The Business Travel Mag September/October by BMI Publishing Ltd

92 September/October 2022 + RFPs are back Five steps to carbon reduction Talking Travel with Andy Murray for more news and views go to thebusinesstravelmag.com

Every single trip is carbon off-set Choose Eco Black Cabs, PHVs, eScooters or eBikes Dedicated Co2 reporting for your business Business travel that works for you and the planet

UP FRONT 3THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG COM Contents 2022SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER Features 12 Ask the Expert: RFPs are back, says Stuart Tandy, Agiito Head of Bid Management, as he answers the key questions 42 Talking Travel: Andy Murray takes centre court in our celebrity spot to share his travel experiences, tips, faves, pet hates and more 44 Carbon Reduction: We ask sustainability experts to help us put together a five-step guide to cutting the carbon footprint of business travel Up Front 6 Opening Shots: The most exciting openings in the world of travel – in pictures 8 Everyone's Talking About: The economic headwinds 10 Speaking Out: Liz Emmott at TrainLine outlines the barriers that must be overcome to put rail at the centre of business travel decision making News 14 A report from the 2022 GBTA Convention plus other news, views, appointments and events Departures 48 Reality Check: We check in to three hotels and take the night train 50 Final Word: A lighter look at all things travel 6 48 8 34 44 (p19-40) First back to travel and still leading the way, SMEs now face a fresh set of challenges. See our report18 16 28 42 Extended feature: SMEs 48 50 14 19 12

When business travel started to come back, it was smaller and mediumsized businesses who led the way and many in our industry - TMCs, airlines, hotels, rail companies and The Business Travel Magazine included – will be forever grateful that SME travellers were brave enough to take those ﬁrst few steps and get the wheels turning again. That's why we've devoted 22 pages to the 'small but powerful' in this issue, exploring the speciﬁc challenges they face and the many solutions out there designed to help them manage their travel programmes, protect their travellers, meet their sustainability goals, control their budgets and so on.

4 THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG COM

Like many industry events, the format of the awards had to be adapted in the last few years, going from virtual in 2020 to bowl food in 2021. But, like most aspects of our lives, things are pretty much back to normal now.

Bev Fearis,

n just a few days' time many of us will be getting together to celebrate the 2022 Business Travel People Awards and, thanks to the support of our fantastic sponsors and the high number of attendees, we'll all be sitting down to a three-course dinner this time.

Editor Welcome EDITORIAL EDITOR Bev Fearis CONTRIBUTORS Dave Richardson, Gill Upton, Julie Baxter & Angela Sara West DIGITAL EDITOR April Waterston EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Steve Hartridge ADVERTISING SALES PUBLISHER / COMMERCIAL HEAD Kirsty Hicks DESIGN & PRODUCTION DESIGNERS Matt Bonner and Caitlan Francis PRODUCTION & STUDIO MANAGER Clare Hunter PRODUCTION ADMINISTRATOR Steve Hunter SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscribe for free thebusinesstravelmag.com/subscribeat BMI PUBLISHING MANAGING DIRECTOR Matt Bonner CEO Martin Steady (Print) ISSN 1754-8543. THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BY BMI PUBLISHING LTD: 501 THE RESIDENCE, NO. 1 ALEXANDRA TERRACE, GUILDFORD, GU1 3DA, UK. TEL: 020 8649 7233 ENQUIRIES@BMIPUBLISHING.CO.UK / BMIPUBLISHING.CO.UK THIS PUBLICATION IS PRINTED ON 100% FULLY RECYCLED PAPER WHILE EVERY EFFORT IS MADE TO ENSURE ACCURACY, BMI PUBLISHING LTD CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS. © BMI PUBLISHING LTD 2022 COVER IMAGE: ISTOCK.COM / CHRISTIANCHAN OTHER IMAGES SOURCED FROM SUPPLIERS, STOCK.COM, BIGSTOCKPHOTO.COM AND UNSPLASH.COM UP FRONT

On page 44, we've enlisted the help of experts to come up with a ﬁve-step guide to cutting your carbon footprint, whatever your size, including some extra little tips to share with your travellers that will make a diﬀerence.

e little things

On page 12, Stuart Tandy, Head of Bid Management at Agiito, gives the lowdown on RFPs, which are now also coming back, while on page 42 we talk travel with tennis champ Andy Murray. There's lots more to read on our website, thebusinesstravelmag.com, and in our Wednesday newsletter, where we will be announcing the winners of the 2022 People Awards the day after the September 13th ceremony. I can't wait to see you there!

Amira Restaurant, whose name pays homage to the women who have enriched the culinary culture of the city, delights diners with dishes made from local products, with creative twists

Coffee rituals and rum tasting give guests a local flavour at this new Marriott hotel in the vibrant city of Barranquilla, known as the 'Golden Gate of Colombia'. Warm wood tones in the 200 rooms reflect the tropical dry forest setting. There's also an outdoor pool, ballroom and Next Gen Meeting Spaces.

” Eye-catching images of the latest news and developments ARRIVALS oPenIng shots 6 THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG COM

Marriott Barranquilla gooD taste

Radisson Blu Vadistanbul forest bathe Guests can choose from city or forest views at the renovated and rebranded Raddison Blu, nestled in the foothills of Vadistanbul Park in this smart residential district of Istanbul. As well as its 193 stylish rooms, the hotel has a gym and spa with a heated pool, Turkish bath, steam bath, hammam, sauna and five treatment rooms.

LondonTRIBE Canary Wharf trIbal lIvIng A 24-hour ‘Social Hub’ is at the centre of TRIBE London Canary Wharf, the first UK venture for this withJunerestaurantCalifornian-inspiredhasdriven'functional,promisesAustralianfast-expandingbrandwhich'intelligent,design-hotels.Thisone320rooms,a–FeelsLike–andanovalbaranoutsideterrace.

The Greenhouse Hotel Ice hotel Just 30 minutes from Reykjavik and an hour from Iceland's Kefelavik International Airport, this design-led boutique hotel is entertainment.guestsandhall,bedrooms,certification.focusedsustainabilitywithBREEAMIthas50alivelyfoodicecreamparlour,aloungewherecanenjoyweekly

7THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG com

Paul Tilstone, Festive Road Managing Partner

Matthew Bassant, FREE NOW For Business Global Head of B2B Country Marketing

Guy Snelgar, Advantage Travel Partnership Global Business Travel Director

“In these moments of change – the pandemic, the Great Resignation and inflation – the impacts are very real, and global business travellers are feeling and experiencing them directly”

Charlie Sultan, Concur Travel President

“It is crucial that the EU continues to monitor the impact of inflation on the cost of living – Europe must do everything within its power to ensure that travel does not become inaccessible for the average European”

So many factorS are currently influencing buSineSS travel, including the financial preSSureS. it’S a changing landScape for Sure. there’S a ‘travel leSS but travel better’ pattern emerging, maximiSing travel budgetS with longer, more productive tripS “ t o understand t H e H eadwinds t H at H ave been impacting a more accelerated recovery for global business travel, all you H ave to do is look at t H e news H eadlines since t H e beginning of 2022 ”

Suzanne Neufang, GBTA CEO

Everyone's about... the economic headwinds

8 THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG com

Luís Araújo, European Travel Commission President

UP FRONT H ot topic

The current cost of living crisis is not just impacting the public, businessesparticularly SMEs - are and will struggle too”

Having lost so many of our staff t H roug H t H e pandemic, t H e present cost of living crisis means t H at t H ere’s now even more pressure on us to demonstrate t H e employee value proposition of working in corporate travel if we are to attract t H e rig H t people

talking

By working more closely together, all stakeholders can increase travel volume and, in the process, bring enhancements to the customerDiscussing,experience.identifying and troubleshooting challenges in distributing rail travel is the fastest way to fix them. And it doesn't mean that distributors lose their competitive differentiators. The old adage that “a rising tide lifts all boats” really rings true here.

A mindset shift is required to drive greater industry collaboration. Too frequently the fragmented landscape of technical and commercial agreements between various stakeholders does not promote new, innovative approaches to distribution.

The most progressive sellers are seizing the opportunity to select distribution partners that can cut through the complexity to enhance the way they sell rail travel, making it a more compelling offer for customers. Only by taking an open approach to distribution can we eradicate the complexities that threaten to stymy the growth of business rail.

Three major barriers prevent rail from reaching its full business travel potential, says Liz Emmott, TrainLine's Director of Global Distribution and Business Solutions

UP FRONT SPEAKING OUT

Fragmentation

Any travel distributor that wants to be able to serve the changing needs of customers needs to break down the barriers or risk being left behind by more agile competitors.

International barriers

Reworking rail distribution isn’t an easy fix. It won’t be an overnight revolution. But if travel distributors can make incremental changes to how we sell rail travel as an industry, there is a vast opportunity ahead. And it’s an opportunity that benefits everyone: travel distributors, rail operators, business travellers, their employers – and, most importantly, the planet.

There’s no getting away from the fact that the corporate rail landscape is complex and fragmented. While major progress has been made in developing new rail services and enhancing the traveller experience, the impact on travel distributors is that aggregating the right data has become significantly harder. Translating it into easy, accessible offers has become challenging to say the least. All too often, technology barriers impact effective distribution of rail travel, meaning business travellers are less likely to select train journeys despite their growing preference for more sustainable modes of transport. This is a status quo that cannot be allowed to continue. Overwhelming evidence shows that business travellers want to reduce their historical reliance on air and road travel and they expect to be offered rail alternatives.

The untapped market for international rail travel is vast and it presents complexity and collaboration challenges on an even grander scale. When industry players recognise and embrace the opportunity, it brings into clearer focus the need to integrate with international partners.

DISTRIBUTION STATUS QUO

RAIL

While headway has been made, the fact remains that there are too many barriers that prevent business travellers from being offered consistent, real-time access to rail routes. It doesn’t need to be this way.

She joined from Amadeus in August 2021 and previously worked for American Express Global Business Travel.

The business travel market is an area of huge potential, with high-value customers who are increasingly required to consider sustainability as a factor. Research shows demand for rail is growing, with six in 10 business travellers more likely to consider rail than pre-pandemic. As many as threequarters indicated that they want to actively reduce their reliance on air travel because of the impact it has on the environment. If the industry is to capitalise on this once in a generation opportunity to grow, travel distribution needs to adapt, and quickly. For me, there are three major challenges for the industry to overcome to put rail at the centre of business travel decision making: Historic complexity

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The workforce demographic has changed with Millennials and Gen Z now making up a significant proportion of most organisations’ employees. Both groups care deeply about protecting the environment so it’s no great surprise that sustainability is high on the corporate procurement agenda. Organisations recognise their people want to see them take proactive action on environmental commitments, contribute to addressing climate change and drive social value from their supply chain.

In the past employee wellbeing and sustainability were covered to some extent in RFP questioning but post pandemic there seems to be a greater focus, and hence a greater weighting within the decisionmaking process, on these two areas.

Ultimately, you can’t fully control how suppliers will respond to your RFP and no matter how well you’ve designed and drafted your RFP, it’s inevitable that bidders will want to answer it their own way.

