The Business Travel Magazine September 2020 by BMI Publishing Ltd

September 2020

IN SAFE HANDS

Restoring travel confidence in an uncertain world

TMC reinvention

Hotel hygiene Traveller safety Serviced apartments

THE BUSINESS TRAVEL PEOPLE AWARDS 2020 SHORTLIST REVEALED

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ARRIVALS

Contents

S E PT E M BE R 202 0 Features

12 Traveller safety: Three specialists share their expertise 16 Ground transport:

24 42

New protocols for taxis,

private hire and car rental

Extended feature

(p27-39)

on hotel hygiene 27-33 • Serviced apartments 34 • Pricing 36-37

Accommodation New hotel hygiene measures, serviced apartments, procurement and pricing

27 Extended feature: Accommodation • Introduction: Spotlight

• Procurement 38 40 TMCs: • Analysis of TMCs' vital new role 40-41 • Speaking out:

TMC remuneration 42 44 Pricing trends: Five TMCs share their insights on the pandemic's impact on air fares and hotel rates 47 UK Rail: Update on network developments in light of Covid

Arrivals

Opening Shots

Everyone's Talking About: the return to travel

10 The Knowledge: preparing for a restart of business travel

16 40

11 Six of the Best: London venues for hybrid events

The Review

19 News and views, plus comment from the BTA and Airlines UK

Departures 51 The Final Word

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ARRIVALS

Welcome Back in the fold

t’s good to be back, and that’s meant in a number of ways. Firstly, after a few months of being purely digital, it's great to be back on your desks in print form. (Grab a cuppa, get comfortable, and enjoy a much-needed screen break.) Secondly, as the new Editor.

I'm delighted to be back in the sector where my career as a travel journalist began 25 years ago. I remember it was a steep learning curve - travel is a complex and multi-faceted industry, particularly in your corporate corner - but you were a friendly, welcoming bunch and helped me understand and appreciate the ways of the business travel world. In the last few months I've been getting to grips with it all again, only this time we all are. The pandemic crisis has knocked us all sideways, personally and professionally, and we're all having to grasp new ways of doing things. Tuning in to webinars and virtual conferences, especially in the early days of the lockdown, it was heartening to watch you and your partners - TMCs, suppliers, consultants - pull together to tackle the new challenges, sharing advice and information openly and freely, even with rivals. Inspired by this ethos, in this issue we've invited industry experts to share their insights and offer guidance on how to navigate some of the key challenges, from traveller safety (p12-14) to volatile pricing (p44-45). Right now, the whole business travel community is united with one goal - to restore confidence in travel - and this issue is devoted to making that happen. I'm sure we'll start seeing signs of it soon. I, for one, can't wait until we can all meet again. I'm looking forward to catching up properly with some familar faces, and meeting new ones, and not just in boxes on screens. Then it really will feel good to be back.

EditorIAL EDITOR

Bev Fearis CONTRIBUTORS

Catherine Chetwynd, Gary Noakes, Dave Richardson & Gillian Upton staff journalistS

April Waterston

Contributing editors

Julie Baxter, Laura Gelder EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

Steve Hartridge

ADVERTISING SALES Publisher / Commercial Head

Kirsty Hicks

Associate publisher

Callum Blackwell

DESIGN & PRODUCTION SENIOR Designer

Louisa Horton Designers

Caitlan Francis & Zoe Tarrant Production & STUDIO Manager

Clare Hunter

Production administrator

Steve Hunter

SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscribe for free at thebusinesstravelmag.com/subscribe

BMI PUBLISHING MANAGING DIRECTOR

Matt Bonner CEO

Martin Steady (Print) ISSN 1754-8543. The Business Travel Magazine is published by BMI PUBLISHING Ltd: Suffolk House, George Street, Croydon, Surrey, CR9 1SR, UK. Tel: 020 8649 7233 enquiries@bmipublishing.co.uk / bmipublishing.co.uk

Bev Fearis, Editor

this publication is printed on 100% fully recycled paper and distributed to subscribers in a compostable wrapper. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy, BMI PUBLISHING LTD cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. © BMI PuBLISHING LTD 2020 IMAGEs: sourced from suppliers, ISTOCKPHOTO.COM, bigstockphoto.com AND unsplash.com

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ARRIVALS OPENING SHOTS

Eye-catching images of the latest news and developments

Hotel Indigo

bath time

The latest from IHG’s boutique brand, Hotel Indigo Bath is the result of the multimillion pound (and significantly delayed) restoration of a Grade I listed building in one of the city’s elegant Georgian terraces. Its 166 bedrooms are themed on Bath’s history and its arched bar is a focal point. 6

Its 166 bedrooms are themed on Bath’s history and its arched bar is a focal point”

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Four Seasons

royal flush

Curio Collection by Hilton

Go east

After a soft launch in February, cut short by the lockdown, the 126room Hart Shoreditch Hotel London has re-opened in the heart of East London. Its name and interiors are inspired by The Harts, cabinetmakers in the area in the 1800s, while an all-day bar, Tavla, hosts vinyl DJs.

The palatial triangular Royal Suite will be the undisputed queen of the 200 rooms and suites at the Four Seasons Madrid when it opens at the end of September. Its four-storey urban spa has a sky-lit indoor pool and sun terrace with stunning rooftop views.

Strand Palace

True Brit

Haxells, a new bar and restaurant with a 'British-inspired' menu, is one of the new features at Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s refurbished Strand Palace. Its lobby, front desk, and entrance have also been spruced up in a modern Art Deco style while the 785 revamped bedrooms now all come with air-con as standard. THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.com

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ARRIVALS EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT...

The return of business travel “WE HOPE SEPTEMBER SEES “TECHNOLOGY DOESN’T SOME YOU SORTBUT OFITRESTART, RESCUE PROVIDES CONFIDENCE VISIBILITY. YOUR BUT THERE AND IS NO CERTAINTY. TMC SHOULD HAVE CONSISTENCY IS THE THE PROCESS THING. AND PROCEDURES TO RUN REPORTS WE NEED CONSISTENCY TO AND HELP YOU REACH THOSE BRING CONFIDENCE” AFFECTED BY AN INCIDENT” Ewan Kassir,Travel Head of Sales, Clarity Business Association Chief Executive, Clive Wratten

“We’re all struggling a little bit to understand how quickly travel will recover, because there's just no precedent to something like the coronavirus pandemic” Charuta Fadnis, Phocuswright Senior Vice-President of Research

“RETURN TO TRAVEL IS VERY MUCH ALIGNED WITH THE RETURN TO THE OFFICE” Ann Dery, Director Global Travel for S&P Global

There is still fear and uncertainty as we head into the winter and even if people want to travel they may struggle as the inventory or capacity from suppliers might not be there, mainly the airlines” Tony McGetrick BCD Travel VP & Director of Sales & Marketing UK & Ireland

“INCREASED TESTING IS WHAT WE NEED TO RESTART TRAVEL SAFELY. IT WILL RESTORE CONFIDENCE AND REVIVE TRAVEL DEMAND WHILST PREVENTING NEW WAVES OF INFECTION. BORDERS CANNOT STAY CLOSED INDEFINITELY; THE ECONOMY NEEDS TRADE TO RESUME WITH GBTA Executive Director Dave Hilfman

PEOPLE BACK TO WORK AND TRAVELLING”

“I’ve spoken to many customers and they are all doing internal surveys asking their colleagues if they want to travel or not. There are none saying that they will not be travelling again” American Express GBT Chief Commercial Officer Drew Crawley

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We know people are worried about how Covid-19 will affect everyday life, including travel and accommodation. So we’ve been busy behind the scenes doing everything we can to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our people and our guests.

HOME FROM HOME

Our ‘home from home’ stay experience doesn’t just give you extra comfort, but real control of your own personal space. Enabling less direct contact with the outside world and the public areas you’d typically find in a hotel.

SOCIAL DISTANCING

We’re introducing social distancing measures to protect you and our people. But don’t worry, our exceptional Native service will never be more than a few metres away. That’s a promise.

A PA R T H O T E L S

Why Native? \ Why Now?

At times like these, we know plans might change. Which is why we’re all about being as flexible as possible. As ever, we’re here to support you. So we’ll do what we can to help if your plans change.

