wash your hands, cover your mouth when you sneeze and carry sanitiser spray with you in your bag or briefcase. And lastly when you start to experience symptoms whether it be a fever, sore throat or just red eyes, have it checked out by a professional. Don’t take chances.” ■

Reducing risk of travellers’ diarrhoea TRAVELAN, a product that significantly reduces the risk of getting travellers' diarrhoea, is a must for any traveller. The active ingredient in Travelan is unique. This ingredient, bovine colostrum, contains high amounts of antibodies to protect against E.Coli, the most common cause of travellers' diarrhoea, says Travelan distributor, Pharmaco.

AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

15

INSIGHT

Buyers are welcome to contact Satsa to check if suppliers are members in good standing.

Michael Tatalias, ceo of the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (Satsa), writes that travel buyers are much safer if they procure from suppliers who are members of a recognised association.

‘Let the buyer beware’ applies in tourism as everywhere else

F

OR many companies, even in these tough times, travel expenses rank second or third on corporate expenditure after tax.

But would you buy a new car from a company that was not an authorised dealer? I don’t think so. And yet many corporate travel buyers happily hand out, over a year, much more than the costs of a new car to travel providers they know nothing about!

If you buy from a company that is a member of a recognised association such as Satsa, Fedhasa, Asata, Ghasa, Babsa, or the AA, you are much safer. And you are entitled to ask any company with whom you may want to book if it has such association membership. Most reputable companies in tourism do.

How do you judge an association? It has to have a code of conduct to which all members subscribe and this will involve providing a high standard of service. If you don’t get that, you can take the matter up with the association before resorting to expensive legal action.

Satsa has a unique bonding scheme, which gives an additional level of protection by insuring any deposits you may have made to a Satsa member in good standing against that company being declared insolvent by a third party. Corporate buyers are welcome to contact Satsa to check if their suppliers are members in good standing.

“Any establishment that has not been graded by now should be regarded with some suspicion.”

Before a company can become a Satsa member – members are companies, not individuals – the association asks them to meet stringent requirements that show they are running a credible and legal business. These include company registration, full insurance, transport permits, guide registrations, a credit check and a letter from their auditor. Satsa checks them out to give the corporate buyer an additional way to protect their purchases and be sure their important and valuable employees are travelling with companies that will take good care of them.

Before booking accommodation, you should check if an establishment is graded.

Any establishment that has not been graded by now should be regarded with some suspicion. Make a note of the reply, just in case you need to take the matter further. In 16 AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

today’s world when bookings are often made over the internet, be aware that websites can, and do, lie!

When booking transport and tour operators, know that their vehicles need appropriate levels of insurance and permits/operating licenses. Drivers need professional drivers permits and for touring services, there needs to be a registered guide onboard. That word ‘appropriate’ is very important. If you have high earners onboard, who could be killed or totally disabled in an accident, there is no point in the supplier having insurance that does not take into account the high compensation such a person would expect from a court of law.

The Road Accident Fund, Amendment Act of 2005, as enacted in August 2008, changed the amounts that can be granted after a vehicle accident so now there is a very low limit. It also removed from the person injured the common-law right to sue the wrong-doer.

Though being challenged by law, Satsa, the TBCSA and other interested parties with the Law Society, this has far-reaching implications – a change in insurance (from passenger liability to personal accident cover) and from fault-based insurance to no-fault insurance.

While the legal challenge is going on, companies must have both types of insurance.

The Tourism BEE Scorecard has finally been signed off. Tourism was one of the first, if not THE first, industry to have its scorecard process complete. In order to ‘harmonise’ the Tourism Scorecard with the standard one, the following key changes are worth noting.

For SMEs, the maximum threshold to qualify

Michael Tatalias

for EME status (Exempt Micro Enterprise) is R2.5m per annum turnover. Any SME trading below that threshold is deemed so small as to qualify as an automatic BEE Scorecard contributor (a Level 4 contributor), but without imposing burdensome red-tape on the little guys. Thus, if a corporate buys tourism services from this EME company, it can allocate this expenditure to its own scorecard under the procurement category.