Are you seeing a change in commercial models?

I think there is definitely a recognition from most buyers that a hybrid model is perhaps more appropriate with booking fees for any transactional elements and a management fee payable for account management projects and activity, rather than rolling up any account management costs into a transaction fee model. During the pandemic lockdown we were still working with many customers providing advice and helping develop policy but many of those customers were not actually travelling so the typical transaction fee model was not sustainable.

What are the main RFP pain points?

ASK the expert 12 THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG com

Are RFPs now coming back?

Is now a good time to do an RFP?

That said, many organisations will have come out of the pandemic looking very different. Some will perhaps have more remote workers or a more open attitude to home-working, or maybe a greater focus on employee wellbeing has seen a policy change on when people can or should travel on business and when to connect virtually. All of this may mean that their travel spend profile has significantly changed and would suggest it might be a good time for them to go to market. What are the key differences you are seeing post-pandemic?

RFPs require a lot of time and effort and some organisations will have limited resource to manage more than a handful of major procurement RFPs per year. So, when it comes to dealing with the time pressures of RFPs, the best place to start is finding tools that best fit your sourcing events.

Some of the sourcing apps and tender portals will help address this inconsistency

RFPs didn’t completely stop for us during the pandemic but there was a significant slowdown. For those that did initially continue, decisions tended to get postponed as organisations utilised the Government's furlough scheme, prioritised activity and redeployed staffing resource where required and, in some cases, made the difficult decision to make redundancies and restructure their business.

As well as addressing duty of care, this approach makes business sense as the longer-term impacts of excessive travel has a knock-on effect on absenteeism as well as recruitment and training costs.

Yes, there are a number of reasons. Firstly, the pandemic has had a significant impact on the industry with widespread restructuring and redundancies. Service levels may have taken a hit as organisations ramp up their business travel return. So ‘noise’ around service levels could be deemed a reason to go to market, but it should be noted that this is likely an industry-wide issue and shouldn’t necessarily be used in isolation as a reason to do an RFP.

Search for tools that streamline the sourcing process instead of adding unnecessary steps or questions and don’t think the choice is between the leading-edge sourcing app or a Word doc, there are plenty of other options in between.

Stuart Tandy, Head of Bid Management at Agiito

Another potential pain point for buyers is that RFP submissions might be inconsistent.

But in recent weeks we have seen a notable increase in organisations issuing RFPs. Some organisations that perhaps have more defined procurement policies governing contract timeframes are issuing formal RFPs while others are clearly conducting a more informal market review, maybe unsure as to whether now is a good time to change suppliers but wanting to see what’s out there.

RFPs require a lot of time and effort and some organisations will have limited resource to manage more than a handful of major procurement RFPs per year”

The reTurn of rfPS

For example ‘road warriors’ can suffer burnout, so some organisations are looking for reporting to go way beyond standard transactional and spend data and include wellbeing reporting, identifying those ‘at risk’ travellers so they can advise line managers to be able to intervene.

Traveller safety and security has always been a key consideration but organisations are now recognising that general employee welfare is hugely important as well. They recognise that their duty of care extends beyond their safety to protecting them from the medium to long term impacts of excessive business travel.

What are the biggest RFP frustrations for TMCs?

On the supplier side, there are some fantastic content management systems available which can help index boilerplate content, search archived bids, enable good governance and apply a rigorous audit of bid content review and sign-off.

Is price the main consideration?

What's your advice for SMEs doing an RFP for the first time? Do your research on the market and seek advice from your peers. Perhaps reach out to other procurement people via LinkedIn for guidance and also speak with potential bidders as part of the procurement process.

Don’t just create an RFP and send it out without any engagement. It’s also important to involve relevant internal stakeholders in the process to gain buy-in and help develop a defined specification of what they want from their supplier and what they want to achieve from the RFP process.

There’s a variety of technology applications out there to help buyers such as tender portals – websites that streamline and manage the whole RFP process including pre-qualification, non-disclosure agreements, online questionnaires and messaging. Also, the pandemic lockdown has meant that people have got more used to connecting virtually and using video-call technology such as MS Teams and WebEx which can be great when looking to engage with a wide and varied stakeholder group for a shortlist presentation rather than trying to coordinate diaries and get everyone in the same room. Some buyers use e-auction technology but in my experience they simply don’t work in travel unless bidders are working to a very strictly defined scope. The minute a prospective customer tells us that the process will include an e-auction, the perception is that price is the sole key consideration, irrespective of any statements in the RFP to the contrary.

However,frustrating.forme,the biggest frustration is when no, or very limited, data is shared regarding the current travel spend profile. This data is essential to understand the complexity of a client’s travel requirement and how we might resource to service it adequately and provide a meaningful pricing proposal. Information about hotels booked in key locations, air city pairs, rail booking horizons, travel class etc all help us to propose a robust, deliverable savings plan. Without data, we simply revert to service capabilities and standards and experiences rather than what we might be able to deliver in real, bottom-line savings. How can technology help?

The purpose of the process is merely to get to a shortlist of potential suppliers that have demonstrated they understand the prospective customers’ business and sector, their values, the challenges they are looking to overcome and their short, medium and long-term goals. What it doesn’t do is tell you what the people you will be working with are like. The mantra ‘people buy people’ still holds true and meeting suppliers either faceto-face at a site visit or a shortlist presentation, looking into their eyes and asking yourself “Can I work with these people?” should not be under-estimated.

It's always going to be a key consideration but any commitment to a defined plan delivering bottom-line savings on an organisation’s annual travel spend far outweigh any likely negotiated transaction fee savings. Other criteria also play a huge part in the decision making when choosing the perfect travel management partner, such as sustainability, wellbeing and duty of care, aligned values, service, reporting, account management and innovation. What are the key questions? Buyers need to move away from capabilityled questioning and focus on questions that ask a bidder how they are going to address key challenges, solve problems and meet core objectives. For example, don’t just ask a bidder about their management information reporting capability, ask what value it will deliver to your organisation. This approach will mean that bidders need to demonstrate that they understand you and your business and articulate their value proposition better. This will make it it easier for you to differentiate between them.

13THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG com by applying templates but it’s worth giving bidders some flexibility to be able to tell their story and demonstrate their value proposition.

A lack of any willingness to engage or have any kind of dialogue throughout the procurement process is a big frustration. Another is the unrealistically short submission timeframes followed by months of radio silence from prospective customers, as well as inappropriate template formats such as Excel which don’t allow for any kind of creativity or visual representation. Having inappropriate word or character count limitations imposed for sometimes complex, far-reaching questions are also

ASK the expert

What are the limitations of an RFP?

UNITED AIRLINES is launching a new platform enabling corporate customers to customise their contracts and not just focus on ﬂight discounts.

TRIPBAM has introduced a new bundled service, TRIPBAM Enterprise, oﬀering all of its air and hotel rate reshopping, auditing, benchmarking and sourcing >> AMEX GBT is launching a range of solutions to help minimise travel friction, such as constantly monitoring travellers’ trips and contacting them as soon as a trip is delayed >> GBTA has confirmed that its 2023 Convention will take place in Dallas, Texas, on August 13-15 >>

CORPORATE TRAVEL MANAGEMENT (CTM) has launched proprietary AI and machine learning capabilities in its online booking tool, Lightning >> RESIDE, the global provider of alternative accommodation, has relaunched its cloud-based booking platform, 3Sixty, with new functionality >> united looKs Beyond discounted fAres with new plAtform neWs From the 2022 gbta convention

“We want to do for group and meetings travel what online booking tools did for transient travel, dramatically reducing the time and tedium spent on booking.

84% - conﬁdent travel spend will increase in 2023

wESTERN EUROPE and North America are set to experience the sharpest recoveries in business travel, according to the GBTA's 2022 Business Travel Index Outlook – Annual Global Report and Forecast.

withinsignifiwouldtheirvoicedcarriedbudgetprofessionalsfinanceanddecisionmakers,outinJuly,84%confidencethattravelspendingsomewhatorcantlyincrease2023compared2022.

According to a GBTA poll of 44 senior global corporate

MEETINGS management platform, TROOP, has partnered with Spotnana, the cloud-based tech specialist, to oﬀer travel and meetings booking capabilities. Available later this year, the integration means clients will be able to plan meetings and then seamlessly transition to booking ﬂights, hotels, car rentals and rail tickets inside TROOP’s user interface, powered by Spotnana.

europe and us will lead recovery

Western Europe, the only region to witness spending declines as Covid-19 impacted its domestic and regional business travel market, is forecast to experience an increase of 16.9% in spend to $323.9 billion.

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North America, which led the post-Covid recovery driven largely by rapidly returning domestic travel, is expected to experience the steepest climb with compound annual growth increases of 23.4% to $363.7 billion by 2026.

TrooP To InTegrATe wITH sPoTnAnA For TrAvel BooKIng

United for Business Blueprint will be available in late 2022 and will allow corporates to request higher status in United’s loyalty programmes, more spacious seats in Economy Plus, Wi-Fi access, or other incentives like discounts on leisure travel for employees. neWs bites ]

TROOP Founder and Co-CEO, Dennis Vilovic, said the expansion of services was due to demand coming from existing customers.

"Building on Spotnana’s cloud-based infrastructure has enabled us to rapidly deliver a richer, more comprehensive solution to our customers."

[ convention

Globally, business travel spend is forecast to reach prepandemic levels of $1.4 trillion in mid-2026.

Both companies are backed by Madrona Venture Group, which led TROOP’s $8million Series A funding round in late 2021 and participated in Spotnana's recent $75 million Series B funding round.

bta comment when the going gets tough clive wratten

THE HIGHER cost of living is not deterring frequent ﬂyers from travelling, according to a survey of more than 3,700 frequent ﬂyer members of Collinson's Priority Pass. The research found 62% of members would rather cut back on other non-essential retail purchases than reduce their travel budgets. Nearly a third (30%) are prepared to give up restaurants, a quarter their gym membership, and over fifth (21%) their streaming services.

THe news revIew 15THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG com

thebusinesstravelmag.com

Agiito hAs Begun A pilot of its new solution designed to help BooKers of simple meetings And events. cAlled meetingspro, it gives rAtes And venue AvAilABility in reAl time Frequent ﬂyers will quit the gym, not trips

Chief Executive Officer

The summer of 2022 seems as if crises have come along like London buses – two at a time. The business travel sector saw a boom post the lifting of Covid-19 wreakedandpassengerHeathrow’sunhelpfulifand'reneweddailypartworkeventsFace-to-facerestrictions.meetings,andtravellingforonceagainbecameofthefabricofourlives.Justasthisbecamethenormal',airportstrainlinesweregroundnottoahalt,thentoanservicelevel.Theintroductionof100,000cap,itsextensionre-extensionhashavocforour industry. The ﬂedgling confidence of business travellers was dampened by soaring ﬂight costs, cancellations and the risk of extensive queues. Mostly this was not the case, helped in part by the cap, but Heathrow must now pay back its customers by increasing the cap on a weekly basis as we invest in its return to full service. Anything less is a blatant betrayal of all travellers. On top of the airport woes, businesses of all sizes are dealing with domestic travel issues. With Avanti dramatically reducing its schedule, connectivity across the UK has never been worse. As with Heathrow, we are asking Avanti to scale its schedule as quickly as possible.Conversations around travel have centred around holidays, which is perfectly understandable for August but we’re now going into September and it’s not just children who are experiencing a 'back to school' feeling. The infrastructure of our sector must recognise this is a vital time for people travelling for work. There are new energy projects that need to be delivered, water pipes that need to be fixed and roads that need to be mended. That’s just phase one in addressing our cost of living crisis. On top of this, everyday Brits, working for SMEs, large corporations or working on a freelance basis, need to get around, travel and work without additional headaches imposed on them by the companies meant to enable global Britain.