FREEDOM & FLEXIBILITY

CLEANLINESS & HYGIENE

We’ve stepped up our cleaning procedures to ultra-deep cleans between all guest stays. You’ll get a clean seal of approval every time you stay. Literally on your door.

MINIMAL CONTACT

From check-in and throughout your stay, we’re introducing new ways to keep apart and stay in touch.

The fact is that with more space, flexibility and independence an aparthotel can make for a safer and more enjoyable experience. We can’t wait to welcome you, for more information contact our Native team at:

tellmemore@nativeplaces.com Stay Safe. Stay Original. Stay NATIVE

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ARRIVALS THE KNOWLEDGE

How to... prepare for a travel restart Amid the global pandemic, business intelligence giant S&P Global needed to be ready for the return to travel as its offices started to re-open in Asia. It chose to adopt the ‘Permissible Travel Framework’, developed by corporate travel consultants Festive Road.

THE BACKGROUND

S&P Global has 20,000 employees, with 8,000 travelling for business. Its travel spend in 2019 was $60 million and it has an annual total travel-related spend, including dining and other expenses, of approximately $100 million. Around 80% of its travel is domestic within each region and half of all travel is for internal meetings. Its most-flown routes include New York/ London and NY/Singapore and, before the crisis, there was also significant traffic to and from back office operations in India, Pakistan and the Philippines. When the outbreak hit, travel was suspended in line with the rest of the world, starting in China.

THE PROCESS

In the early days of lockdown, when industry webinars and discussions began to take place, S&P’s Director Global Travel, Ann Dery, became aware of the Permissible Travel Framework, an Excel document put together by Festive Road and based on its existing Managed Travel Model. It’s now being used by more than 7,000 companies and is still being fine-tuned, in collaboration with clients. It is built around the following principle: company readiness + employee readiness + government permission = permissible travel. “The pandemic was so new and people were struggling to get their heads around it and I admit I first looked at the framework and thought ‘wow, this is really complicated’," Dery explains. But when it became clear that domestic travel was beginning to start up again in China, Dery went back to the framework and knew it should form the foundation of the company’s return to travel. She ran it by her management within S&P’s Global Business Services, and was allowed to form a Return to Travel Taskforce, which included colleagues from Travel Procurement, Security and the People team, who also saw its potential. Meanwhile, the APAC Regional leadership, in conjunction with the regional Security Officer, had been organically and intuitively developing their own return to travel framework, with similar checks and balances, so the “two workstreams were blended together”.

THE RESULT

An Interim Business Travel Pre-trip Request Form pushes travellers, via hyperlinks, to various information sources and requires digital authorisation at each stage. The framework helps define essential travel and contains vital questions and checklists. “It’s not a tedious process, but requires a lot of forethought and asks travellers whether this trip really is necessary and meets the company’s new definition of permissible travel." It hasn’t yet been shared with all travellers. “We’re being very cautious about communicating the framework so we don’t give our travellers false hope, or concern, that they will be travelling again soon.” Outside of Asia, S&P’s offices remain closed so there is still no travel, but it is now prepared for the restart. “Apparently we’re ahead of the pack,” says Dery. “A lot of companies are talking about it, but not many are at the stage we’re at.”

THE CHALLENGE

The main challenge now, says Dery, is educating travellers, who will have to do their homework for each trip, know biosafety requirements, understand suppliers' Covid19 protocols, and check information from official bodies like IATA, WHO and the CDC. "It’s not a case of asking travellers to waive their rights – travel is completely voluntary and no-one is being forced to travel - but they will now have to take ownership and responsibility for travelling within the current environment. We will have to relay all of that without instilling fear, or unnecessary concern."

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ARRIVALS SIX OF THE BEST

Six of the best... London venues for hybrid events 1

CHURCH HOUSE WESTMINSTER

Combining the charms of a Grade II listed building with cutting-edge technology and an expert AV team, Church House has 19 event spaces for webinars, webcasting, video conferencing, digital learning and live streaming. Flexible half-day room hire rates are available at short notice.

4 2

CAVENDISH CONFERENCE CENTRE Designed explicitly for hybrid events, this W1 venue, behind Oxford Street, has HD cameras and a dedicated technician for each event. Modern rooms and auditoriums seat 2-100 with social distancing guidelines.

SPITALFIELDS CONSERVATORY

One of five unique London venues from work and event space group Fora, this takes natural light to the max with triple-height windows and a transparent ceiling. Tiered seating looks on to a focal video wall from where you can livestream to up to 1000 people.

UNDERWOOD WORKS

This boutique venue in Old Street is one of four from Lumiere London. The 5,000 sq ft space has two main adjacent rooms for 30 people each (150 before social distancing), with high quality AV and video technology.

ETCVENUES COUNTY HALL

This group has 13 locations across the capital but its Southbank venue leads the way for hybrid events, thanks to its Glisser's state-of-the-art software platform and over 68,000 sq ft of multi-use event space with views of the London Eye and Big Ben.

TOBACCO DOCK

With its new hybrid offering, Live from Tobacco Dock, this Wapping venue invites groups to use multiple studio spaces, green rooms and catering areas – 57 in total – while a broadcast crew streams online. There's a 500plus car park just opposite too.

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TRAVELLER SAFETY

Three lines of

DEFENCE

Keeping travellers safe and informed is even more challenging in the Covid world. Three industry specialists share their expertise

Risk expert Suzanne Sangiovese explains why managing risk is no longer just about knowing the destination, it’s about profiling the traveller too.

SUZANNE SANGLOVESE

The pandemic has brought with it a slew of new concerns and requirements for corporates and first and foremost is the risk profile of the traveller. Of course individuals with pre-existing health concerns or those that are immunocompromised have always faced additional risks or concerns while travelling. Now, the coronavirus places us all at additional risk.

Correct procedures

It's vital to ensure your procedures are in order. Companies will need to guarantee 12

they have a bulletproof travel programme in place for all of their legals, insurance, finance, communications and crisis management in the event that one of their travelling staff members falls ill. This is a marked difference from the pre-Covid days. Previously, corporates may have only had their travellers navigate through a trip approval process for traditionally higher-risk countries abroad or work with a medical professional to complete a health form for destinations where specific outbreaks were common or medical facilities lacking. However, some companies are now requiring travellers to go through these procedures even for domestic trips, particularly within the US.

Different strokes

A five-day business trip could turn into an extended 14-day nightmare if a traveller tests positive for Covid-19. Travel managers will need to ensure the personal needs of the traveller are met and that might include accommodation during the self-isolation process, food deliveries and so on. Let’s not forget that not all travellers are the same. Female travellers, travellers with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ+ community face unique risks which need to be considered. Companies should also turn

their attention to the traveller’s team back in the office. What is the impact on the business if they cannot perform their work duties during that time?

Be prepared

As part of the duty of care obligation, corporates not only need to send their traveller to a destination successfully, but also return them home safely. Some modes of transportation - specifically certain airlines - are turning away travellers even if they appear ill and/or have a fever, regardless if they have tested negative for the virus. The duty of care obligation is compounded by the unpredictable regulatory environment we’re now living in, and that has a greater impact on the possibility of travel. Businesses need to strictly monitor the many new measures that will be in place - many of which have

As part of the duty of care obligation corporates not only need to send their traveller to a destination successfully, but also return them home safely”

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TRAVELLER SAFETY

not yet even been decided or which are continually evolving - imposed by governments, corporate health and safety, travel insurance and by corporate travel policy managers. Travel policies now need to adapt to ensure travel is executed well within these new moving parameters to ensure the safety of the individual and a successful trip.

The knock-on effects of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown are starting to emerge in other very real and sometimes terrifying ways"

Suzanne Sangiovese is Commercial and Communications Director for travel risk intelligence experts Riskline, which provides risk assessments for hundreds of destinations and monitors the world's political crises, security developments and travel news.

struck. Countries we once visited without a moment’s hesitation are now the subject of risk assessments we never thought we would be writing. We are having to re-evaluate the very basics. Advising travellers not to give out their personal details and pay attention to those around them is now irrelevant. Our personal details are now being openly recorded at restaurants and bars for track and trace, and often not secured as per GDPR. Likewise, the wearing of masks is the law in many places, so how can we know who is around us when we can’t see their faces?

As the world opens up again, the wider impact of the pandemic is intensifying some of the inherent risks of business travel, says security expert Matt Arundel.