A unique twist in the Tourism Scorecard is that this same EME has a slightly more difficult process to sell his tourism services to Government buyers – for that he needs to be a Level 3 contributor and to achieve this, he has to undergo a proper assessment. ■

About Satsa Satsa has worked for the inbound tourism industry since 1968. It has an executive committee (ExCo), elected by members, that is charged with making policy decisions concerning the running of the organisation. The national office is managed on a day-to-day basis by an appointed ceo, coo and staff. Provinces in SA have their own chapters, with a chair and committee, which allows members to be involved in provincial matters at a local level. Satsa is committed to industry transformation and has signed a MoU with the Tourism Empowerment Council of South Africa to this effect. The association promotes responsible tourism, mentors newcomers to the tourism industry and is the only inbound non-government organisation whose members are bonded against involuntary liquidation of other members. The association offers members a variety of benefits from insurance, AIDS programmes and specialist legal advice. It looks after the interests of the private sector and private enterprise by lobbying government on behalf of members and others in the industry. Satsa works with other tourism organisations to promote and run various national recognitions programmes and it also promotes education in tourism through its annual conference, biweekly electronic newsletter and its magazine, The Tourism Tattler.

DESTINATIONS

Accra, Ghana Accra has seen a huge growth in air traffic over the past decade with international passenger traffic growing in double figures for the past five years. Sue Lewitton finds out what Ghana’s capital has to offer the business traveller.

Oiling the cogs of business travel

G

Getting there ■ Kotoka International Airport is the main entry point into Accra and the rest of Ghana and is located within Accra’s CBD. SAA flies four times a week non-stop between Johannesburg and Accra. Flights depart Johannesburg on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 17h20 and arrive in Accra at 21h45.

The return flight departs Accra the same day at 23h00, arriving in Johannesburg at 07h10 the following day.

Kenya Airways flies from Nairobi to Accra, offering favourable connections out of Johannesburg on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Getting around ■ Cars along with drivers can be hired from Avis as well as some of Accra’s local car-rental companies. This often works out to be relatively inexpensive and vehicles can be hired by the hour, or per day, which is the equivalent of 10 hours. If you plan to leave central Accra, fees will increase on account of poor roads and the wear and tear this takes on the vehicle.

Taxis are in plentiful supply and can be identified by the yellow panels along the side and the yellow license plate with black lettering. Taxis are hailed by waving your arm with your finger pointed towards the ground. There are few metered taxes, so fees should be negotiated before setting off on the journey. There are also shared taxis that follow fixed routes with fixed rates per passengers.

sTOCK exchange

HANA’s rich resource base has meant that the nation’s capital, Accra, has become one of West Africa’s business travel hubs. Timber, gold, diamonds and cocoa are just a few of the area’s exports and the recent discovery of an oilfield offshore Ghana has ensured a steady stream of business travellers moving through the capital.

In addition, Accra is trying to position itself as one of Africa’s top meeting and conference venues. It is home to the Accra International Convention Centre in the CBD. Ghana Tourism plans to promote the capital as a destination that offers the support of friendly locals, English as an official language, political stability and the absence of travel restrictions and foreign exchange controls.

Ghana’s rich resource base has meant that Accra has become a business travel hub.

Recommended hotels ■ The Golden Tulip Hotel, or ‘The Tulip’, is located five minutes away from Kotoka International, making it a popular choice for business travellers. It has 234 rooms including suites, apartments, chalets, executive and standard rooms. Wireless internet access is available throughout the hotel. There are conference facilities for up to 100 delegates and cocktail receptions for up to 750 guests.

There are seven meetings rooms in total.

■ The three-star Protea Hotel Accra is located about 10 minutes away from the CBD and Kotoka International. It offers conferencing and internet facilities. There are 75 rooms on

offer, all air-conditioned with internet access, satellite TVs and electronic safes.

■ M Plaza Hotel has 100 rooms, each individually decorated with internet access, direct dial telephone, air conditioner, digital safe, writing tables and chairs. The hotel has a business centre.