Members are also very likely to pay for other premium travel experiences, such as upgraded seats (43%) or direct ﬂights (39%) and are planning to make eight return trips on average in the next 12 months – nearly back to the average of 10 trips made pre-pandemic in 2019. bta uPDate

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THe news revIew 16 THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG com

BCD TRAVEL has received the Platinum rating from EcoVadis, the provider of business sustainability ratings, for the third year in a row >> CHOICE HOTELS has completed the acquisition of Radisson Hotels Americas for around $675m >> bta uPDate

>> YOUR TRAVEL CORPORATE, part of The Your Travel Group, has joined the Advantage Travel Partnership >> FLYBE, which relaunched in April, has announced a winter schedule with 12 destinations including additional routes and frequencies from Birmingham to Belfast City Airport and Belfast City Airport to East Midlands >> IAG, parent of British Airways and Aer Lingus, has signed a deal with Aemetis to supply sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to help power both airlines’ ﬂights from San Francisco Airport from 2025 >>

Business travel can raise your proﬁle MEETING new people is the main benefit (30%) of business travel but it’s also important for building relationships and raising an individual’s profile in an organisation. According to a survey of 500 business travellers, conducted by Opinium and commissioned by World Travel Protection, 25% say travel provides an opportunity to take part in higher profile work, 26% say it oﬀers informal time with colleagues to build relationships and 24% say it raises their profile in theTravellingorganisation.forbusiness is also an opportunity to do new and more enriching work (27%), do work they might not otherwise have done (24%), and also spend individual face-time with important people in an organisation (21%). [ neWs bites ]

There are currently, and quite rightly, a lot of conversations in business travel around how we can attract new and future talent into our industry. This has always been an interesting challenge but is now even more pertinent given the resourcing issues we see in various sectors. Diﬀerent approaches can be explored and we often seem to focus on two in particular; partnering with education establishments and apprenticeships. Both are worthy initiatives but require careful thought and execution if they are to generate positive outcomes. The first challenge may even be to establish what those achievable positive outcomes are. In order to connect with college and university students we need to be sure we have the right audience, with the right story to share and, most importantly, a path for them to actually get a role. But just a minute, I have asked many dozens of people in the industry if they ever aspired to work in business travel during their student days and not one says they did. So, I’m not entirely sure this is our silver bullet after all. That’s not to say, however, we shouldn’t try to inspire young people to join our dynamic and extraordinary industry. For my part, I would like to ask every person who has enjoyed some level of success in business travel (including all ITM members) to make a promise to go back to their own school of choice and ask for 20-30 minutes to share how their work life played out and fulfilled them. If we all did that, we might each light a ﬂame within just a few people and the collective result could be immense. With that spark we then need to guide these individuals to the great employers that they can choose from. TMC job pages would be an ideal place to start. Now there’s a thought. That would mean that every single one of us is responsible for finding the future talent of the business travel industry. Your industry needs you. Are you doing enough? that scott Davies Chief Executive

BTA joIns TrAvel

Alex Flach, UK Development Director for Premier Inn's parent Whitbread, said: “If we are to achieve our target of becoming a net zero business by 2040 we need to find a replacement for natural gas across our estate.

ABATrIPAcTIonsgsunIleverccounT

Other big European wins for TripActions include Heineken, SumUp and Primark.

THE NEWS REVIEW 17THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG com

Premier Inn to open all-electric hotel

All change BCD Travel will leverage FairFly’s technology and AI to power its Air Price Assurance (APA) solution, making it available across its entire client base. The tool predicts when fare changes will occur and automatically cancels and rebooks tickets at lower rates, helping to save time and generate savings up to 4.8% of overall air spend.

THE BTA has joined the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)’s Travel Aware campaign, a campaign that has been running since 2014 and aims to increase confidence in travel.

The five-storey 195-bedroom hotel in Swindon Town Centre, scheduled to open in late 2023, will be fully heated and powered by grid energy generated from renewable sources and by on-site photovoltaic cells.

It's a bold and necessary proof of concept which has the potential to inform the specification of our new-build hotels."

good connections Finnair has launched direct flights from Helsinki to Mumbai with services timed for easy connections with schedules from Heathrow, Manchester, Edinburgh and Dublin.

wORK has begun on the first ‘all-electric’ Premier Inn hotel, built without a connection to a natural gas supply.

The BTA will provide the FCDO with key information about business travel to include in its campaign and will also promote the FCDO’s global travel advice to itsBTAmembers.CEOClive Wratten said: “Providing insight into business travel needs adds a vital dimension to the previously leisure-led campaign from the FCDO. Our members and partners will now be able to provide business travellers with clear information ahead of travelling internationally for work." AwAre cAmPAIgn

The route will initially operate three times a week, increasing to four times weekly November.from solar hotel Travelodge has opened its most sustainable hotel – the new-build 350-room London Travelodge,Docklandscertified by BREAM and with solar panels on the roof, air source heat pumps and electric vehiclepoints.charging Quick learner Global AccreditationSecure(GSA) has released a quick and simple online survey to help companies get to grips with ISO 31030 travel risk management in less than five minutes after research showed more than half of travel bookers, buyers and managers know little about the new standard.

IN BRIEF thebusinesstravelmag.com

virgin AtlAntic hAs unveiled retreAt suites, its most spAcious suites yet, on its new A330-900 neos As pArt of A multimillion dollAr fleet upgrAde

"The new all-electric Premier Inn is designed to give us everything we need to run an operationally successful hotel.

TRIPACTIONS has been selected by London-based consumer goods giant Unilever to handle its global travel programme. A joint announcement from the technology-led TMC and the Fortune 500 company said Unilever “sought a new partner for global corporate travel after determining that its existing solution was not a future fit for its workforce or model of work”. After a year-long process evaluating a number of TMCs, Unilever chose TripActions to support its future-fit vision for travel management and technology, said the statement. Unilever has 148,000 employees in 77 countries across 400 brands.

FREE NOW For Business, the Mobility super app, has appointed Valentin Naidja as Vice President Sales, following the departure of Head of Sales Europe, Jason Dunderdale (see above) >>

PROMOTED AT: Diversity Travel TO: Head of Diversity Study Trips

JOINS: Blacklane AS: Global Head of Agency & Indirect Sales FROM: FREE NOW For Business Jason Dunderdale, previously Head of Sales Europe for FREE NOW For Business, joins chauﬀeur-drive specialist Blacklane as Global Head of Agency and Indirect Sales.

JOINS: TripStax AS: Chief Operating Officer FROM: YAPTA TripStax has appointed Bruce Hanna, who previously worked for Travelport, ACTE and YAPTA, to the newly-created role of Chief Operating Oﬃcer, to lead its next expansion phase.

SEPTEMBER 13 2022 BUSINESS TRAVEL PEOPLE AWARDS Leonardo Royal London City thebusinesstravelpeopleawards.comHotel SEPTEMBER 26-27 2022 BTA CONFERENCE thebta.org.ukBelfast OCTOBER 3 2022 ITM AUTUMN CONFERENCE Grand Connaught Rooms itm.org.uk OCTOBER 3 2022 DINNER CLUB Corinthia Hotel, thebusinesstravelmag.comLondon NOVEMBER 8-10 2022 GBTA EUROPE CONFERENCE Square Convention Centre, europeconference.gbta.orgBrussels DECEMBER 5 2022 CHRISTMAS DINNER CLUB Corinthia Hotel, thebusinesstravelmag.comLondon AUGUST 13-16 2023 GBTA CONVENTION Dallas,gbta.orgTexas EVENTS 18 THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG COM THE NEWS REVIEW

JOINS: Equinox Travel AS: Chief Operating Officer FROM: The Appointment Group (TAG) Former TAG Director Trevor Johnson has been appointed Chief Operating Oﬃcer for Equinox Travel, a specialist in travel for the music and entertainment sector.

EXPERTS AT TALENT RECRUITMENT, DEVELOPMENT AND RETENTION. Dedicated to the business travel sector. Contact us to discuss our solutions. +44 (0)1932 562007 | hello@siriustalent.co.uk | www.siriustalent.co.uk Untitled-2 1 26/04/2021 16:14 MARK WILSON

TREVOR JOHNSON KATE ERSKINE

Kate Erskine, who joined Diversity Travel in October 2021 as Senior Business Partner, has been promoted to lead the company's Academic Student Groups provision.

FROM: Senior Business Partner

MICHÈLE LAWLEY BRUCE HANNA JASON DUNDERDALE

ON THE MOVE

PROMOTED AT: BCD Travel TO: President Europe FROM: Senior Vice President Europe BCD Travel has promoted Michèle Lawley to the position of President Europe, based in London, taking over from current European President Mike Walley.

JOINS: Global Travel Management AS: Marketing Director FROM: The Digital Zebra Mark Wilson, who has worked with Global Travel Management for many years as a marketing and PR consultant, has joined the TMC's Board as its ﬁrst ever Marketing Director.

ALSO ON THE MOVE... >> Festive Road has made three US-based appointments. Traci Aultman, previously Senior Manager of Global Travel at RELX, and Sean Melchionno, formerly with Staples in a Senior Analyst role, both join as Travel Category Analysts and Jackie Visnic, previously with American Express Global Business Travel, has been appointed as Hotel Category Analyst >> TravelPerk has boosted its senior leadership team with two new Europe-based appointments. Sally Sourbron becomes Chief People Oﬃcer and Roy Hefer joins as Chief Financial Oﬃcer >>

SME SPECIAL : SMALL but P ow E rfu L Having led the return to travel, small and medium sized businesses are now firmly on the radar of suppliers, TMCs and technology providers ready to help them navigate a new set of challenges. Read our special report...

20 THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG com SMEs / Introduction

BASICS

Back to

"The historic practices are coming back in.”

A s restrictions began to lift in January it was no surprise to witness a rush back to travel for those SMEs keen to replenish their business pipelines.

Six months on, however, and that race to see customers and colleagues again, with scant regard to travel policy, pre-approvals and budget caps, has faltered as the cost-ofliving crisis has taken hold. Flight prices have risen by 20% and hotels by nearer 25%, reinforcing the message that travel needs tighter management if travellers are to continue with face-to-face meetings.