Quick reaction

MATT ARUNDEL

Coronavirus has had a devastating impact on our health, that much we know, but the knock-on effects of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown are starting to emerge in other very real and sometimes terrifying ways. Unemployment and poverty have propelled those already in hardship further into desperation. Drug and alcohol abuse and mental health issues are on the rise. Organised crime is gaining further footholds in society. Police and the military are already stretched trying to control the pandemic, leading to gaps being exploited by petty criminals through to terrorist organisations and leaving business travellers more vulnerable.

Basic instinct

Street robberies, muggings, hotel room thefts, burglaries from rental properties, car jackings, kidnaps, and assaults have all exponentially increased since the pandemic

Country risk ratings no longer apply in the same vein. Snap decisions by a country’s government can mean immediate local lockdowns, overnight economic hardship, the stifling of criminal supply chains. We are now being contacted daily by companies who are rightfully requesting locationspecific risk assessments. The question is no longer just "how safe is that country?", it’s "how safe is the district, the city, the hotel, the street, the workplace, the morning commute?". And that risk assessment doesn’t change by the day, it changes by the hour.

health and safety managers responsible for the location. Consider a personnel tracker and use check-in windows to ensure all is well. Communication is key. Check the medical facilities and recommendations from your insurance provider. Know where a traveller can get a test whilst away if they come into contact with someone infected, or show symptoms. Don’t just carry PPE and spares, use them. You have a duty to others even if they feel they do not have a duty to protect you. Have a crisis plan if there’s a lockdown. Consider a coronavirus specific 'burner’ or spare phone, which means you don’t have to share your daily-use phone number with strangers for track and trace forms. Remember these forms are only so the establishment can make contact. Find out what number they would call you from and ask if you really need to give your full name. Back home, test and quarantine until the results are proven. Matt Arundel is the Founder and Director of MASC Executive, specialists in risk, crisis and travel management solutions to international corporations, governments and expeditionary industries worldwide. An ex-Royal Marine Commando, he has completed missions in some of the world’s most austere, remote and hostile regions.

Communicating with travellers is now more crucial than ever but it has to be handled in the right way, says travel management expert Lesley O'Bryan.

Safety first

So how do we make ourselves Covid safe? Corporates need to start by taking a long hard look at their current global travel policies and adjust them, adding a coronavirus-specific element. Test travellers before each journey to avoid the reputational damage of an employee carrying the virus into another’s workplace, plus the financial costs of litigation. Remember the asymptomatic spread of the virus is very real. Conduct coronavirusspecific research on the destination, hotel, or workplace. What is the ‘R’ rate, what are the restrictions? Seek local knowledge, PICTURE CAPTION speak with the hotel, and communicate with

LESLEY O ' B R YA N

Ensuring traveller engagement is a priority for any travel programme but especially so during the pandemic. Travel managers need to understand audiences and channels and create communications that are impactful, relevant and easy to digest in order to create an environment of trust, transparency 

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TRAVELLER SAFETY

and traveller confidence. That’s why communication was a focus for the new Travel and Meetings Standards task force (TAMS), an independent coalition of nearly 200 corporate travel professionals from around the world who joined forces in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak to identify standards and protocols to keep travellers safe and healthy. Wishing to provide guidance to travel managers, the group developed a Return to the Road Communication Programme, which recommends the following approach:

Identify your audience

Set your goals

Engage stakeholders

Review your channels

Refine the strategy



Clearly define and limit goals to an achievable number, ideally no more than three, and make each goal SMART - specific, measurable, ambitious, realistic and time bound. Make sure goals can be impacted through communication efforts. Focus on core areas of the travel programme and what travellers need to know about air, hotel, ground transportation, agencies, online booking tools, meetings and events as a result of Covid-19.

Spend time thoroughly reviewing all available communication channels, considering every touchpoint in the traveller's experience. This could include intranet, social community, email, mobile tools and more. The use of visuals, imagery, graphics, infographics and video will help your message stand out. Whichever channels you choose, ensure you have consistent messaging across all your communications.

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Know who to communicate with and what their specific needs are. Consider divisions, business units or groups and how their travel patterns and needs differ. Listen to what travellers have to say and act on it. Consider the effectiveness of each channel for different audiences and messages. Each message should be created specifically for the intended audience. The most impactful campaigns are multi-channel, using different ways to reach specific audiences with reinforcing messages.

Clearly define and limit goals to an achievable number, ideally no more than three, and make each goal SMART - specific, measurable, ambitious, realistic and time bound”

Create strategic overviews that clearly demonstrate results and impact for internal stakeholders. Consider external stakeholders and how best to engage with them. Alongside your own communications, advise suppliers how they can communicate information so it can be integrated to your overall engagement strategy. Perhaps use an expert partner, or ensure a lead is identified within the travel team to drive and own the engagement strategy.

Monitor the effectiveness of your communications and make sure your strategy is regularly reviewed. Take note of feedback from your travellers and stakeholders in order to continually evolve the communications strategy. Lesley O’Bryan is Advito Senior VP and Principal and is on the Communications Committee for the Travel and Meetings Standards taskforce (TAMS), a group of industry experts who came together in the pandemic to provide support and guidance to travel managers.

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THE SHORTLIST As the big day approaches, we can reveal which companies, teams and individuals have made it through to the final stage of the prestigious People Awards 2020 TRAVEL MANAGEMENT COMPANIES AND HOTEL BOOKING AGENCIES Reservations Consultant of the year • Paige Welsh, Egencia Corporate Travel • Adam Thompson, Egencia Corporate Travel • Christie Heath, Capita Travel and Events Reservations Team of the year • FCM Medical Repatriation Team, FCM Travel Solutions • Reservations Team, UnderTheDoormat Operations Manager of the year • Nicola Harding, Capita Travel and Events • Paul Coates, ATPI • Roberta de Paolis, TripActions Operations Team of the year • Operations Team, UnderTheDoormat • Egencia Corporate Team, Egencia Corporate Travel • Click Travel Operations Team, Click Travel Account Manager of the year • Hayley France, FCM Travel Solutions • Gary Dobbins, Diversity Travel • Lisa Hyman, Capita Travel and Events Account Management Team of the year • Corporate Traveller Account Management Team, Corporate Traveller • Capita Travel and Events Account Management Team, Capita Travel and Events • Click Travel Account Management Team, Click Travel

Sales / Business Development Manager of the year • Ryan Gray, Capita Travel and Events • Zara Higgins, ATPI

Account Manager of the year • Philip Ariss, South African Airways • Graeme O’Donnell, TBR Global Chauffeuring • Dominique Cagle, Nika Corporate Housing

Sales / Business Development Team of the year • Client Partnerships Sales Team, Business Travel Direct, part of Reed & Mackay • ATPI UK Sales Team, ATPI

Account Management Team of the year • Synergy Global Accounts Team, Synergy Global Housing • Nika Team, Nika Corporate Housing

MICE Meetings and Events Manager of the year • Katy Johnson, INNTEL • Dani Ives, Focus Travel Partnership Meetings and Events Team of the year • The Meetings and Events Team, Travel Counsellors for Business • INNTEL Strategic Meetings Team, INNTEL • Events Team, NYS

SUPPLIERs

INDUSTRY Best Newcomer • Andrew Whitaker, Reed & Mackay • Ethan Field, Blue Cube Travel • Jonti Dalal-Small, Capita Travel and Events Rising Star • Edgar Bailby, Egencia Corporate Travel • Charlotte Winter, Synergy Global Housing • Peter Snowdon, TAG

COVID

Sales / Business Development Manager of the year • Jessica Blackmore, Dwellworks Living • Nisa Ford, Cheval Collection • Jessica Land, BridgeStreet

Company excellence in approach and actions during Covid-19 • ClickCare, Click Travel • ATPI • TRIPBAM • UndertheDoormat

Sales / Business Development Team of the year • London North Eastern Railway, LNER • Kelly ONeill, Dorota Mmireku, Jenni Lehtonen, Egle Sapiegaite, Strand Palace

Individual excellence in approach and actions during Covid-19 • Kyle Daniels, Clarity • Debbie Lundon, Synergy Global Housing • Clive Wratten, The BTA

J O I N T H E V I R T U A L C E R E M o N Y L I V E at 2 . 3 0 pm on F riday 1 8 th S eptember Register now at TheBusinessTravelPeopleAwards.com

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Xxxxxxxxxxx GROUND TRANSPORT

Safe

DRIVE

From contactless payments to certiﬁed cleaning regimes, ground transport providers have stepped up a gear in response to Covid, writes Gary Noakes

roud owners often refer to “that new car smell”, but in the pandemic era it’s the whiff of cleaning fluid that’s the fragrance of choice when it comes to vehicle hire and ground transport in general. Covid-19 has made us all wary of health and safety procedures and ground transport specialists have a lot to shoulder, as hiring a vehicle could pose a risk from many touch points even before you get the keys. Similarly, just being a passenger in most types of taxi or minibus is a forced encroachment of the two-metre distance advice, so firms have had to adapt their services accordingly. Suppliers have also had to make adjustments to their cancellation terms should a planned meeting suddenly get cancelled when a specific area goes into lockdown. More than ever, it’s vital to read the small print, so here’s a snapshot of what the industry is doing to combat the risks and encourage us to get moving again.