■ Hotel Novotel Accra City Centre is a four-star hotel just seven kilometres away from the airport. It provides WiFi internet access and six meeting rooms for business travellers. Guests can choose between standard or superior rooms and suites, with 190 rooms in total.

Fast facts • Currency: R1 = about 0,19 Ghana cedi.

Currency can be exchanged at forex bureaus, as well as some commercial banks.

It’s best to travel with US dollars, British pounds and euros as other currencies are subjected to poor exchange rates. American Express, Diners Club and Visa credit cards are widely accepted at hotels and shops, but Accra has had widespread problems with credit card fraud, so cash and travellers’ cheques are the safer alternative.

• Health: Malaria prophylaxis is recommended, as Malaria exists throughout the year. A Yellow Fever vaccination certificate is insisted upon.

• Language: The local language is Ga, but English is widely spoken.

• Visas: South Africans need visas to enter

Ghana. A completed visa application form and a personal history form, both available from the Ghana High Commission, must be submitted along with four passport-sized photographs, original vaccination certificate against Yellow Fever, four copies of air ticket or itinerary, a visa fee and passport.

• Water: It is best to avoid drinking tap water in Accra. Bottled water is widely available.

Water is also sold in 500ml sachets, but bottled water is the safer alternative.

• Business etiquette: Ghanaians consider greetings to be of utmost importance.

Business travellers should ensure they go through the motions of a proper greeting when first introduced to a colleague. It is also considered respectful not to eat or offer with the left hand. ■ AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

17

Corporates in SA are slowly waking up to the need to reduce their carbon footprints, as global carbon reduction initiatives gain momentum and customers increasingly seek to support companies actively engaged in cleaning up their acts. Max Marx finds out more.

S

A companies are lagging way behind their international counterparts when it comes to reducing carbon footprints, says Kerry Wright, Cleaner Climate’s director.

“I think it’s due to a lack of carbon change messaging in SA and the fact that in this unique country, there are so many other issues competing for prominence.”

The irony, says Wright, is that SA has been identified as a climate change hotspot and one that will be most adversely affected by climate change.

For many general service companies, anywhere between 25% and 60% of their corporate emissions are travel-related, she says.

Sharon Richards-Lund, Institute of Travel Management of Southern Africa’s national sales and marketing manager, says ITMSA has seen a large number of corporates enquiring about its Project Icarus initiative to gain a better understanding of their own corporate carbon footprints. “This seems to be their starting point. Then they begin to drive carbon emission supplier deals.”

There are several aspects companies need to look at when considering a strategy for carbon emission reduction, says Mandy Momberg, PricewaterhouseCoopers sustainable business solutions manager.

“Companies need to understand where their carbon emissions are coming from by doing a baseline assessment or gap analysis. Business travel (both road and air) and business fleet travel can be major contributors to a company’s carbon footprint, as can electricity consumption and paper usage.”

Ernst & Young South Africa has just produced its first carbon emissions report, using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol developed by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and ITM UK’s Project Icarus Environmental Toolkit.

Ingrid Koch, assistant manager: E&Y’s climate change division, says the report showed travel was a major contributor to its greenhouse emissions, with air travel contributing a significant portion. “Now that we’ve measured it, we need to put strategies in place to reduce it.”

Old Mutual in SA is another company that wants to reduce its travel carbon footprint. Roddy Mann, Old Mutual procurement analyst at the Group Procurement Office, says it’s a bit of a minefield trying to find the best way to do it. “There are a million questions that need asking. Does one cut the amount of travel, or direct travel to more energy efficient suppliers? If they are more energy efficient, what methodology can Old Mutual use to prove it? How can carbon emission reduction benefit our shareholders? Which carbon offset programme do we go with?”

18 AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

STOCKXPRESS.COM

ON THE RADAR

Reducing carbon footprints

While companies will be able to reduce their carbon emissions to some extent, there will always still be unavoidable emissions. These can be balanced out by investing in clean technology projects (such as renewable energy or energy efficiency) that reduce an equal amount of emissions. This is called offsetting and entails purchasing carbon credits.