Introduction / SMEs

Julie Oliver, CEO Europe at Reed & Mackay,

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21THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG com

After an initial surge in demand, SMEs are regaining control of their travel budgets and approval processes in a changed world, says Gill Upton

“They’re saying, ‘Crikey, we’ve already spent this year’s budget’; we’re getting a bit of a reset to put back in tighter approvals,” says Adam Knights, Regional Managing Director Europe and Middle East for ATPI.

"We're seeing SMEs with high rates of growth coming to us and wanting us to help them reset their strategy and help them think about their purpose. Their DNA may have changed and they need to take a step back and establish where does face-to-face bring real value to their business," he says.

“The initial spike post pandemic has settled down a little now and we’re receiving more RFIs,“ says Leanne Fowler, Agiito Director of Account Management. She says the most common requests the TMC has received over the last two months have been to increase the cap rates and to look at tightening the approval process.

Flexible travel policies are disappearing and TMCs are being asked to provide their traditional panoply of services and products, from account management and data analytics to uncover non-compliant travellers and savings opportunities, to revising policies and approval processes, mitigating travel risk, setting budget caps and switching on online booking tools as confidence grows.

“The travel eco system we’ve returned to looks very different,” says ITM CEO Scott Davies. “A lot of buyers are talking about methodologies for calculating savings.” His concern is that rising costs may throttle the number of trips and suppress travel. “Increasingly conversations are taking place on the ROI of a meeting; it’s We're saying to our clients that if they want to keep the same people on their TMC team, we need to put prices up, otherwise we will have to lose people” 

Agiito’s Fowler cites taxis, visas, car hire and car parking. “They want to consolidate it all into the OBT to have greater visibility of the booking,” she says.

“We're still seeing that initial surge continuing and we’re up 15-20% in sales volume compared with levels in 2019."

Paul Tilstone, Partner Festive Road, says the consultancy is being approached by SMEs who have grown to a point where they need to get a handle on their spend.

 22 THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG com

New buyers are entering the fray from the unmanaged space, keen to capture leakage, manage disruption and mitigate risk. ”They want to understand their profile and spend and want to jump on an online system if anything goes wrong so they can track their travellers,” says Agiito’s Fowler.

SMEs / Introduction

says current high demand and reduced availability “is driving a renewed cost focus".

Nick Pratt, Head of Sales at Blue Cube Travel, also reports brisk SME business.

Amex GBT’s earnings report for Q2 2022 saw SME transaction recovery in June reach 84% of 2019 levels, while overall transactions reached 76%. Buyers are keen to buy more TMC services in order to gain control of their spend.

Numbers up Donna Joines, General Manager of SME specialist Corporate Traveller UK, says the world of travel has changed "and so have some of the concerns and challenges that clients face, from increased costs, less choice and more emphasis on duty of care resonating with many". But despite the concerns, she says the TMC is back to 100% of pre-Covid travel “with our clients travelling more than ever”.

Cost control The priority now is to go back to basics.

Letting you know what we’re up to… It’s no wonder ATPI have been rated as one of the best service-led travel agencies. How did we do? Thanks for emailing Direct ATPI today! Please rate your service from Matthew. Direct ATPI 1m ago You’ve got mail Matthew is dealing with your enquiry, see what they have written in response. Direct ATPI 20m ago We’re on the case We’ve read your email and will answer backshortly.Direct ATPI 1hr ago Thanks for your email We’ll let you know as soon as we’ve read it. Direct ATPI about 2hrs ago Find out more: scan QR code

Open to alternatives As this new world of travel unfurls, travellers’ priorities are many and varied: to become conversant with new practices, confirm ROI for trips to secure approval from more senior staff, and adopt different ways of travelling to absorb higher costs.

It may mean combining trips, which ticks the sustainability box, avoiding peak

  COM

“Much more handholding is required now,” says ITM’s Davies.

conversationsIncreasingly are taking place on the ROI of a meeting: it's a tricky balance, particularly as the SME has less help and more responsibilities”

24 THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG com SMEs / Introduction a tricky balance, particularly as the SME has less help and more responsibilities.”

ATPI’s Knights says the TMC is spending time re-implementing tools and re-training new customer admin staff who joined since the“Wepandemic.havetreated it like an introduction rather than implementation of the services and tech we offer,” adds Nicola Cox, Director Midas Travel. Agiito’s Fowler agrees. “We’re doing a lot of education around OBTs so travellers understand lead times and the optimum time to travel.”

SME travellers rely heavily on their TMC partners, which is a massive opportunity for TMCs to simplify the complex, but they are also having to deal with their own realities: near-empty coffers, recruitment challenges and more complex, labour-intensive and time-intensive travel bookings.

Clive Wratten, CEO of BTA, admits TMC service is "still not where we want it to be" but insists: "It’s a short to mid-term issue."

There are other changes in the relationship with customers, says Reed & Mackay’s Oliver. “We are realising that we need to look at different ways of engaging with customers. We look for multiple touchpoints within the companies, whether in HR, sustainability, compliance etc.”

Many employees haven’t travelled for three years and need to re-familiarise themselves with how to use online booking tools and to be shown best practice again.

“SMEs are operating with less margin for error whereas larger enterprises have more room for manoeuvre,” explains Taylor. Steady does it The outlook is one of cautious optimism.

Supply chain issues is at the root of the disruption. At the time of going to press, there had been strikes on TFL, strikes with EasyJet Spain, changes to Avanti’s routes and BA's suspension of short-haul flights. It's no surprise to learn that the current travel experience isn’t what it should be. “Buyers are reporting that typical trips are difficult and they don’t want to repeat that experience,” says ITM’s Davies.

Buyers are reporting that typical trips are difficult and they don't want to repeat that experience"

“Any employer will be pretty unpopular to push through a travel ban, not now at least,” says Blue Cube’s Pratt. He cites one C-suite recruitment client who adopted video-conferencing during the pandemic unlikely to revert back, yet private equity clients who will only do business face-to-face and, overall, a pent-up demand forAnothertravel. spectre on the horizon is a rise in transaction fees. “TMCs are doing so much more work for buyers now,” argues BTA Wratten by way of justification. Adds ATPI’s Knights: “We’re saying to our clients that if they want to keep the same people on their TMC team, we need to put prices up, otherwise we will have to lose people." These client conversations will accelerate at the year end when staff pay reviews take place.

The annual SAP Concur Global Business Travel Study on SMEs reinforces this picture, citing delays, cancellations, concerns over travelling to certain parts of the world, health and safety concerns and heightened levels of stress.

“SME employees want to travel and they’re willing to move employer if their schedule doesn’t improve,” says Ami Taylor, Senior Director Global Product Strategy at Concur. The data also suggests that more travel is falling on fewer shoulders and that travel will become a talent retention issue.

26 THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG com SMEs /

“Employees are really seeing travel as an optional rather than mandatory part of their role. First and foremost they need to feel safe," adds Taylor. The SAP Concur survey also found SMEs are more worried about inflation and rising prices than their bigger counterparts.

Pratt at Blue Cube believes travellers are booking closer to departure date over uncertainty whether there is another Omnicron variant around the corner, and foresees pushback on advance booking.

ITM’s Davies advises SMEs to think twice about switching suppliers if it’s about operational issues as he believes it is a temporary situation.

Introduction times of travel, advance booking and being open to using alternative airlines, alternative routes, non-preferred and lower category hotels, less convenient hotel locations and optimising reward programmes.Higherairfares are difficult to circumvent as the lowest booking classes are almost all closed out months ahead. However, one positive is that airlines are quicker to complete refunds and the voucher nonsense has ended.

“Reach out to your peers for sense checking and benchmarking,” he says. “Cost is going to be an issue for everybody,” concludes Wratten. “What you need is knowledge and, ultimately, that’s what TMCs deliver.”



Midas Travel's Cox says travellers are open to these alternatives as they try to bypass changing airline schedules, cancellations and reduced availability. Julie Oliver says these are the only ways “to get the greatest value right now”.

Ever the pragmatist and voice of reason,

Get the feeling at THAT IN-POLICY FEELING hotelhub.com It’s making the train just before it leaves the platform Don’t lose that feeling to out-of-policy hotel bookings Give travellers everything they’re looking for, so they won’t book anywhere else

Faced with a need to simplify more complex travel, the industry made huge strides in technology in a relatively short period of time, assisted by a dramatic rise in the amount of data that can be analysed via cloud computing and a flurry of innovative tech disruptors entering the travel space.

While Snelgar appreciates new tech entrants he argues that there are many useful tech tools out there which are proven and notes a nervousness among TMCs who have had their fingers burnt from failed tech implementations. His advice? “Don’t get hung up with chasing the shiny thing.”

28 THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG com SMEs / Solutions



Agreater appetite for digital solutions during the pandemic opened up a new world of efficiencies for SMEs and that demand has accelerated this year as they get back to business travel.

Here are some of the key tech solutions to help SMEs manage their travel: Booking The older legacy products are Sabre GetThere, Concur and Cytrix/Amadeus and these are arguably less relevant today.

Corporate Traveller is the latest TMC to implement HotelHub's booking solution, initially across the US and Canada.

MEASURE

Guy Snelgar, Global Business Travel Director at Advantage, offers an alternate view. “There is a need for technology with a human touch. Success comes from having people to wrap around the technology.”

Snelgar believes the biggest issue is sourcing content and getting it to work through the TMC eco system. “TMCs want easy access particularly set against a background of resource issues,” he says.

There is also a reticence among SME TMCs about using an OBT owned by a rival TMC.

“Tech is a huge area of our business and lots of great innovations came out of the pandemic,” says Abby Penston, CEO of the Focus Travel Partnership, whose TMC members specialise in SMEs. “The resource issue we all had made us look at how we work and we started to implement some of the fantastic efficiency tools out there. “Tech suppliers are coming to us as a gatekeeper to 50 TMCs. We work with them, encourage them and work out how we move forward. Tech companies have been banging the drum for so long that it must be so pleasing for them now.”

TravelPerk is an all-in-one platform to book flights, hotels, trains and carsclaiming to have the world’s largest inventory, 24/7 support and easy booking.

A more recent arrival, HotelHub provides smart booking technology, aggregating GDS and non-GDS content into a single interface in the TMC desktop. It standardises rates and room types across these channels and ensures that no property is duplicated. Its AI-powered Rate Optimiser dynamically tracks hotel rates.

Made to

Personal usage also broke down barriers as we all adapted to new digital ways of doing things. At the same time, savvy tech providers fully realised the benefit of working with more agile SMEs, who were first off the mark when restrictions were lifted, and launched bespoke products for these customers rather than simplified versions of those already developed for large-volume corporates.

The pandemic expedited the development of bespoke travel management solutions for SMEs, says Gill Upton, who looks at some of the key products

Reed & Mackay’s proprietary online booking tool, R&M/Book, gives SME clients the ability to blend high-touch expertise with self-serve booking, also available through the Reed & Mackay app. This year the Focus Travel Partnership invested in PSNGR1's NDC-enabled booking tool to provide GDS and direct content in a mobile first platform and a management and metrics dashboard to provide real-time air spend data. Gray Dawes, Blue Cube and TakeTwo have also partnered with US-based PSNGR1, which recently suffered a funding shortfall but is now in the process of being taken over by UK-based Snowfall Travel.