Contactless Rentals

Whether through apps or just the remote location of vehicles, contactless is understandably popular at the moment. Apps and loyalty scheme membership generally permit contactless collection, but 16

Enterprise is also offering kerbside rentals and at some branches delivery too. Its SMS Advance Check In works in a similar way to a smartphone airline boarding pass and is a low-touch option. Hertz offers a low-touch option to its Gold Plus Rewards members as a general perk. This allows renters to go straight to the vehicle and e-return without approaching the counter. Europcar’s Deliver and Collect, launched in July, is an option for most renters, although it is not offered at airports and some other branches. It costs from £1 plus £2 per mile each way. Europcar also offers Click & Collect, which also allows customers to bypass rental stations. Customers are met in a designated area of the car park where staff hand over the keys and rental agreement at a safe distance. Meanwhile, Avis has suspended home delivery in the UK, but Jeanette Harper, Avis Budget Group Director Travel and Partnerships, says other options are being developed: “We are introducing a digital check-in service that will enable customers to spend less time at the counter when picking up a vehicle at any Avis location, by giving them the opportunity to provide their contact details and driving licence information online,” she explains.

Cleaning

Cars used to be cleaned only before the next rental, but that has changed during the pandemic, with vehicles generally attended to immediately on return. Enterprise Rent-A-Car and sister brands Alamo and National operate a Complete Clean Pledge, which is in addition to their normal cleaning procedures and is designed to meet leading health authority requirements. Particular attention is paid to 20-plus high touch points, including air vents and visor mirrors. Hertz has a similar system and seals each vehicle afterwards with its Gold Standard Clean door sticker. Europcar has its cleaning procedures overseen by testing certification specialist Bureau Veritas.

Cancellations

Whether you can get a swift refund may depend on whether you booked direct or through an agent. Avis, for example, is waiving cancellation fees for refunds on bookings that start before 15 December 2020 if cancelled via its website. However, it advises customers booking through third parties to contact them directly. Hertz and sister brands Thrifty and Dollar now offer free cancellation for clients affected by travel restrictions. In addition,

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GROUNDXXxxxxxxxxx TRANSPORT

Particular attention is paid to 20-plus high touch points, including air vents and visor mirrors”

vehicles can be returned to a different location and earlier or later than planned, with no fee, if Covid forces a change of plan.

Loyalty Schemes

Not hiring vehicles means not earning points, but for anyone shuddering at the thought of losing their tier status, there’s good news from some companies. Enterprise is extending its Emerald Club Elite status, so members with tier points set to expire in February 2021 will get a oneyear extension and qualifying rentals will roll over. Avis is taking a similar approach, with loyalty vouchers now having 15-month validity. Preferred customers get double the accrued spend for rentals booked from the beginning of June to the end of 2020. Tier status of all Preferred customers has been extended for another 12 months regardless of rentals.

Airport Shuttles

Getting from terminal to pick-up and viceversa poses another risk. Shuttles should be subject to the same cleaning regimes as hire vehicles, with one-way passenger flows and limits on numbers. Enterprise's shuttles are disinfected “at least once per day”.

Taking a Back Seat

Wearing a face covering on public transport in England is mandatory, but the rules do not cover taxis and private hire, so corporate travellers need to be vigilant as to each taxi firm’s policy. The Department for Transport says only that passengers “should” wear masks and that drivers are exempt from wearing face coverings. Uber is firm on this, making face coverings compulsory for passengers and drivers. “If you are riding with Uber and your driver arrives without a face covering, you can cancel your ride,” it says. Similarly, Uber drivers have the right to cancel the fare if the passenger is not masked. Front seats are also out of bounds. Addison Lee is supplying drivers with disinfectant for daily car cleans on common touch points, three vouchers a week for cleans, and Electrostatic Spray Cleaning every three months. Executives booking through FREE NOW’s corporate account, FREE NOW for Business, will be provided with hand sanitisers and protective gloves for their journey and drivers are now required to wipe down their vehicles with alcohol solution between each ride. Passengers can avoid cash transactions by paying via an app and can be tracked via its online booking system.

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Survey asks Brits: Would you prefer Covid test or quarantine?

Heathrow goes high-tech with health and safety

Nobu set to open second London hotel

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BTA reaches out to industry's jobless

out of work TMCS turn to franchises

THE BUSINESS Travel Association has extended the reach of its new initiative, BTA Cares, which supports business travel professionals who have been impacted by Covid-19. The programme aims to upskill and retrain people who have lost their jobs in the crisis and provide practical and informative advice to help them secure new roles. Alongside a series of webinars, masterclasses and social events, the BTA has now set up a Facebook page to facilitate chat and build a stronger community. BTA Chief Executive Clive Wratten said engagement so far has been very strong. “The demand is absolutely there. It’s not just our members who are reaching out. We’re also giving support to the employees of our partners – hotels and airlines – and across all levels of seniority."

Travel Counsellors, the travel agent franchise group, is reporting a sharp rise in the number of enquiries from business owners looking to launch their own corporate travel franchises. It believes the increase is largely down to corporate travel professionals seeking to use Covid redundancy packages to make a fresh start. The group said it welcomed a new business owner every working day throughout August, with a notable increase in enquiries and new joiners with corporate travel experience. Over half of the professionals making enquiries are looking to launch a corporate travel business before the end of the year, it said. Travel Counsellors also continues to see a rise in interest from TMCs with teams of less than 10 staff wishing to discuss franchise opportunities. The group has adapted its induction training to webcams.

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London-NeW York is top of the list of routes which TMCs and Airlines argue should be opened up in a controlled way, initially by using business travellers. Talks continue with governments on both sides of the atlantic

Eurostar's London-Amsterdam service will operate fully direct both to and from the Netherlands from October 26. It means returning trains will no longer have to stop in Brussels for security checks. The change means the journey time will be just over four hours (4h 9m) from Amsterdam and three and a half hours (3h 29m) from Rotterdam to London. Tickets are now on sale, although in mid-August the UK Government took the Netherlands off its 'safe list', meaning arriving passengers have to quarantine for 14 days.

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THE REVIEW

O TN H ET H L E O W G RD O UW NN D

IN BRIEF

B T A U P D AT E Clive Wratten

duty of care tool

Chief Executive Oﬃcer

Focus Travel Partnership has launched a duty of care tool to help clients deal with the new complex travel landscape in the Covid pandemic. Called PinPoint, it provides corporates with detailed travel information about each traveller in a simple, visual map interface and is overlaid with Foreign Office advice and updates on Covid-19 risk levels.

free training

Meetings, events, and hospitality technology specialist Cvent is now extending its offer of free training and certification until the end of 2020. The group has already trained and certified more than 30,000 marketers, hospitality professionals and event planners through its training and certification programme, which has been available for free to anyone since March 2020.