Are you aware of the risks to your business?

THE Carbon Disclosure Project is the world’s greatest repository of corporate greenhouse gas data. It challenges large corporates to disclose their carbon footprints.

South Africa was called to participate in 2007 under the stewardship of the National Business Initiative (NBI) and consulting firm Incite Sustainability.

Did

you

know?

THE government is to release a White Paper on Climate change in 2010 and aims to pass legislation in 2012 that will introduce mandatory carbon emission reporting for companies.

Barney Kgope, NBI’s climate change programme manager, says the voluntary initiative asks companies to fill out a questionnaire about their carbon emissions and the risks climate change may pose to their businesses going forward. The NBI is approaching the Top 100 JSE-listed companies to participate in the initiative this year.

A cleaner climate for all CARBON solutions company, Cleaner Climate, has partnered with several travel agency groupings in SA including HRG Rennies Travel, Harvey World Travel, FCm and Flight Centre to enable them to offer clients a carbon footprint measuring solution.

“TMCs, as a repository for clients’ travel data, are ideally placed to offer emission report generation services to their corporate clients,” says director, Kerry Wright.

Through Cleaner Climate, agents can offer both travel emission reporting and carbon offsetting solutions. Clients can receive monthly or annual reports broken down into emissions associated with flights, car-rental and hotel accommodation.

Cleaner Climate also offers companies carbon footprint assessments, the development of carbon management strategies, energy reduction programmes, carbon offset sale and trading, and carbon project development.

ON THE RADAR

South Africa has been identified as a climate change hotspot and one that will be most adversely affected by climate change.

A few emission-reduction initiatives Corporates ■ Woolworths aims to reduce its carbon emissions by 30% by 2012. It is reducing air travel where possible and promoting the use of alternatives like videoconferencing.

■ British American Tobacco South Africa includes a CO² or Green section in its RFPs when it goes to market. BAT is considering including CO² per planned trip on its travel requisition forms.

Airlines ■ Kulula.com’s greening initiative, Project Green, in partnership with Food and Trees for Africa, uses money raised, through passenger and kulula.com contributions, to green rural schools around the country.

■ BA has improved its fleet’s carbon efficiency by 28% since 1990, cutting 60m tons of C0² emissions over the period. New targets for carbon efficiency improvements of 25% by 2025 have been set, off 2005 levels. This will reduce emissions from 111g C0² per passenger km to 83g per passenger km. BA also enables customers to offset their flight emissions. Offset payments support clean energy projects.

■ Cathay Pacific has a carbon offset scheme for that funds environmental programmes. It has also reviewed how weight can be reduced to save fuel.

■ Sustainable development is at the heart of Air France-KLM’s group strategy. The group is supporting research into energy efficiency.

Customers have access to a CO² calculator to calculate their carbon emissions.

Hotels ■ City Lodge Hotels employs energy-saving methods like heating boilers during off-peak times, using energy efficient light bulbs, and automatic switching off of room air conditioners at set times.

■ Under the Mantis portfolio Sanbona Wildlife Reserve in the Western Cape and Shamwari Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape received green awards for their environmentally friendly initiatives. The new Nkomazi Game Reserve in Mpumalanga has a Biolytix sewerage system using worms to break down waste.

Car rental ■ Avis’ carbon offset programme involves reducing both its own carbon footprint and that of its customers. To assist customers Avis is introducing the latest vehicle technology in its fleet that improves power efficiency from lower fuel consumption, and is lobbying for hybrid and other low emission technologies.

■ Europcar is introducing a new carbon offset initiative that will allow customers to contribute to a verifiable programme. And new technologies introduced will see Europcar reduce its paper consumption by almost 50%.

■ The Green Cab, Cape Town’s first eco-friendly transport solution for travellers, plans to launch its environmentally friendly vehicles by September. The Green Cab comprises regular petrol vehicles that have been converted to operate on a dual-fuel system, using liquid petroleum gas (LPG) that reduces harmful emissions by up to 87%.