Solutions / SMEs

 30 THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG com 

Geo is Travelogix’s duty of care solution for TMCs. It moves away from the expensive and often intrusive GPS tracking solution that many enterprise companies have as their chosen method for duty of care, and does its job by passively tracking the itinerary data for any given traveller.

Our goal is to provide that which has, until now, only been available to large companies who can afford to build their own stack”

Sustainability “Working on blanket counts across Europe is still not good enough; we need more granular data,” says Paula Cullen, Associate for Growth & Sustainability at consultancy Black Box Partnerships.

Risk management/Duty of care Mia Bazo is a self-service travel risk platform targeted at SMEs, providing duty of care, travel tracking and travel security which includes itinerary management, active tracking, country safety guides, daily safety checks and real-time security alerts, all through an app.

Grapevine Premium offers close to total trip management, with one email automatically triggered from a booking consolidating the itinerary, hotels, ground transportation, airport parking, travel risk for a destination and carbon Advantagefootprint.Partnership is rolling out Mobility Hub, its ground transportation platform partnered with Journey, Carey and Sixt Ride as a one-stop-shop for ancillaries. Going forward the Mobility Hub will become part of Grapevine Premium.

Interactive dashboards provide real-time transaction visibility for more informed decision-making."Ourgoalistoprovide that which has, until now, only been available to large companies who can afford to build their own tech stack. It has been well received in the US and so we plan to roll it out to other markets over the coming months,” said Michael Riegel, General Manager EMEA for TripActions.

Earlier this year, TripActions launched a version of Liquid for companies with less than 100 employees in the US and plans to roll this out in the UK in the coming months.

SMEs / Solutions

The Neo1 spend management platform from Amex GBT provides real-time visibility of all employee spend, including travel. It is specifically designed to help SMEs spend less on keeping track of cashflow and more on growing their business. It provides a single location for employees to source goods, services, and travel, managing the entire purchasing process from invoice approval to payment reconciliation.

A Conferma pilot could see a real total cost of trip solution by using a virtual card through Apple Pay on phones. In August, Conferma was acquired by Sabre, a longterm partner. Sabre says it plans to expand the Conferma Pay proposition.

Conferma and Amadeus Cytric Travel & Expense have long been the go-to solutions.

TapTrip is an omni-channel booking tool providing lower transaction fees, centralised bookings, tracked costs, traveller tracking, approval, expenses submission in seconds, and high compliance. This summer it was acquired by TripStax (see page 32).

TripActions’ Liquid is a centralised billing card that streamlines the payment process from reservation through to reconciliation. Proactive policies are built into smart cards so that expense management is automated.

The Focus Partnership has invested in Focus Pinpoint, which offers traveller tracking and duty of care as an off-the-shelf product for members. Grapevine started out as an AI-backed selling platform for ancillary bookings.

TripLink from Concur aims to provide full visibility of spending data by connecting trips, travellers and itineraries across multiple channels to enhance and simplify the entire travel experience.

Payments/Expenses

TRIPBAM provides global hotel re-shopping, contract auditing, benchmarking, analytics and sourcing and also re-shopping for air, promising lower fares for more than 10% of ticketsLufthansaused.and TripActions provide a business travel platform for SMEs with direct access to NDC deals on flights and hotels, rail and car rental content across two BusinessToGo tiers, Essentials and Premium, depending on requirements. The platform also provides policy and profile management, TripActions' negotiated rates, duty of care and CO2 emissions reporting, real-time management information, 24/7 support and centralised billing.

New NDC-enabled booking platform Spotnana, from the Madrona Venture Group, is a single dashboard with visibility into all employee activity, claiming to offer buyers consumer-grade online booking tools. It’s a system of record in an open platform so anyone can contribute to it and add value. It’s what Madrona investor Steve Singh (Concur founder) calls "micro service architecture" and can be white labelled.

COCO+ removes emissions from the full trip verifiably through third-party validated CO2 removal projects, enabling businesses to travel net zero. COCO+ pays for carbon offsetting through upfront bulk buying of carbon credit and this is built into the commercial model.

TripActions’ sustainability tools allow users to set carbon budgets based on historical spend and industry benchmarking data and get real-time data for all inventory via an easy-to-use analytics dashboard. There are three globally-recognised methodologies to measure and track progress.

 SMEs / Solutions

Mia Bazo provides free climate action tools, which allow for carbon budgeting, carbon planning and a tool to calculate the carbon footprint of vehicles, properties and any mode of travel. Customers can also purchase carbon offsets on the website.

“Progress is being made but it’s not moving as quickly as we need it to.”

Analytix from Travelogix is a suite of cloud-based solutions with real-time travel management data, reports and analysis consolidated from multiple back office and booking systems into one single source via reports and customisable dashboards. It can also consolidate data from multiple TMCs for a shared client to provide a single reporting platform with data in any currency.

Leanne Fowler of Agiito points to another challenge: “Travel buyers are aware of their responsibities in this area but find it hard to take ownership of it and be responsible for a budget. Noone is owning it so there is no traction to invest in it."

Greengage provides ECOsmart accreditation for hotels, venues and shortstay apartments and its EVENTsmart carbon calculator is a software platform that measures meetings/events of any size and CO2 resulting from attendee travel, accommodation, meeting space, catering, power, production and waste.

TROOP enables travel managers to choose eco-friendly meetings and events planning strategy and minimise their footprint.

Advito/BCD Meetings and Events has launched an ISO certified emissions calculator for meetings and events, which allows planners to input a wide range of data in the pre-event planning stage to drive more conscious decisions when choosing a destination, venue and other event design elements.

32 THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG com

There is a need for technology with a human touch. Success comes from having people to wrap around the technology”

Trees4Travel offers an offsetting programme to turn trips into trees. It calculates emissions from all modes of transport and all travel classes and supplies monthly reporting. It allows companies to track and follow their trees, matching the CO2 absorbed to the CO2 emitted by their travel. A dashboard shows how many trees have been planted, the amount of CO2 absorbed and what the monthly allowance is. The CO2 emissions can be detailed by class, department, traveller, timeline and even by a ‘what if’ scenario to see the potential savings when changing class.

Data processing TripStax is a state-of-the-art data processing powerhouse which stores, cleans and enriches data enabling TMCs to provide richer analytics to clients. Developed over a long period by ATPI it is now a separate entity. It connects airline content from multiple sources including GDSs, aggregators and direct connections to airlines. Paying by subscription, TMCs can cherry pick modules or stacks of applications – approve, profile, track, analytics, content, docs and mobile.

Hubli Green is a dedicated sustainability product for business travel and meetings allowing planners to choose city and venue locations based on the lowest carbon emissions, book sustainable spaces and remove high waste items from meetings. It is part of the Hubli search engine.

Travel Planet is an all-inclusive TMC solution with 24/7 offline cover and traveller tracking with offsetting options for air, rail, hotel and car rental.

Thrust Carbon provides a suite of tools including Thrust Calculator and Thrust Carbon Hotel Sustainability Index (TC-HSI), the latter generating a sustainability score for each individual hotel globally out of 100.

“This makes it an extremely useful tool because it empowers travellers to make decisions which they previously couldn’t have done,” says Black Box’s Cullen. Thrust is partnering with SME specialist Corporate Traveller and SAP Concur, enabling travel managers to have live emissions reporting.

SAP Concur has added the CHOOOSE Climate App to its App Centre enabling customers to better manage climate action and carbon offsetting activities.

In Amex’s travel and expense platform, Neo, CO2 emissions are displayed and greener options can be highlighted to help influence booking decisions. Furthermore, its sustainability tool, Green Compass, helps travel managers understand how to meet targets on reducing travel-related emissions.

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S trikes aside, rail is poised to be a big part of the business travel return. With the recovery largely being led by SMEs, train operators are keen to entice SME travellers back on board and are stepping up a gear with dedicated incentives and innovations.

In other encouraging news, it seems the rail industry is finally making tracks to tackle some of the long-held corporate travel frustrations, especially the great bugbear –the lack of Assumingconsistency.therenewed commitment to rail will be upheld by the new Prime Minister (and, in all probability, a new Transport Secretary), governments in Westminster, Edinburgh and Cardiff will retain control of all train operators, which was taken with the onset of Covid, and the over-arching Great British Railways (GBR) should be up and running by the spring of 2024.

RDG CEo, Jac Starr, says there's no need to wait until GBR takes over before making headway as it is already working with its transition team.

34 THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG com SMEs / Suppliers: Rail

“Many businesses place a lot of credence on encouraging people to use rail as

Dave Richardson reports

“There is a growing need for direct engagement to see how rail is performing compared to other modes, such as hotels and air, and it is quite obvious that we are not capturing all that traffic,” she explains.

TRACKONE mind Rail operators are targeting SMEs with dedicated products while eﬀorts are being made to improve consistency.

Things are certainly now moving in the right direction but meaningful reforms –especially of the complex and confusing fares system – may take longer. In advance of GBR, the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators and also state-owned infrastructure operator Network Rail, has already begun engaging directly with the business travel industry, talking regularly with the Business Travel Association (BTA) and also forming direct relationships with key players such as the Focus Travel Partnership.

 CMYCYMYCMYMCK

Suppliers: Rail / SMEs For enquiries contact our reservations groupsandevents@lockeliving.comteam GROUPS PROMO. BOOK NOW! FROM €99 PER NIGHT! edyn - TBTM September - October 2022 V2.pdf 2 22/08/2022 17:29:21 CoREDESIGNkEy/ISToCkPhoTo.CoM

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It has been innovating on board too, with the launch in 2021 of a new class of travel making it the only train operator (with the exception of Eurostar) to offer three classes.

About one million Standard Premium tickets have already been sold but initially it was only available to purchase as an upgrade. Advance purchase now accounts for 70% of bookings, giving passengers more roomy seats without the catering and other extras in First Class. Standard Premium carriages are also being upgraded as part of the £117 million upgrade of its Pendolino fleet, with First Class provision further reduced in most revamped trains.

Businesses want to use rail but the number one pain point is the lack of consistency”

“Before the strikes we were seeing more long-distance business travel, but in all honesty some of what we lost will never return because of hybrid working,” says Sachdave.“Businesses want to use rail but the number one pain point is the lack of consistency. What kind of service will you actually get and will the service actually run?

Avanti West Coast has completed the soft launch of a new loyalty scheme which offers members instant rewards for joining, including ticket discounts and hot drinks on board, and travel rewards for those making enough journeys. Club Avanti is currently offered only on bookings through its own website and app but will be expanded to include bookings made elsewhere in future.

SMEs / Suppliers:

Avanti had to announce a revised timetable in August “until further notice”, with frequencies on London-Birmingham and London-Manchester cut from three an hour to just one due to a shortage of drivers. This has fed into the highlypoliticised row about rail strikes generally.

“We’re looking to provide a level of consistency so that customers know what to expect as a minimum,” says Starr.