Spreading the message American Express Global Business Travel has widened its app messaging capabilities to improve communications between travel managers, travellers and its own travel counsellors. The option to message with a travel counsellor via the Amex GBT Mobile App has been expanded to more than 24 countries, while messaging through Apple Business Chat, the app for iPhone and iPad users, has been expanded to more GBT client segments and to more countries outside of the U.S., including Canada, France, Germany and the UK

tWo thirds of brits WouLd prefer to have a covid test on arrivaL in the uk rather than go into a 14-daY Quarantine, according to a surveY of More than 2,100 traveLLers bY Market research coMpanY audience net

uk meetings sector 'knocked off its feet' THE vaST majority (97%) of UK meeting venues report a drop in enquiries for the third quarter of 2020 compared with the same three months in 2019. A survey of nearly 200 members of the Meetings Industry Association shows enquiries fell 78% on average, with 94% of venues seeing a similar drop (75%) in the fourth quarter. "The business meeting and event sector has been completely knocked off its feet and decimated by the impacts of Covid-19," said the association. Although the Government is now allowing small meetings and events for up to 30 people, 72% of venues reported no rise in short-lead time enquiries since the announcement. However, 66% have seen an increase in enquiries for larger events beyond the scheduled October re-start date.

To err on the side of caution has been a long-standing habit of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Throughout the pandemic the FCO has been steadfastly providing unambiguous advice, drawing on medical and scientific opinion. Yet, as any working diplomat knows, reviewing issues in black-and-white terms can lead to seeing the world in a simplistic, if not naive manner. The travel industry has begun to ask whether Stop:Go instructions are too crude to represent the subtle, and complex risks. Instead of ‘safe to travel’ or ‘essential travel’ the BTA believes there should be a third category ‘travel with caution and responsibility' - to allow more informed decision-making. Essential travel, especially to politically stable nations, could be applied when there are more than 30 infections per 100,000 people, based on a 14-day cumulative calculation, and ‘travel cautiously’ might apply when infections are between 15-29 per 100,000. Adopting a clear and transparent approach that moves away from a binary grading system will allow the FCO to restore greater confidence in its advice.

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Virgin to launch flights to Pakistan VIRGIN Atlantic has unveiled plans for three new services from the UK to Pakistan from December, linking Heathrow with Lahore and Islamabad and Manchester with Islamabad. The airline’s Chief Commercial Officer Juha Jarvinen said Pakistan offers the airline an "exciting opportunity" because it has one of the largest foreign-born populations in both the UK and the U.S. and the seventh largest diaspora in the world. “With travel restrictions remaining in place for many destinations around the world, we’re continually evaluating our network, looking at customer demand and where there are opportunities to launch new services,” he said. "We also see a significant opportunity to increase competition in the U.S.-Pakistan market." Virgin Atlantic, which won backing from its creditors for a £1.2 billion restructure deal in August, restarted passenger flying on July 20 after a three-month hiatus due to the pandemic.

60%

Expected drop in 2020 passenger numbers on European ﬂights

Although the European market has seen an increase in the number of flights in recent months, passenger numbers are currently forecast to fall by around 60% in 2020, which represents about 705 million passenger journeys, says IATA

ETIHAD Airways has updated its mobile application for Android, Apple and Huawei smartphones, enabling travellers to manage their journey more easily. New key features allow passengers to book flights with voice search and enrol in the airlines loyalty programme. They can also purchase upgrades or other extras, use Etihad Guest Miles as a form of payment, or choose from 10 other payment options, including the recentlyintroduced Travel Bank. Frank Meyer, Etihad Chief Digital Officer, said: “To increase flexibility during the coronavirus pandemic, we have established Travel Bank, an account which guests can use for future redemption on flights. "With the new app, guests are now able to book their next flight with travel credits they have saved while being unable to fly due to travel restrictions." The new Etihad Airways app is available now to download through Google Play, Huawei AppGallery or Apple Store.

NEW SAFETY PORTAL FROM ONEWORLD ONEWORLD has launched a portal giving passengers the latest updates on its members' new health and wellbeing measures. Measures include contactless check-in, enhanced cleaning of aircraft and customer touch points in airports and lounges, physical distancing during the boarding process, and the wearing of masks or face coverings. "We hope that customers may have even greater peace of mind as they resume their travel," said Oneworld CEO Rob Gurney.

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DELTA READY TO RESTART BOSTON ROUTE

Airport staff take part in Covid testing trials

DELTA has outlined plans to resume more transatlantic routes, including flights five times a week between Heathrow and Boston from September. The Boston route will operate alongside Delta's existing service from Heathrow to Atlanta and to New York-JFK. But the airline warned its schedule remains subject to change due to the evolving nature of Covid-19, customer demand, government travel regulations and federal health guidelines. Joe Esposito, Senior Vice President Network Planning, said: "While significant hurdles remain in the global fight against the pandemic, we are ready to connect customers to the people, places, opportunities and experiences they're longing for.”

HEATHROW staff have taken part in trials of three rapid point of care Covid testing methods as part of the airport’s efforts to restart flying. The findings will be shared with the UK Government as Ministers consider how testing could provide a safe alternative to the blanket quarantine for 'high risk' destinations. The trials are in addition to a Terminal 2 centre unveiled last month in partnership with Swissport and Collinson ready for a pilot of PCR testing on arrival, which was awaiting Government approval. Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said: “Testing is the lifeline that the UK’s aviation sector needs to get back on its feet. We’ve put some of the most cutting-edge rapid testing technologies into action at Heathrow to see which offers the best solution. "If we can find a test that is accurate, gets a result within a matter of minutes, is cost-effective and gets the Government green light, we could have the potential to introduce wide-scale testing at the airport. Without this, our first class aviation sector risks becoming second class, giving Britain's competitive advantage to others.”

UNITED MAKES BOLD MOVE ON CHANGE FEES UNITED Airlines has ditched change fees - forever - on all standard Economy and Premium tickets for domestic U.S. flights. In addition, from January 1 2021 passengers on both domestic and international flights can fly standby for free on a flight departing the day of their travel for all ticket types or class of service, a first for a U.S. carrier. Meanwhile, MileagePlus Premier members can confirm seats on a different flight on the same day if a seat in the same ticket fare class is available. United is also extending its waiver on change fees for new tickets issued until December 31 2020 for both domestic and international flights, for all ticket types issued after March 3 2020.

HEATHROW STEPS UP HYGIENE WITH HIGH-TECH INNOVATIONS CLEANING robots which eradicate viruses and bacteria overnight using UV technology are among the new innovations being used to reduce Covid-19 risks at Heathrow. UV handrail technology has been installed on escalators to ensure continuous disinfection of the moving handrails and self-cleaning anti-viral wraps are being ﬁtted to security trays, lift buttons, trolley and door handles. They work by

coating high-touch surfaces in a material with long-lasting anti-viral protection. Alongside a team of 100 hygiene-technicians, who will thoroughly disinfect the airport and answer passenger queries on cleaning methods, Heathrow has also installed Fly Safe Pit Stops where passengers can pick up face masks, anti-viral wipes and hand sanitiser free of charge.

AIRLINES UK Tim Alderslade Chief Executive Airlines UK

The UK is the third most connected country by air in the world and benefits hugely from these ties into the global economy. Some 40% of our non-EU trade is flown, most of it within the bellyhold of passenger aircraft. That’s why the current crisis in UK (and global) aviation caused by the pandemic matters to us all, and not just affected airlines, which in the UK alone have already announced tens of thousands of job cuts. UK passenger numbers in 2020 will be at levels not seen since before the first Gulf War, some 30 years ago. Safety must come first, but the reality is we face a stark choice. We can accept significantly reduced connectivity and the economic damage this causes, or we can prioritise smarter ways of using technology and data to get people flying again. Two areas are key – airport testing, allowing us to move away from lengthy quarantines, and a move towards regional travel corridors, which have the potential to open up markets like New York, where infections rates are much lower than the national picture. We have the means at our fingertips, we just need the political will.

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BEAVERBROOK AND CADOGAN PARTNER FOR CHELSEA OUTPOST

Nobu to open hotel in Portman Square THE SECOND Nobu Hotel in London is on schedule to welcome its ﬁrst guests in November. The Nobu Hotel London Portman Square was due to open in July but the date was postponed due to the pandemic. Formerly a Radisson Blu, the hotel closed in April 2019 for a complete renovation project by London-based architecture and design ﬁrm, David Collins Studio, in conjunction with Make Architects. Its design has been inspired by Japanese minimalism, drawing upon traditional weaving techniques, patterns and artworks. The hotel will have 259 guest rooms and suites, a Nobu Restaurant, a spa, ballroom and meeting spaces. The lifestyle brand already has a hotel in Shoreditch.