Travel agencies ■ Wings Corporate Travel’s goCO² product provides an innovative way of reporting on its clients’ carbon footprint. goCO² enables corporates to manage the environmental impact of their corporate travel and offset any emissions they’ve been unable to reduce by providing financial assistance (buying carbon credits) to sustainable ‘green’ projects around the globe.

Anita Parent, the company’s HOD of Products and Solutions, says corporations should adopt environmental programmes to offset the effect their commuter-generated carbon has on the environment.” ■

AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

19

HOW TO

Ensure your TMC’s choice of GDS does not affect your travel account negatively Decisions affecting the bottom line are more important than ever before, writes Liesl Venter.

M “A TMC powered by the services of a truly global GDS is empowered to conduct business in the most time- and cost-efficient as well as responsible manner.”

- Gary Broomberg

aking sure your TMC’s choice of global distribution system (GDS) is not impacting negatively on your bottom line is crucial in the new-age era.

Gary Broomberg, Travelport vice president commercial for Southern Africa, says once in place, the choice of GDS and its ability to increase efficiencies, streamline travel processes and provide for informed travel reporting will have a large impact on how these travel policies are implemented and therefore, the financial bottom line.

According to Broomberg, in the current economic downturn, the value of the GDS has become more evident.

“While a TMC may be familiar with the local travel environment, in foreign markets where travel providers are not always known and competition is greater, it is increasingly difficult to source the best-possible prices and arrangements.

A TMC powered by the services of a truly global GDS is empowered to conduct business in the most time- and cost-efficient as well as responsible manner.”

He adds: “The TMC should be selecting a GDS that will provide relevant local content based on full content agreements with key national carriers including low-cost carriers to provide a substantial breadth of national content reach. Coupled with this, it is vital that the GDS should provide extensive global reach supported by wide-ranging global partnerships.”

20 AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

Says Anita Parent, HOD Products and Solutions for Wings Corporate Travel: “Our GDS is utilised across all our global offices.

This uniformity in operating systems throughout the company along with one central database enables us to globally input and draw on any information allowing for complete integration between our front- and back-office systems.”

According to Allison McMurray, Amadeus Southern Africa senior manager operations and solutions, as important as the GDS is, what is more important is the ability of the GDS to offer corporates value-added services around the GDS. “A corporate should also be concerned about the type of access the GDS has to airline content.”

Choosing a GDS According to Wings Corporate Travel, the client does not play a role in the selection of a GDS. This, they say, is an internal decision that is influenced by several factors, the first being the cost of the GDS. Also availability of suppliers on the GDS is important while accessibility of corporate and private fares through the system, after-hours support, training that the GDS offers, all play pivotal roles.

Broomberg advises corporates to ensure their TMCs look at three main areas when selecting a GDS: the calibre and extent of the technology provided, the scope of the content and the favourability of the commercial offering.

Experts agree it’s important for a TMC to be able to accurately comply with

its customers’ travel policies. This involves taking their policies and rules to a granular level and applying them consistently. Finding a GDS that can enable this process accurately and consistently is important.

A good working system in terms of the GDS should combine the best of the breed technology incorporating international infrastructure and expertise, coupled with local support. ■

How to calculate the cost of a business trip – ten considerations

By Jo Schütten, Uni Travel md • The cost to company of the traveller’s time is the most important consideration.

• How much of the time away from the routine office environment is non-productive?

• Choose the shortest possible flight duration – direct is always a better option. It may also avoid lengthy waits in airports, which may pose unnecessary risks in the form of individual security and increasingly we are seeing that a wireless environment becomes a hacker’s dream!

• Try and avoid connections – in all probability this will result in avoiding complications such as lost and delayed luggage as well as missed connecting flights.

• Airline tickets must be flexible to accommodate unforeseen changes.

• Efficient arrival and departure times must allow the traveller to get straight into the ‘business of business’.

• Select hotels close to scheduled meeting points – save transport costs and allow your traveller extra time to prepare or catch up!

• Ensure the hotel room selected for your traveller has access to a set-up conducive to business activities – desk, internet connectivity, good lighting.