Black Box Partnerships works with the RDG, industry bodies and individual players to help them understand rail, and Managing Partner Raj Sachdave – with a background in travel management and train operating – feels this is a good opportunity.Whilebusiness travel by rail remains significantly below 2019 levels, he says the DfT and RDG recognise the sector’s importance as the average business traveller spends 6.5 times more than his or her leisure counterpart.

Rail their primary mode. We really want to focus on sustainability and will be making an announcement on a green travel pledge by the end of the autumn.” RDG is also taking on the challenge of improving consistency. Although there will never be true consistency, when operators have a wide range of trains using a highlyvariable infrastructure, it can at least influence how they interact with their customers in general, including the important and potentially lucrative business sector.

TransPennine Express has had one of the most ambitious fleet renewals in the country, with trains of genuine inter-city standard now available on routes such as Liverpool-Newcastle and Manchester

“The Department for Transport aims for efficiency and simplification, and while this can be construed as stifling innovation, this can be challenged. Business travellers should be confident in the future of rail and our desire to engage with the industry is a strong signal.”

“The BTA has done a fantastic job in its lobbying, getting business travel to the fore, and the RDG recognises its importance for average yield, customer experience and sustainability.”BlackBoxisfinding the threshold for SMEs involving a TMC to manage their rail spend is coming down, one reason being that many SMEs work for large corporations and must adhere to their travel policies. But there is a role for train operators to design products for local businesses not looking for other travel services or a lot of management information.

 36 THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG com 

SWR business direct allows you to book your business rail travel how you want to book your business rail travel • No Fees • Book Rail Travel Anywhere in Mainland UK • E-Ticket options • Book London Underground add-ons with ease • Control Your Travel Policy • Save Money • Simple but in-depth reporting • And More Be in control of your Visit southwesternrailway.com/train-tickets/business-travel for more information Business TravelBusiness Direct

Airport-Glasgow/Edinburgh, although some are not yet in service. It has now launched TransPennine Express Business, an online portal providing the lowest fares and a tailored reporting package. Darren higgins, the operator's Commercial Director, said: “We are fully aware of the part we play in connecting businesses across the North, into Scotland and beyond.

SMEs / Suppliers: Rail

Earlier this summer, heathrow Express launched an initiative aimed at business travellers, where Business First ticket holders will be able to use priority lanes at airport security.

“There has also been a notable rise in fares, but at the same time service levels have dropped. The ‘wish list’ for any corporate, not just SMEs, would be for rail operators to provide a reliable timetable and consistent service levels.”

Crucially, it says sustainability is now at the heart of many business travel policies and so far this year over 20% of its corporate clients are mandating train travel for journeys where this is a viable option. Its latest research released in July backed this up, with a quarter of businesses surveyed stating that their employer is mandating train travel for work trips, a figure that is even higher among smaller businesses.heathrow Express has also benefited as passenger levels return towards normal at the airport but faces a new competitive challenge when Elizabeth Line trains start direct services from the airport to central London and Canary Wharf.

and wellbeing”  LukIChEvILyA/ISToCkPhoTo.CoM

but now

In addition to Fast Track, Business First passengers also get extra legroom and a personal table to work from. But the many positive developments will stall until services throughout Britain get back to normal.

In the past

Scott Davis, CEo of the ITM, says: “Travel managers, no matter what size of spend, are on the receiving end of a lot of noise from their travellers due to frustrations with cancelled trains and reduced timetables.

“our strategy is to talk to SMEs about modal shift from car travel,” he says. “In the past it was all about cost, cost, cost, but now it’s about productivity and wellbeing. Take a business customer who’s flying in from Dubai, for example, and being asked to get straight into a rental car to drive home. Wouldn’t it make more sense to get a taxi to the station then a First Class train journey?“Whilemany businesses don’t need people in the office all the time, what about new business and the need to shake hands?”

Eurostar is reporting a strong return to business travel in the first half of 2022, with 70% of its pre-pandemic levels returning and nearly 80% of survey respondents saying they expected to travel at least as often as in 2019.

Mark Eastwood, Commercial Strategy Lead, said: “We know our customers value speed and convenience. For those in a rush, we are confident that we will now offer not only an express train, but quick route to the plane from central London.”

Clive Wratten, CEo of the BTA, adds: “For the rail industry to continue to appeal to SMEs, it’s vital that it delivers a reformation that is both modern and competitive. A large part of this will come from implementing rail ticket reform and significantly improving the customer "Enhancementsexperience.required include up-todate, accurate information on delays and cancellations, and better delay repay schemes for business travellers. Most importantly, the rail industry must fully engage with TMCs.” it was all about cost, cost, cost, it's about productivity

LNER also has its own travel portal, LNER4Business, aimed at SMEs and reports “an amazing return post Covid”. It offers business specific fares exclusively through the portal and via TMCs and is also happy to work directly with corporate clients to investigate opportunities for specific route deals.

"our aim was always to deliver something for SME businesses that provided the best possible deals, alongside a portal that helped give greater control and visibility of expenditure.”SouthWestern Railway might be mainly a commuter network but its routes from London Waterloo include Portsmouth, Southampton and Bournemouth where there is significant business travel. Business Sales Manager Joe Thurgood says deals are available on some routes but businesses are also attracted by the productivity and sustainability benefits.

IT MEANS MORE IF YOU’RE THERE IN BUSINESSYOURSHOWPERSON.USREALFACE.

United says it has taken an “innovative shift”, moving away from a focus on discounted fares to allow customers to work with a United sales rep to choose other benefits that fit their needs, such as upgrades to Economy Plus or Wi-Fi access.

Recognising the significance of the SME market, corporate accommodation specialist AltoVita has this summer launched a tailored offering for start-up companies, providing discounted booking fees, no transaction fees, no security deposits, and consolidated billing statements and management. It is available to companies less than 10 years old with under $5 million in annual revenue.

Virgin Atlantic is also due to launch a new platform for its corporate and SME clients "in the not too distant future with development ongoing".Itisalready part of bluebiz, a rewards and benefits programme where SMEs can earn credits on Virgin Atlantic as well as partner airlines Air France, KLM and Delta Air Lines, and receive benefits like free name changes on bookings.

“During the pandemic in particular, we noticed how essential travel and face-to-face meetings were for small and medium sized businesses and it became apparent they wanted convenient and easily accessible programmes to share with their travellers,” says Sophie Hulgard, SVP Sales Northern Europe at Accor. “As trips were constantly changing due to changes in circumstances and travel rules, flexibility became key and companies needed to be able to change and rearrange their trips at short notice.”

Many SMEs may not have a dedicated travel buyer or platform”accommodationpreferredbooking

With this in mind, 3Sixty is free to use and offers a flexible bid feature that can help further drive down costs for SMEs.

In response, in January 2022 the hotel giant launched Accor Business Offer Auto-Enroll, tailored specifically for SMEs, providing a selfregistration programme and preferential discounts from 5% to 9% across its portfolio.

Flexibility Agile SMEs are also looking for more flexibility from their supplier partners.

“We will introduce a more intuitive sign-up process where in just a few clicks customers can register, view programmes and enrol in an option that best meets their business travel needs,” continues Burse. “SMEs will be able to easily rebook and exchange travel and view and use future flight credits all in one place. There will also be much more reporting available, including the option to review travel activity based on money spent or trips taken, with the option to filter based by date of travel, destination, origin and more.

40 THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG COM SMEs / Suppliers

Vivi Cahyadi Himmel, CEO and Co-Founder, says the move “spotlights our commitment to the start-up ecosystem, which is often an overlooked demographic for extended stay accommodation in the sector”.

Waste reduction Cost is a key concern for SMEs, particularly amid the current economic headwinds, says Matthew Bassant, Global Head of B2B Country Marketing for mobility app FREE NOW for Business.

“On average, our clients save 25-35% when they start using our technology,” adds Curtis.

The programme provides a fully-automated contracting process and a "quick, efficient and easy" booking solution. Clients can enrol online and get access codes within 24 hours so they can start saving on business trips immediately, with discounts of up to 9% applied automatically.

MATTERS

“To cater to the medium-sized travel budget, we also offer a dedicated team of sales experts across Europe to help make the booking process as simple as possible for clients,” adds Hulgard.

SIZE

“The current cost of living crisis is not just impacting the public, businesses, particularly SMEs, are and will struggle, too. With that in mind, cost control will be at the forefront of their minds and the FREE NOW for Business app helps SMEs to monitor and manage costs in a number of ways.”

Saving both time and money is crucial for SMEs, says Lee Curtis, CEO of 3Sixty, a global marketplace giving access to alternative accommodation using machine learning and human“Manyexpertise.SMEsmay not have a dedicated travel buyer or preferred accommodation booking platform, giving rise to time wasted comparing multiple hotels and apartments on different sites, lack of substantial duty of care processes, and ultimately, confusion about travel policies. Larger companies can often negotiate bulk discounts too.”

Suppliers across all sectors are tailoring products to fit the specific business travel needs of SMEs

The app allows businesses to see exactly what they’re spending in real time, to place restrictions using a variety of parameters –day of the week, time of day, location and also what vehicles travellers are allowed to choose – and means that staff no longer have to manually expense taxi receipts.

S MEs are very sophisticated and selfsufficient customers,” says Doreen Burse, Senior VP Worldwide Sales for United Airlines, which will launch a new platform, United for Business Blueprint, later this year. Designed with smaller organisations in mind, it will allow users to self-service and manage travel programmes independently.

thebusinesstravelmag.com NEWS / FEATURES / RESOURCES / PEOPLE / REVIEWS / EVENTS / VIDEOS / PODCASTS TRADE PUBLICATIONONLINE2021 WINNER Helping you to be the best in the business ...with our award-winning content

So, finally, what has travelling taught him?

Checking in at Cromlix

Game, set and match

And what about packing? “I take around 10 rackets in my bag per tournament and, depending on the surface and whether it’s a Grand Slam or an ATP tournament, around three pairs of shoes. Thankfully, I’ve never lost a bag, although I’ve sometimes arrived before it!”

Fave destinations? “I always love going to Australia. Playing the Australian Open at the start of the year gives me the opportunity to escape a big chunk of the British winter and I love Melbourne and the lifestyle there. Rome is also a great city, as is Shanghai. They are so vibrant in very different ways.

A ndy Murray has our heads turning and hearts racing most summers in SW19. A power force in the game, he’s twice clinched the coveted Wimbledon title, won Olympic Gold medals and become a World No.1. Most of his practice is at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton but he trains frequently at the All England Club. “Wimbledon is probably the ultimate place to play tennis in the UK, but there’s a court on the Isle of Harris in Scotland, which I think is the most remote tennis court in the world. It looks incredible and I’d love to play there.”

Standout trips include swimming with sharks and rays in the Maldives. “But on a completely different level, I got to go to the White House one year, which was amazing. I was lucky enough to get a VIP tour. It was pretty surreal walking the same corridors as the Presidents of the United States.”