BEAVERBROOK, the Surrey Hills country house hotel, has unveiled plans for a sister property in London's Chelsea in partnership with Cadogan. The hotel is due to open during summer 2021 after a £25 million restoration of two Georgian townhouses on Sloane Street. Beaverbrook Town House will have 14 luxury suites, a gourmet Japanese restaurant and bar and will serve as a boutique London outpost of the existing hotel and golf club near Leatherhead, which opened three years ago.

ASCOTT TAPS INTO DEMAND FOR REMOTE WORKSPACES APARTMENT group Ascott has introduced a 'Work in Residence' initiative at 60 properties worldwide, including ﬁve in London. Bookable by the day, week or month, apartments come with a dedicated workstation, regular housekeeping, complimentary coﬀee and tea or free parking at selected locations. Telecommunications extras, such as wide-screen monitors, webcams and Bluetooth speakers, are available on demand.

FRONTLINE HEROES REWARDED SMALL Luxury Hotels of the World has rewarded 500 people who have gone above and beyond to support their communities through the Covid-19 outbreak. Each has been rewarded with a two-night stay at one of the group's properties as part of its campaign #SLHFORHEROES. Winners were health professionals who had contracted the virus while caring for patients, or were chosen for other reasons, including volunteering for a vaccine trial, isolating from families to ensure

they remained protected while fulfilling their duties on the frontline, or supermarket workers delivering food to the vulnerable and shielding. In addition to the two nights' stay, the winners will further unlock additional hidden extras once their reservation is confirmed. Donated by the participating SLH hotels, these include spa treatments, airport transfers, surfing lessons, private tours, and dinners. SLH has over 520 hotels in more than 90 countries.

Each of the suites will be styled and named after famous London theatres and are being designed by Nicola Harding, who designed The Rose in Deal and The Mitre in Hampton Court. Cadogan Chief Executive Hugh Seaborn said: “We are working closely with Beaverbrook to create a timeless, English luxury hotel and restaurant in the heart of Chelsea to further expand the hotel, food and drink oﬀering in the area, all of which contribute to the rich tapestry of uses that make this such a compelling destination.”

35%

Relative rise in bookings for HRS 'Clean and Safe' hotels

Data from HRS Global shows hotels with its new 'Clean and Safe' label are 35% more likely to get booked by business travellers. The label was introduced in June with Société Générale de Surveillance and after eight weeks it was earned by more than 40,000 hotels.

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Driving forward amid the pandemic

iChauffeur creates hygiene 'bubble' LUXURY chauffeur company iChauffeur has introduced ‘Contactless Travel’, a touch-free protocol to give its customers more confidence in the Covid-19 outbreak. Its cars are being 'double cleaned' with an antibacterial process, reinforced with secondary UV-C light technology disinfection, usually used in hospitals, for all vehicle ‘touch points’ and passengers' luggage and personal items. It has also partnered with a number of the UK’s private airports, including Biggin Hill and Farnborough, to ensure the ‘bubble’ of service continues for its corporate passengers before and after their flight from the UK, with partner companies ready to meet and greet clients at airports across Europe, including in Italy, Spain and France.

SWR TAKES NEW FLEET TO HEART SOUTH Western Railway has chosen Arterio as the name for its new £1 billion fleet, claiming the trains will transform travel across South West London, Surrey and Berkshire. The rail operator says the name reflects its importance to the UK capital, with London Waterloo at the 'heart' of the South Western's network and SWR’s suburban routes the 'arteries' which feed it. The 90-strong fleet will replace some of SWR's oldest trains and will have two-by-two seating,

onboard Wi-Fi, at-seat charging points, fully accessible toilets, dedicated wheelchair spaces, air-conditioning, and screens with real-time service information. The ﬁrst Arterio train is due to be introduced later this year on the Reading line, with a total of 750 new carriages to be introduced over the following two years. Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said the naming was an important milestone for the rail operator as train services across the UK begin to return to normal levels.

The business travel industry is in a state of continuing uncertainty. Countries around the world are still actively battling the deadly virus but societies and industries like our own are trying to rebuild and re-emerge from the crisis. There is a strong appetite to start moving again, but this is countered by angst surrounding passenger safety and wellbeing,

measures across all services performed by its own fleet and chauffeurs and those of its global supplier network. To further build confidence, we have also created a fully transparent global guarantee, outlining the regional variations in services and the minimum standards expected across the 3,000 cities in which we operate,

from travel bookers and travellers alike. TBR Global Chauﬀeuring has made passenger safety and comfort a top priority. Fully aware of the anxieties currently surrounding travel, TBR Global Chauﬀeuring has placed duty of care at the very top of its agenda, mandating industry-leading hygiene

as well as a reaﬃrmation of our ongoing commitment to ensuring complete peace of mind across every client touchpoint. Meticulous cleanliness standards, global tracking capabilities and unique quality assurance measures has earned TBR Global Chauﬀeuring a worldclass NPS score of 90.

Craig Chambers Group CEO TBR Global Chauﬀeuring

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EVENTS SEPTEMBER 18

THE BUSINESS TRAVEL PEOPLE AWARDS Virtual event thebusinesstravelpeopleawards.com SEPTEMBER 29

ITM THRIVE 2.0 Virtual event itm.org.uk OCTOBER 22

TBTM DINNER CLUB Corinthia London thebusinesstravelmag.com

CAMERON BENGERT

JULIET HOWIE

SOPHIE CHAPMAN

JOINS: Clyde Travel Management AS: Head of Operations FROM: Corporate Traveller

JOINS: BridgeStreet AS: Global Head of Enterprise Sales FROM: Oakwood Worldwide

PROMOTED AT: Heathrow Express TO: Director FROM: Head of Train Services

Cameron Bengert, previously Regional Operations Manager at Corporate Traveller, completes Clyde Travel's leadership team as it embarks on ambitious growth plans.

Extended stay specialist BridgeStreet has appointed Juliet Howie, the former Director of Sales for Oakwood EMEA, to help drive global agency sales revenue.

Sophie Chapman joined Heathrow Express in 2018 as Head of Customer Services. In her new role, she takes over from Les Freer, who is moving out of the rail sector.

NOVEMBER 2-4

WORLD TRAVEL MARKET ExCeL London london.wtm.com NOVEMBER 3-5

GBTA EUROPE

JULIE AVENEL

Germany europeconference.gbta.org

PROMOTED AT: American Express GBT TO: VP Global Business Consulting FROM: Director, Global Supplier Relationships EMEA

FEBRUARY 11 2021

TBTM DINNER CLUB Corinthia London thebusinesstravelmag.com

Based in France, Julie Avenel joined GBT more than nine years ago. In her new role she reports to Chief Commercial Oﬃcer Drew Crawley.

APRIL 27-28 2021

ITM CONFERENCE Brighton itm.org.uk MAY 21-24 2021

DAVID CHAPPELL JOINS: MIDOCO AS: Country Director UK FROM: Fello

David Chappell takes on a newly-created role at software specialist MIDOCO. He joins from Fello where he was IT Director and before that Head of IT at Gray Dawes Group.

JOHN KEATING PROMOTED AT: Accor TO: Area GM Luxury Brands Scotland and Ireland REMAINS: GM Fairmont St Andrews

After the signing of Carton House, a Fairmont managed hotel, John Keating will now head up all Accor luxury hotels in Scotland and Ireland.

ALSO ON THE MOVE... Cycas Hospitality is making two appointments in September: Petra Baer will become GM of its ﬁrst Belgian property, the Residence Inn Brussels Airport, opening March 2021, while Philip Steiner will be GM for the upcoming Moxy and Residence Inn by Marriott double-decker hotel in Slough, opening April 2021 >> Chris Carr, Chief Operations Oﬃcer of Sweetgreen, joins the Board of Directors at Hilton Worldwide Holdings >> International Airlines Group (IAG) has named Javier Ferrán as the successor to Antonio Vázquez who steps down as Chairman of its Board of Directors when he retires in January after completing the recommended maximum of nine years in 13225-Sirius-BritishTravelMag-AD-138x40.ai 1 11/05/2017 15:01 the role >> Mary Ellen Hess joins CTM North America as EVP Sales and Marketing from Tramada Systems.

ADVANTAGE CONFERENCE 2021 Madeira advantageconference.co.uk JUNE 22-23 2021

BUSINESS TRAVEL SHOW ExCeL London btn.businesstravelshow.com JULY 17-21 2021

GBTA CONVENTION 2021 Orlando convention.gbta.org

SEPTEMBER 14-15 2021

THE BUSINESS TRAVEL CONFERENCE MY London thebusinesstravelconference.com

Due to the pandemic, some of the above events might change.