• Look further than price when choosing a car-rental company – a sound business partnership will ensure availability, presence, reliability and safety as priorities.

• Ultimately, cheap is never cheap! ■

DESTINATIONS

United Kingdom The introduction of visas for South African passport holders has left some corporates doubting whether they will continue to use the UK as a transit hub. Despite this, the UK is still an important business destination for South African travellers. Sue Lewitton looks into some of the latest developments.

UK plans to up Air Passenger Duty charges

Europe’s biggest Holiday Inn Express planned for T5 ■ INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels has announced that London Heathrow Terminal 5 will be home to Europe’s largest Holiday Inn Express, set to open its doors in 2011.

Work has already begun on the property, which will feature 300 rooms and four meeting rooms providing space for up to 80 delegates.

The airport’s shuttle service will be available throughout the day for transfers from Terminal 5. The first phase of 125 rooms will be completed in May 2010.

Kirk Kinsell, president Europe, Middle East and Africa for Intercontinental ,says: “We’re in the middle of the hospitality industry’s biggest-ever relaunch with more than 3 200 Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels around the world being relaunched by the end of 2010.”

Expansion planned for Edinburgh ICC ■ EDINBURGH’s International Convention Centre (EICC) is planning a major expansion programme for the facility at the cost of about £85m. Proposals, which have been submitted to the City of Edinburgh Council for approval, include the construction of a new multi-purpose hall, breakaway areas, café, office accommodation and an atrium entrance.

EICC board member and leader of the

Britainonview

T

HE UK has announced a restructuring of its Air Passenger Duty (APD) charges, which will see South Africans paying about £20 more in charges to travel between SA and the UK on an economy flight, with premium travellers paying even more.

The restructured charges mean that from November 1 this year, passengers will pay according to the distance and class travelled with four tax bands set at intervals of 2 000 miles, or 3 219 km, from London. Currently, the ADP charge for an economy flight from Johannesburg to London is set at £40, but this will go up to £60 by the 2010/2011 tax year.

UK-based airlines have expressed outrage at the increased costs, especially in light of current economic pressures. Ryanair has said that ADP taxes, along with high airport charges, have caused the loss of over 4,5m passengers at BAA’s UK airports in the first five months of 2009.

In a statement, Ryanair says: “The UK is now a high-cost tourism destination, which is in steep decline.

We urge the British government to follow the lead of Belgian, Dutch, Greek and Spanish governments who have recently scrapped similar tourist taxes and/ or airport charges to reverse falling passenger numbers and prevent further tourism and job losses.”

UK transport minister, Paul Clark, has admitted that the APD is likely to result in the number of passengers travelling through British airports dropping by about 1,5m by 2030.

The UK is increasingly becoming a high-cost destination for travellers.

City of Edinburgh Council, Jenny Dawe, says: “Extra conference space at the EICC is essential for Edinburgh to retain and enhance its business tourism reputation and to bring more world-class conferences and events to the city.”

Architecturally, the expansion plans feature a new wedge-shaped atrium that provides an alternative entrance to the additional function space and sits between the existing EICC building and the separate commercial office development.

Construction should be completed by early 2013, but the EICC will remain operational throughout the anticipated 30-month build programme, with the additional function space only connected to the existing EICC building on completion.

Two major UK openings for Rezidor ■ THE Rezidor Hotel Group has announced the opening of the first Hotel Missoni in Edinburgh. Hotel Missoni is a new standard of design hotel blending fashion, function, form and service.

The six-floor property is located on the corner of George IV Bridge and the Royal Mile. It offers 136 rooms and suites, each with an en-suite bathroom showcasing Italian design.

The restaurant, Cucina, can seat up to 100 people and is open from breakfast until late at night. Bar Missoni is in the lobby of the

hotel and can hold up to 50 people.

Three private rooms are available for meetings or events, varying in size from 28 to 75sqm. The largest room can be divided into two adjoining spaces. A fourth space of 100sqm is available for use as a breakaway area.

The all-inclusive room rate at Hotel Missoni Edinburgh will include breakfast, laundry, high-speed wireless internet access, free local calls, movies on demand and the entire contents of the minibar, starting from £210 (R2 725) per night.