Murray sticks to drinking water in-flight. “I’m partial to a Coca-Cola from time-to-time, and maybe a glass of Champagne after a good trip with a few wins!” His top travel tip? “Sleep as much as you can, whenever you can. It’s the only way to get over jetlag quickly.”

“I’m always really well received in Asia and, obviously, the crowd in Glasgow is usually pretty warm (and noisy!)”

“Being near Gatwick and Heathrow was a big draw when I moved there because I was travelling up to 40 weeks a year.”

A return to his roots saw the sports legend purchase and refurbish a property close to his heart to save it from closure. “Cromlix is a very special place to me. It’s three miles from Dunblane, where I grew up, so I love going back there whenever I can."

Travel has pretty much gone back to normal post-Covid and I'm now travelling as much as I did before. I tend to travel by Eurostar to Europe if I can”

Reinventing the glorious era of grand country house living, the Scot has turned the Victorian Perthshire mansion into a five-star destination. “It’s a bit of a home-away-fromhome, a very warm and inviting place to stay. It’s where Kim and I got married. The scenery is beautiful, there’s a tennis court (of course!), a private loch for fishing, and the kids love feeding the chickens in the kitchen garden.”

Tennis champ Andy Murray shares travel tips, faves and pet hates in an exclusive interview with Angela Sara West

ANDY MURRAY

TALKING TRAVEL 42 THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG com

“That the world is a special place, and we must do everything we can to look after it.”

He’s also an avid golfer who's frequently found practising his swing on Surrey’s fairways. “I play with my brother, Jamie, and I’ve played a few rounds with Tim Henman, too.” Now Stateside for the tournaments leading up to the US Open, Murray is currently staying in Cincinnati. “I’ve just left Montreal and was in Rhode Island before that," he says. “Travel has pretty much gone back to normal post-Covid and I’m now travelling as much as I did before. I tend to travel by Eurostar to Europe if I can. I’ve taken it to Paris, Rotterdam, Brussels, Antwerp, and it’s generally easier and more sustainable.” Any travel bugbears? “I dislike hotel rooms with street or corridor noise, and getting to the airport early. I’m not very good at leaving enough time at the airport so it can be a bit rushed. I’m used to it now but it’s probably a bit stressful for my travelling companions!”

“We went to Disney this year, which was a real highlight. It was such a different trip for me and we really embraced all the activities. I spent quite a lot of time wearing Micky Mouse ears, so that was lots of fun, for my kids anyway!”

Still on his bucket list? “I’d love to do a bit more of Africa because it’s somewhere I don’t get to travel to on the tennis tour. And then two places I really enjoyed visiting for the Olympics - Rio and Tokyo - I’d love to go back to and explore properly.

Courted to Surrey, the UK’s most-wooded county scores highly with this sportsman.

As for airlines? “I tend to switch around between airlines because I fly so much. I like an aisle seat, so I can easily get up and about and stretch the legs.”

Andy Murray juggles many balls and successful business ventures, including 77 Sports Management, 77sportsmanagement.com

He has teamed up with his brother Jamie, British tennis coach Jamie Delgado and Game4Padel to promote the racket sport padel, game4padel.com. The creative player also boasts a high-ﬂying clothing collection. The oﬃcial clothing brand of the LTA and Tennis Scotland, AMC is an eco-friendly, highperformance tennis clothing line with Castore, castore.com/pages/amc. He also owns Cromlix Hotel, cromlix.com. Find out more at andymurray.com ANDY MURRAY AMC

43THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG COM

TALKING TRAVEL

Su S tainability 44 THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG com Step by S t EP With the help of the experts, here’s a five-step guide to cutting your travel carbon footprint

2 MeAsuRe “The first step in emission reduction is to measure and get the statistics needed to formulate a plan,” says Pippa Ganderton, Product Director ATPI Halo. Only by knowing the breakdown of your current carbon footprint can you identify where you need to change behaviours and revise your travel policy. This is where a TMC can provide a vital helping hand, capturing emissions data throughout the booking and travel process and, crucially, presenting it in a visually engaging and easy-to-understand format to clearly show the areas to prioritise.

45THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG com

Once you have the data, share it with key stakeholders, including senior business leaders, specific departments, or your most frequent travellers, providing meaningful comparisons where relevant. Better still, display this information at the point of booking to change behaviours.

“We wouldn’t be satisfied with only understanding the average cost of travel, so why are we still satisfied with average and sporadic emissions numbers?” says Thrust Carbon Founder Mark Corbett.

“We recommend that you canvass ideas from your colleagues and travellers. Many will have knowledge to share so ignite that passion. Education is key and there are many free resources and materials online. Consider courses to upskill employees to help you on your journey.” According to a survey by SAP Concur, many UK companies are already going down this path. Its recent poll of 700 corporate travel decision makers across the UK found 64% are offering their employees formalised training and education programmes on sustainability, 70% have internal communication campaigns in place and 68% have regular communication with business travellers about their carbon footprint for the duration of their trip.

“You can’t reduce your financial travel budget based on average prices, and you won’t be able to reduce your emissions looking at average emissions data either.”

Whichever way you measure your travel carbon emissions, don’t just look at your overall footprint. Break it down by specific category (air, hotel, rail) and by department or location. If possible, compare your emissions year-on-year or month-onmonth to identify trends.

Many TMCs, including global players such as CWT, have drafted in the assistance of specialist start-up Thrust Carbon, which has devised a calculator to measure hundreds of data points – air, hotel, rail, car and more – to provide clients with “robust and defensible” reporting.

“As demand for higher levels of sustainability grows, questions about sustainability policies will be raised more strongly, more often and by more parties, from management and employees to supply-chain partners and external stakeholders – as well as the employees themselves. It is therefore positive to see that so many UK businesses are already making great strides in their quest for green business travel programmes,” says Ami Taylor, SAP Concur Senior Director Global Product Strategy.

1 enGAGe “As with any significant change in business practice, senior stakeholder buy-in is crucial to delivering change,” says Paula Cullen, Associate for Growth and Sustainability at Black Box Partnerships.

SuStainability 

"Speak with suppliers to understand their sustainability plans and consider if you want to preference the suppliers who are more proactive," says Pat McDonagh, CEO Clarity Business Travel. Keep track of innovations. Premier Inn, for example, is trialling electric alternatives to gas and has just started work on its first allelectric hotel. It is also rolling out one of the UK's largest EV charging point networks.

And don’t forget about that crucial last mile – getting from the airport or station to a meeting. Consider mandating the use of transfers in electric vehicles or, where available and practical, encouraging the use city bike rentals and e-scooters, or factoring in extra time for walking.

If flying is the only option, consider downgrading from premium class to economy. On long-haul routes this can more than halve the carbon impact of a flight. However, it could also impact the wellbeing of your employees. To counteract this, consider upgrading their accommodation or providing employees with a wellbeing package on arrival, which would still result in a lower carbon footprint overall. The location of a meeting is also key, particularly with a more dispersed workforce. The company head office might no longer be the best place to convene. Look at where your employees are based and work out which locations would require the least carbon cost.

5 CheCk supplieRs

"We are unique in our operating model as we own and operate all the hotels in our portfolio, so can implement energy efficiency programmes quickly and at scale," says Rosana Elias, Head of Sustainability for parent company Whitbread.

Encourage your travellers to imagine they are paying their hotel bill and use the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign if they’re happy not to have their towels or sheets replaced daily.

As demand for higher levels of sustainability grows, questions about sustainable policies will be raised more strongly, more often and by more parties”

“Educate and inform travellers of local public transport options to avoid the use of taxis,” adds Cullen.

Only when you’ve got your key stakeholders on board and you’ve collected and shared that all-important data can you start to analyse your travel patterns and behaviours and find ways to make reductions in your carbon footprint.

In the meantime, prioritise airlines with newer, more fuel-efficient aircraft, direct flights and switch to rail where possible.

LITTLE EXTRAS

"We also have the opportunity to trial new technologies before rolling them out, and, because of the size of our estate, we know even small changes can make a big impact."

3 Rethink

Offsetting shouldn't be confined to larger travel programmes, she adds. "ATPI Halo has some clients with relatively small offset projects – under 80 CO2 tonnes. Despite the small volumes, they are keen to do the right thing as part of their ESG strategy and to have the right approach in place, starting small and assuming the volume will grow as their businesses develop, and secondly they want to be able to publicly declare their greenhouse gas reduction commitments." But make sure you do your due diligence. It's an unregulated industry and buying into unaccredited projects, if not properly monitored, can do more harm than good and potentially put your business in a compromising position.

For airlines, the focus is to invest in Sustainability Aviation Fuel (SAF) and most major airlines have now committed to SAF supplies, with United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa and British Airways among those leading the way.

46 THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG com S u S tainability

4 Offset ”Although improvements are being made, 100% sustainable travel is still a long way off, so looking at offsetting unavoidable carbon emissions is still important,” says ATPI Halo's Ganderton.

Recommend your travellers pack light – lighter loads are more fuel efficient for aircraft – and take along a reusable coffee cup and water bottle for their travels.

Many airlines are now offering passengers the option to pre-order meals. Not only does this ensure you don’t miss out on the chicken or fish, it allows airlines to carry fewer meals and lighten their load. Advise travellers to use moderate temperature settings for heating or cooling their room. Setting it too high or low and having to adjust it back the other way wastes energy.

Working with a TMC will help ensure you're buying into audited schemes and is also likely to reduce the cost of the offset because TMCs can buy in bulk at a lower fixed price for multiple clients.

Of course, the best way to cut your travel carbon footprint is to reduce the amount of travel, perhaps by switching to virtual meetings, but when travel is essential there are other ways to make an impact. Studies have found that over 50% of travellers are ready to reduce the amount they fly in response to climate change but only 3% do so. “There’s a key barrier: time. Afford your travellers more time to reach destinations via greener modes of travel, such as rail,” says Cullen at Black Box.

Over 800 UK hotels powered by renewable electricity* Only available at costpremierinn.comthatdoesn’ttheearth *Visit our website for more information. cost the earth

THE BUSINESS The lobby area, with work tables, comfy chairs and USB ports, is set up for meetings and laptop work, although the constant beat of house music isn't conducive to complex discussions or telephone calls. There are also five meeting rooms, of various sizes, and a large event space, The One Hundred room, which features floor-toceiling glass and stunningly distracting views of the London city skyline

THE ROOM My studio room (228) was super-comfortable, with a king-size bed, work station and a wall-to-wall white couch, small dining table, a striking tapestry and bespoke art work by designer and architect Jacu Strauss, black-out blinds, a mini-fridge, and pullout tea and coffee station. With its white and beige palette - a contrast to the vivid colours seen in the rest of the hotel - and unfussy decor, it elicited a feeling of calm and relaxation.

THE FACILITIES A long staircase from the lobby leads down to the vast Bar + Block Steakhouse restaurant, which is where breakfast is also served (full English £9.50 and continental £7.50). Lunchtimes and evenings the speciality is a selection of hand cut steaks – 8oz, 12oz, 16oz or even bigger on request. There's also burgers, fish and chips and a roast on Sundays.