BUSINESS TRAVEL RESOURCING EXPERTS

We now offer a range of recruitment, training & HR services on an outsourced, project or one-off basis. Contact us for your tailored solution

CMY

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As hotels and serviced apartments begin to re-open their doors, travel buyers will find themselves navigating a whole new landscape. Prepare yourself for the new norm with our guide to

Accommodation Introduction, 28-33 / Serviced Apartments, 34 Pricing trends, 36-37 / Procurement, 38

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cleAn sheet

Previously the under-appreciated cog in the wheel of hospitality, housekeeping teams have a newfound status in the pandemic crisis, writes catherine chetwynd

otels that were once falling over themselves to team up with celebrities and designer brands for their bars, spas and restaurants have now, in the new hygiene-obsessed world, switched their attention to pairing with reputable partners for their new housekeeping régimes. Accor has signed with Bureau Veritas, De Vere with ChemEco, Hilton with RB, Premier Inn with Diversey and Radisson with SGS. The list goes on. They might not be as well known (or sound as sexy) as the likes of Marco Pierre White and Philippe Starck, but these are names we’re all going to become more familiar with in the new Covid landscape. With standards of cleanliness now at the forefront, those hard-working but often faceless folks in the housekeeping department have taken on a whole new level of responsibility and significance. Of course, heightened hygiene concerns for travellers aren’t just confined to the accommodation sector, but stringent cleaning procedures are arguably even more essential when you’re asking people to put their head on a pillow, take a shower and eat their breakfast somewhere other than their own home. If accommodation

suppliers are going to ensure they retain their presence in corporate travel programmes, they need to be able to reassure buyers of the highest levels of cleanliness and hygiene, and in turn buyers need to relay that confidence to their travellers. The job is made more complicated by the fact that the branded hygiene régimes of the major hotel companies are difficult to compare. “I would like to see an industry-wide minimum standard guaranteed by hotels, which we can then show on our booking tool, but currently that is difficult because the hotel groups are probably doing similar things but each has a different name and we have no way of comparing like with like,” says the buyer for a major commercial bank. The waters are further muddied by the ownership structures of the hotel brands. “We have written to chains to ask them to commit in writing that all the properties on our programme are upholding their processes; when operators’ properties are franchised or managed, not owned, how can they be sure they are being followed?” says the same concerned buyer. He will set a date by which hotels must respond and if they do not, the bank will “probably 

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Supercity comfort  suspend them from the programme; any hotel on our booking tool will be adhering to their programme and it will be OK to book it”. Most employees who are travelling are either relocating or returning from relocation and they go home or stay in serviced apartments, sourced by The Apartment Service (TAS). “Last week TAS wrote to their providers asking for a minimum standard of operation and asking them to confirm they are adhering to that. We have not asked them to audit that; it is early days and no-one seems desperate to get back on the road,” says the bank’s travel buyer. The GBTA says corporates are questioning suppliers and partners regarding cleaning policies and Covid-19 training, some down to specific cleaning products. The association endorses the Safe Stay campaign established by AHLA (American Hotel and Lodging Association), which creates an industry standard for cleaning practices, social interactions and workplace protocols. The association also states the need for a global hotel standard to ensure consistency. This is where smaller hotels and groups have an advantage: “They have fairly robust protocols and gain confidence because they are often wholly owned, so they control the entire experience,” says Head of Hotel & Accommodation Product for FCM travel Solutions & Corporate Traveller Joanna Greenfield. “Standards vary at small independent hotels but with social distancing and cleaning they need to be visible to travellers.” Feedback from travellers is largely positive: “Hotels have

implemented far better cleaning protocols than they expected.” All properties are bookable online but, “we are finding there is far more offline business, as travellers want more in-depth information, especially regarding F&B, gym facilities and swimming pools”, she says. Feedback from AIG’s travellers indicates there are inconsistencies in delivery at properties, regardless of group programmes. “I am encouraging our partners to implement measurable control mechanisms,” says Global Accommodation Manager Jan Jacobsen.

New protocols

Hotel operators are, of course, adapting to the new demands. T&Cs are more flexible, rooms are cleaned, sealed and quarantined between guests, contactless check-in/out and room access are increasingly the norm, high-touch areas such as lifts and lobbies are cleaned regularly, keys are sanitised and packaged, there are sanitisers and signage throughout properties, and rooms are cleaned as requested by clients or when guests are out. The new hygiene partners conduct audits of hotels’ sanitation standards and generally work to WHO, CDC and/or European Centre for Disease Control standards. Measures taken include staff training in Covid-19 safety measures, PPE/face masks for employees, who also often have regular

The GBTA says corporates are questioning suppliers and partners regarding cleaning policies and Covid-19 training, some down to specific cleaning products” temperature checks (The Belfry, Z Hotels), unnecessary items removed from rooms, and more. In addition, hotels and groups have a web page dedicated to explaining hygiene practices. De Vere is sending guests a letter from the GM that details measures taken, backed by a phone call from the guest relations team to run through these, and an email reminder. Rates remain low and often dynamic as supply exceeds demand but, “my concern is that the rate will remain too low too long in an attempt to stimulate the market, which will result in economic challenges to meet all the additional processes and procedures put in place at additional cost. At no point can we afford for corners to be cut to meet P&L targets because selling rates are too low to cover the cost of operating,” says AIG’s Jan Jacobsen. Restaurants and other F&B outlets are of particular concern to bookers. “On our 

cheval london

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covering budgets from economy to luxury. Apartment specialist Ascott has a new remote working product, Work in Residence.

Safe as houses?

penthouse view

Logically, serviced apartments lend themselves to contact-free travel, giving guests more space, the ability to cook for themselves and less contact with other people”

 new app, guests can view menus, order food and drinks to their room and pay for their stay,” says Resort Director of The Belfry James Stewart. Many properties are providing grab-and-go food options, including De Vere, Hilton and Radisson; and takeaway meals from the kitchen (De Vere, Hilton). Biodegradable, disposable dishes/ utensils are available on request at Hilton properties, and room service is placed outside the guest room door; Z Hotels has not yet re-opened F&B outlets. Accor is providing medical support via AXA for guests who feel ill and has launched Home Office, allowing people to book a hotel room as a remote working location,

Logically, serviced apartments lend themselves to contact-free travel, giving guests more space, the ability to cook for themselves and less contact with other people; and like hotels, providers have teamed up with specialist hygiene organisations such as CSC (BridgeStreet, Edyn), AA (House of Fisher, Mansley) and Visit Britain’s Good to Go (Cheval, Mansley, House of Fisher). In addition, ASAP’s ISAAP accreditation now caters for Covid-19 with Infection, Protection and Control, covering all ASAP members. Many of the measures they have implemented mirror those of hotels, including contact-free booking and check-in/ out, grab and go food options and food delivery services (STAY, Locke, Cheval). Flexible rates also feature a lot and operators such as Frasers, Ascott and Adagio have appointed someone to audit standards. GBTA research showed that companies were 68% more likely to allow travellers to book direct with suppliers, something finally available to serviced apartment bookers via MYSA, launched in June this year. The platform allows buyers to create a programme from a global database that shows details such as the number of properties in a portfolio, who manages a building where it is not the operator, Covid19 compliance, and whether the supplier publishes a CSR/sustainability report. MYSA

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manages the RFP on behalf of clients, who have a dedicated portal, MY Oxygen, showing only the properties they have chosen and their rates, with live availability. Some of Cheval Collection’s clients have asked for dedicated work space with a desk, rather than a kitchen table. There are temperature check machines in Cheval lobbies and at staff entrances, plus referral for a Covid-19 test if necessary; Residences guests get keyless access via the Cheval app and mobile check-in, and both are planned for the rest of the portfolio. Edyn’s protocols also include plans to introduce digital keys. Cycas introduced tracking and auditing compliance system Shield Safety across its portfolio pre-Covid-19, and has installed footpush door handles in public areas to minimise hand contact points. Documented procedures for dealing with guests or staff who feel ill, and keeping rooms vacant for 24 hours after guests depart are among Frasers Hospitality's measures; options under consideration include customer service chat bots and selfcheck-in. Mansley Serviced Apartments' staff, guests, contractors and delivery drivers get temperature checks and Q’s housekeeping team is based on site to avoid contamination on public transport. Several SilverDoor clients have requested short-notice quarantine accommodation, cleaning is carried out in agreement with clients and fresh linen can be delivered to the door. The agent’s partners are required to review health and safety systems using SilverDoor Orbital One software to confirm their ongoing compliance, backed by ongoing

Roomzzz work station

communication from the account management team. Synergy Housing has introduced a ninestep pledge designed to restore confidence among corporate clients, business partners and guests, along with reconfiguration of rooms to allow better working space, provision of dry goods or delivery gift cards, and more flexible booking terms. Claire Barrie, Vice President Sales, says good communication is key. “Weekly status calls and reports may have worked pre-Covid, but it’s not enough now. Continual communication and advice from providers is crucial to rebuilding business traveller confidence, and reassuring corporates of their long term stability,” she says. The group’s global sales team, expanded earlier this year, is already starting to use a new model for engagement with corporate travel buyers, who "no longer have any appetite for time-consuming RFP processes in the Covid-conscious environment".