In other news, Rezidor has also opened its new flagship Park Inn hotel, the four-star Park Inn Manchester, Victoria.

The hotel is located in the city centre’s Green Quarter, atdjacent to the MEN Arena and close to Manchester Central, the newly named convention centre and GMEX complex. Both Victoria and Piccadilly train stations are nearby and Manchester Airport is 20 minutes away by car.

The hotel offers 252 rooms, each with in-room laptop-size safes, air conditioning, flatscreen TVs and bathrooms with walk-in shower rooms. There are five meeting rooms, each with individual climate control.

There is also a large conference space which is divisible by three and accommodates over 200 delegates theatre style or 180 guests for a private dinner. High-speed wireless internet access is available throughout the hotel. ■ AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

21

STOCK EXCHANGE

SPECIALS

DEAL DETECTIVE

1. WESTERN CAPE Erinvale Estate Hotel & Spa. Special packages valid until September 30.

Offer one – rates are from R625 pps per night and include dinner,

breakfast and a spa voucher. Offer two – pay for two nights and stay for three, rates are R620 pps per night, breakfast included.

2. PARIS

4. INDIA

6. GREECE

Travel Vision. Disneyland Paris – kids under seven stay and play for free. Rates are from R6 975 per adult sharing. Offer includes return flights ex-Johannesburg, three nights at Disney’s Sante Fe Hotel, daily continental breakfast and length of stay pass. Rate excludes taxes of R2 730 pp. Child rate (seven to eleven years) is R4 136 per child. Offer is valid from September 1 to October 31.

One Stop Holidays. Ten days “Golden Triangle” package – visiting Delhi, Agra, Fatherpur Sikri, Jaipur and Mumbai. Rates are from R6 400 pps and include return airfare ex-Johannesburg, accommodation with breakfast and return airport to hotel transfers and tours as per itinerary. Taxes of R2 690 are not included in the price. Offer expires August 31.

Tropical Island Tours. “Do the Hop” package from R11 990 pps. Package includes return flights ex-Johannesburg, ten nights’ accommodation with breakfast (two nights at each of these cities: Athens, Naxos, Paros, Mykonos, Santorini), all transfers and ferries. Special is valid from October 1 to 31. Rate excludes approximate taxes of R3 310 pp. All-inclusive packages to Rhodes and Corfu are also available.

5. MAURITIUS

7. NIGERIA

Indian Ocean Island. Mauritius self-catering packages at Sea Villa Resort & Spa. Executive Suite (maximum two people) rates are from R6 700 pps. Accommodation includes living room with plasma TV, master bedroom en-suite, fully equipped kitchenette, balcony, beach and mountain views. Rate includes airfare ex-Johannesburg, Durban or Cape Town, return airport-resort transfers, seven nights’ accommodation, daily breakfast, selected land and water sports. Rate excludes departure taxes of R2 100 pp ex-Johannesburg and Durban and R2 800 ex-Cape Town. Offer is valid from December 1 to 11.

Arik Air. All-inclusive return fare of R3 615 on the Johannesburg-Lagos-Johannesburg route. Offer includes taxes. There is no minimum stay and the maximum stay is 12 months.

3. MAURITIUS Beachcomber Tours. Air Mauritius special – pay for six nights, stay for seven nights offer. Rates are from R8 887 pps. Offer includes return flights ex-Johannesburg, Durban or Cape Town, airporthotel-airport transfers, accommodation with breakfast and dinner, MUR750 food and beverage voucher per adult, selected water and land sports. Rate includes an early bird discount where payment is required 30 days prior to travel.

Durban and Cape Town flights are via Johannesburg. Rate excludes taxes. Offer is valid until September 22.

22 AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

8. EUROPE Trafalgar Tours. 50% off four of its “luxury European river cruises”. The selected cruises are “Castles along the Rhine”, “Burgundy and Provence”, “Enchanting Danube” and “Paris and Normandy”. Rates are from R13 200 pp and include onboard accommodation, meals, wine, beer and soft drinks during dinner, excursions, onboard entertainment and return airport transfers. Valid for select departures until October.