THE CHECK-IN I arrived early and my room wasn't quite ready but my luggage was quickly stored and I was shown to the lobby area, which doubles as a meeting area and was alive to the chirping of multiple laptops being tapped. I found a cosy spot in a lounge chair next to the coffee shop.

THE DETAILS 100 Shoreditch High Street, London E1 6JQ, Studio rooms from £300, onehundredshoreditch.com. Steve Hartridge

THE DETAILS Paddington Exchange, N Wharf Rd, London W2 1LF premierinn.com Bev Fearis HOTEL: PREMIER INN PADDINGTON BASIN ALL THE BEST BITS OF A PREMIER INN BUT WITH ROOFTOPSUPERBEXTRAWELL-EXECUTEDSOMETOUCHESSTAFFAREANDTHESPACEISALSOSOMETHINGSPECIAL

THE BUSINESS Speedy Wi-Fi, above desk power points and the larger desks made my bedroom a comfortable space to check emails. On my visit the noise and activity levels in the lobby weren't conducive to work or meetings but there were quiet corners in the restaurant and bar.

THE FACILITIES The property has three bars and six restaurants. Goddard & Gibbs is an all-day seafood restaurant and wine bar, at its centre a rather incongruous giant yellow rock sculpture. The menu highlights ethical sourcing and local suppliers. The kitchen served up one of the best fish pies I have ever had. Seed Library is a basement cocktail bar whilst at the opposite end of the building on the seventh floor there's one of the most impressive rooftop bars and terraces in London, inspired by California's desert cities, with powdery-pink colours, greenery and pebble-based cacti. It can be booked for private events. A workout area features five Peloton bikes.

THE HOTEL A five-minute walk from Paddington Station in London's regenerated Paddington Basin, this 393room hotel opened in March 2022. It’s the first of three new hotels being opened by parent Whitbread in the Paddington and Marylebone area of the capital by the end of 2023.

THE VERDICT A classy hotel that's warm and cosy but contemporary and sleek. Staff are superb and the rooftop space is also something special.

THE CHECK-IN The lobby was bustling when I arrived at around 5.30pm. I tried the self check-in kiosks but my booking code wasn’t accepted so I approached the reception desk and waited in line. There were a few people apparently waiting for their rooms to be ready but thankfully mine was.

THE ROOM I stayed in one of the brand’s new Premier Plus rooms, which have some of the same features as a standard Premier Inn room, such as the famous king-size Hypnos bed and a choice of pillow, but with some extras, such as a bigger desk with an adjustable chair, mini-fridge with complimentary still and sparkling water, Nespresso machine, tea bags and some Green and Black chocolate (which I love and scoffed immediately). There’s also an ironing board, flatscreen TV, and an upgraded vanity unit with a stall and hairdryer, all cleverly designed to maximise space. Plus rooms also come with faster ‘Ultimate’ WiFi too. My only criticim was that the power shower could have been a bit more powerful.

THE HOTEL Previously the Ace hotel, this independently-owned property by the Lore Group reopened in March 2022. With the coolest of names and addresses, it has 258 exquisitely-designed rooms and suites.

THE VERDICT This new-build has all the best bits of a Premier Inn but with some well-executed extra touches. It's in a pretty, vibrant part of London that I never even knew existed but I will definitely go back.

DEPARTURES Reality check 48 THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG COM

HOTEL: ONE HUNDRED SHOREDITCH, LONDON

THE CHECK-IN

THE DETAILS De Vere Wokefield Estate, Goodboys Lane, Reading RG7 3AE, devere.co.uk/wokefield-estate, double rooms from £119 including breakfast. Matt Bonner

THE TRAIN This overnight sleeper service links London with a range of Scottish cities effortlessly, and with eco-friendly credentials.

DEPARTURES 49THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG COM

Although a fair walk from the car park to reception, the check-in was efficient and friendly and I was soon in my room, one of 12 luxury suites and 87 guestrooms in the Mansion House itself, all of which were refreshed as part of a £20 million refurbishment in 2018.

THE VERDICT No queuing, no security checks, no luggage restrictions are immediate plus points. In these CO2-conscious times, this comfortable rail journey really did make the switch from air or road to rail seem a sensible, easy and efficient option.

THE BUSINESS The estate boasts an impressive 39 event spaces, from intimate meeting rooms for six to the 500-capacity Wokefield Suite. A dedicated conference centre at Wokefield Place has been kitted out with the latest tech.

THE VERDICT This hotel has a real sense of grandeur in a tranquil setting (you can borrow Hunter wellies and explore the grounds). The refurb and the high-tech conference facilities make it a firm favourite for corporate gatherings.

THE HOTEL This mansion house hotel, originally built in the 1560s as a private family home, is set in 250 acres of peaceful Berkshire countryside so feels a million miles from urban life but is actually a mere 15 minutes’ drive from Reading town centre and 40 minutes from Heathrow.

HOTEL: DE VERE WOKEFIELD ESTATE

THE DETAILS Club Rooms from £205 return for a solo traveller and £250 for shared, www.sleeper.scot Julie Baxter TRAIN: CALEDONIAN SLEEPER NO

THE JOURNEY I travelled in a Club Room overnight between Inverness and London Euston, which left punctually at 8.26pm and arrives in London 12 hours later (depending on signalling priorities). Check-in was done on the platform as I boarded and was combined with a welcome explanation of the hotel-style key-card system for my room and dining options. Digital displays in each carriage give location and destination guidance and journey updates.

THE SERVICE Towels and Scottish toiletries were provided and the bunks were made up ready for the night with a very comfortable well-padded Glencraft mattress, two full-sized pillows and a generous duvet in quality white linens. The entire train felt clean and modern with décor and colour schemes matching that of the Scottish landscape. Onboard dinner was available for purchase in the Lounge Car from boarding (45 minutes before departure). Choices included Haggis, Neeps and Tatties or Macaroni Cheese, local cheese board and snacks. Staff were very friendly and cheerful. Breakfast is pre-ordered by door card 30 minutes after boarding for delivery to your room or served the Lounge Car. The menu ranges from yoghurt and granola to a hearty Full Highland Breakfast complete with black pudding.

THE ROOM With another 222 rooms in Wokefield Place and 40 in Wellington Lodge, there are 376 rooms in all. As part of the £20 million spend, 248 rooms were refurbished and the others had a soft refurb. My room was very spacious with far-reaching views over the hotel’s sports pitches and countryside beyond. It had a very comfortable king-size bed, desk, leather sofa, large LCD TV, Wi-Fi, tea and coffee making facilities, fridge and a Roberts radio. The bathroom had double sinks, a bath tub (some suites have roll-top baths) and a separate rain shower.

QUEUING, NO SECURITY CHECKS, NO TAKEACADEMYRESTRICTIONSLUGGAGEATTHEGOLFYOUCANAGOLFLESSONWITHAPGAPROFESSIONAL

THE SEAT My Club Room offered bunk beds, wash basin and an ensuite toilet which doubled as a shower cubicle. The space was limited but good design touches ensured there was sufficient space to stow a bag, hang clothes and power and charge electricals. A collapsible table pulled out from below the sink for those who want to work or dine in the cabin. The lower bunk doubled as seating, with a head rest for added comfort. Each cabin has its own temperature controls, dimmable lights and good, complimentary WiFi.

THE FACILITIES Breakfast buffet, lunch and dinner is served in the bright and airy 1560 Restaurant & Bar. The adjoining terrace is perfect for al fresco dining or drinks looking out over the estate. The View restaurant and bar at Wokefield Place is open every evening until 9pm and for sports fans Benedict’s has large screens. There’s also a fullyequipped gym and indoor pool and, last but not least, a par 72 championship golf course (play mid-week for £35) and a Golf Academy where you can hit some balls in the floodlit range or take a golf lesson with a PGA Professional.

DEPARTURES

The final word Out of this world

Accoring to a survey of 55,000 hotels by data company OTA Insight, you'll pay an average of £11.20 per person for breakfast in European hotels, but nearly twice as much in some places. Here are the 10 European cities with the most pricey breakfasts:

50 THE BUSINESSTRAVELMAG COM Are you fit to travel? BREAKFAST IS SERVED 1 Reykjavik: £19.19 2 Zermatt: £18.91 3 Zurich: £18.91 4 Basel: £17.19 5 Bruges: £15.56 6 Salzburg: £15.53 7 Geneva: £15.47 8 London: £15.06 9 Venice: £14.93 10 Amsterdam: £14.50 Research by OTA Insight

D on’t panic if you start to notice your fellow passengers doing star jumps and burpees in the corner of the airport lounge.It’sprobably because they’ve signed up for a new audio fitness app, WithU, now being offered to members of Collinson’s Priority Pass. The fitness app gives road warriors 1,000 audio-guided workouts, delivered by ‘world-class coaches’ and incorporating the use of a 3D Avatar, so for all you frequent flyers out there, there’s no excuse not to stay in shape on a business trip.

If you've ever wondered what the best time is to hold your weekly team meeting, we think we've found it - 11am on Wednesdays. According to job aggregator ClickJobs.io, that's the time when it sees the biggest surge in job searches. With a switch to hybrid and remote working, job search patterns have shifted from evenings and weekends to a sneaky peek during the working closethat'slosemakeSo,especiallyweek,midweek.ifyouwanttosureyoudon'tyourbesttalent,whentokeepaeyeonthem.

Not sure where to take your top performers on their next big jolly? Got a few hundred thousand dollars to spare? How about a trip into space? Global Travel Collection, part of the Internova Travel Group, has joined forces with Space Perspective to offer six-hour flights on its Spaceship Neptune, billed as the world's most accessible, sustainable and safestInsteadspacecraft.ofburning rocket fuel and high G forces, Spaceship Neptune is gently propelled by a state-of-the-art 700-foot-tall SpaceBalloon, taking passengers 100,000 feet above the Earth for breathtaking views – and for an equally breathtaking price of $125,000 per person. But you've got a few years to start saving because the Global Travel flights don't go until 2025. The spaceship has room for eight passengers (plus the pilot) and has its own Space Lounge with a fully-stocked bar, and a looPassengerstoo. will spend two hours playing astronaut before a gentle descent, with the entire experience captured with both interior and exterior video and still photographs (just imagine those LinkedIn posts), plus there's WiFi for livestreaming to the rest of the poor workforce who didn't make their targets.

AV I S ENJOY LIFE IN THE FAST LANE Speed up your journey when you register with QuickPass. Spend less time at collection and more time exploring. Register using the most convenient option for you, whether online, via messenger or over the phone. WELCOME TO BETTER CAR HIRE FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT YOUR AVIS ACCOUNT MANAGER OR VISIT AVIS.CO.UK/QUICKPASS

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THE 2022 FINALISTS AND THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS We look forward to seeing you all at the ceremony on September 13th TheBusinessTravelPeopleAwards.com

The Business Travel Mag September/October

Articles inside

Reality Check: We check in to three hotels and take the

Talking Travel: Andy Murray

Carbon Reduction: We ask

Ask the Expert: RFPs are

Speaking Out: Liz Emmott at TrainLine outlines the barriers

Opening Shots: The most