SPECIALS

Linda van der Pol, Travelinfo’s editor, is our Deal Detective, bringing you great specials from Travelinfo, the online travel information system in daily use by travel agents all over SA. Almost every airline, hotel group and car hire company is on Travelinfo, and information and specials are regularly updated. These specials are available to all staff, even for personal use. Just book through your TMC, and tell the consultant it’s a Travelinfo special. To get connected to Travelinfo, e-mail lindav@nowmedia.co.za

10. MPUMALANGA Bongani Mountain Lodge. Rates are from R1 400 pps per night. The rate includes accommodation with breakfast, dinner and one game drive.

Rate is valid until December 31.

STock Excahnge

11. CAPE TOWN

9. BULGARIA Travel Alive. Ski packages from R6 280 (low season) and R7 048 (high season) pps. The rate includes flights ex-Johannesburg, transfers and five nights’ accomtmodation, with daily breakfast and dinner and insurance. Rate excludes airport taxes of about R3 555. Eight- and eleven-day packages are also available. Low season is from January 15 to April 4, 2010. High season dates are between December 25 to January 2, 2010.

Thompsons Holidays. Cape Town winter sale with Relais Hotel. Fly-in packages ex-Johannesburg or Durban from R1 919 pps. Offer includes return flights, two days’ car hire and two nights’ accommodation. Valid until September 30 for weekend stays only.

12. KENYA African Encounters. Mombasa specials from R8 020 for four nights and R9 659 for seven nights. Rates are inclusive of return flights ex-Johannesburg, taxes, all transfers, accommodation on a fully inclusive basis. Special expires November 30. ■ DISCLAIMER: All specials are subject to availability, currency fluctuations and seasonal surcharges.

AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

23

NEW OPTION

Competition Pick a name and win!

O.R. Tambo InterContinental expands conference facilities

O

NLY a 68,7m walk from the O.R Tambo Airport International Arrivals Hall is Johannesburg airport’s only onsite conference venue at the InterContinental Hotel.

The centre, which is ideally situated for local and international business meetings without the associated logistics of transport, road congestion and missed flights, is opening four new additional conference venues on September 1, bringing the total number of venues to nine.

Ensuring delivery to all significant corporate events, the centre features conference facilities for between ten and 60 delegates and can accommodate up to 140 guests for cocktail functions. And with the recent major developments at the airport, parking is also not a problem.

The InterContinental Hotel’s

24 AUGUST 2009 • BUSINESS TRAVEL NOW

conference centre is an oasis of calm at Africa’s busiest airport. Soundproof rooms and unobtrusive service create a luxurious and quiet environment designed to meet the needs of discerning business travellers, conference organisers and meeting planners.

All rooms are fully equipped with state-of-the-art amenities needed by today’s executives, including free WiFi and data projectors, which are available at any time as the centre is open 24-hours seven days a week.

Bookings and enquiries can be made by contacting Vera Loding on (011) 961-5400 or at vera.loding@icairport.com.

To keep abreast of news and information become a fan of the InterContinental Johannesburg O.R Tambo Airport Hotel on Facebook. ■

Advertorial

WIN a weekend overnight stay Win a weekend overnight stay at the InterContinental Johannesburg O.R Tambo Airport for two, including a 60-minute body massage, by entering a name for one of the new conference venues.

The current conference rooms are christened after popular Southern African nature and game reserves namely St. Lucia, Karoo, Kalahari, Umfolozi, Etosha, Kafue and Timbavati. Readers can win by suggesting a new and interesting name for one of the new conference rooms.

To enter please e-mail your answer to kimcochrane@telkomsa.net including your name, company, position and contact details before August 25. Please note that only one entry per person will be accepted.

Terms and conditions: It is taken that the entrants agree to abide by the rules, which are: the prize is not transferable and may not be exchanged for cash.

Staff members of Now Media, the host company or organisation sponsoring the prize, their advertising and public relations agencies, their immediate families, and travel agents may not enter.