COTELS Living

Continual communication and advice from providers is crucial to rebuilding business traveller confidence, and reassuring corporates of their long term stability”

Your safety is our number one priority, with;

edyn have been creating sanctuaries since 1997, providing business travel accommodation for companies on single and multi-location programmes.

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Find your edyn. findingedyn.com sales@edyngroup.com | 0330 123 3480 Bermonds Locke, Tower Bridge, London.

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Accommodation / Expert insight

SERVICED APARTMENTS

TIME TO COME HOME Serviced apartments tick many boxes in the new world, says Kim Ashmore, ASAP Global Partnerships Manager

stays, making an apartment suddenly more viable for a stopover. The rise of Airbnb-andco opened travellers’ eyes to ‘living like a local’ and serviced apartments started to gain more fans. At the same time, we started responding as a sector to a perceived lack of facilities. Some serviced apartments began partnering with hotels, where an apartment stay came with entry to the hotel restaurant, pool, gym, concierge services. Housekeeping could be arranged. Some apartment providers responded to the lack of human contact through weekly get-togethers for guests, from cocktail evenings to cookery classes, building mini communities - and brand loyalty. And as a trade body, we at ASAP introduced independently-verified accreditation to reassure, in particular, our corporate guests that professional standards and safety are part of the deal. And then came Covid-19. Surveys show that travellers are still wary of mixing with others. Hospitality brands,

KIM ASHMORE Kim Ashmore is Global Partnerships Manager for ASAP, the Association of Serviced Apartment Providers, a not-forproﬁt trade body dedicated to championing the serviced apartment sector.

PHILLIP GOLDSBERRY ON UNSPLASH

raditionally, many corporate travellers were satisfied knowing their branded hotel would deliver its usual amenities: breakfast buffets, restaurants, a laundry bag with a price list, a minibar and room service to pop on expenses. Or, for the more active, a lap around the pool, a circuit in the gym, before dropping the towel on the floor and heading out before the daily housekeeping trolley arrived, knowing they’d come back to a checklist-led re-ordered bedroom. Meanwhile, there we were at ASAP head office, representing the serviced apartments sector, pushing the less-obvious benefits of cooking your own tea, washing and ironing your own shirts, and actually picking up after yourself, not to mention rattling around an apartment on your own without the lounge bar or spa for people-watching. Of course, over time the serviced apartment offering has adapted. Operators have become more flexible over shorter

from the giant hotel chains to individual Airbnb hosts, have rushed to promote their own deep cleaning protocols. At ASAP, we’ve added 'Infection Protection and Control' to our own members’ accreditation. The least buyers and guests should expect is that they’re being kept as safe as possible. And then suddenly some of those previous benefits of hotels - the reception area, the daily knock on the door from housekeeping, the camaraderie of the gym – are exactly the kind of things that travellers are now finding make them uneasy. So this truly is the time for serviced apartments to claim that ‘sweet spot’ somewhere between hotels and the coolness, independence and flexibility of the sharing economy, but with none of the enforced contact - and with the peace of mind that your temporary home has been checked against stringent standards. We are told we should all be constantly aware of our own hygiene, we should work from home where possible, and we should avoid travelling too much or having contact with strangers. So, amid the pandemic, surely now is the time for business travellers and travel buyers to recognise the benefits of serviced apartments; kitchens (usually with dishwashers), laundry facilities, grocery and food deliveries, empty days between stays, extra space for working and living in comfort, contactless check-in, privacy, flexibility, and more.

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Expert Accommodation insight / Expert insight

HOTEL PRICING

NEW RATES OF INTEREST Peter Grover, TRIPBAM Managing Director EMEA, shares his predictions on hotel pricing trends

ne thing I have been asked several times recently by travel managers is “What can we expect rates to do in the near term and into the future?” While I unfortunately possess no crystal ball to give a 100% definitive answer, our recent data does reflect some trends and give some hints as to what we might expect.

Certainly, one trend we are seeing today is that supply is outpacing demand. From an all-time high of 45,000 hotels listed in our global Closed Hotel Report in mid-April to our most recent count of less than 4,000, properties around the world have been reopening their doors. While this is a positive sign for the industry, any increase in corporate travel has certainly not kept

pace. In Europe, the only sectors that appear to be travelling at any notable volume are in or related to healthcare, with some movement from smaller and midsized companies too. This supply and demand imbalance is evidenced in many negotiated static rates now being above the retail rates for those same rooms. Our data is indicating that in the current environment, you can expect a decrease in retail rates by 30% or more. Another indication has been the increasing creativity on behalf of individual properties in a bid to attract what little corporate travel activity is now underway. We’ve had clients - namely major corporations - offered whole floors for their travellers’ exclusive use. We’ve also seen the inclusion of dining vouchers for meals (in addition to breakfast) in hotel restaurants, particularly in the APAC region. To add to the pressure on hoteliers, costly cleaning measures have been necessary to adhere to chain/brand, local government or other industry or association standards. Since cleaning typically happens between stays in the current environment, rather than on a daily basis, this has resulted in

To add to the pressure on hoteliers, costly cleaning measures have been necessary to adhere to chain/ brand, local government or other industry or association standards” C

CMY

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measures such as minimum two-night stays for some properties in the Middle East. While we’ve yet to experience this, it’s not a stretch to imagine the much-maligned resort fees experienced in the U.S. may become a model for “cleaning fees” to offset some of these new costs. In terms of changing behaviours and/or policies when employees do travel, we can imagine the single day or one-night stay being supplanted with longer durations, grouping multiple meetings into a single trip. We’ve already seen this start to emerge with an increase in the average length of stay among TRIPBAM clients, from 2.4 nights in 2019 to 3.4 nights in 2020. A hot

PETER GROVER Peter Grover is Managing Director EMEA for TRIPBAM, the hotel rate auditing, analytics and sourcing provider based in Dallas. TRIPBAM shops across multiple hotels over several days to help companies take advantage of price changes.

MY01-008002-magazine advert.pdf

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topic of discussion has been whether an increased length of stay coupled with cleanliness concerns among corporate travellers will increase demand for extended stay and corporate apartments. If this is the case, hotels that may not have previously viewed these types of accommodation as competition may regard them as such in the future or look to convert some of their inventory to support this increasing demand. In summary, all signs indicate that depressed and volatile hotel rates are here to stay for the foreseeable future. Until a vaccine is delivered around the world, and demand begins to rebalance with supply, travel managers would be well advised to seek lower rates through negotiation and the introduction of dynamic discounts. 11:49

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Accommodation / Expert insight

WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD The pandemic has turned hotel procurement on its head, says Louis Fernandes, MD Northern Europe for HRS

he view from almost any corporate hospitality standpoint is challenging to say the least. There is no model to account for the demand shock witnessed this year. That said, the statement used in politics about not letting a crisis go to waste strongly applies as we look towards the future of hotel procurement. Priorities for buyers have changed dramatically. Hoteliers are making investments in hygiene and guest education that none could have surmised. Negotiating for 2021 is both a challenge and an opportunity our industry has never seen. The biggest change presented by the pandemic is the massive leap to the front of the line for duty of care. Of course, the safety of travellers has always been a priority. Today, however, duty of care has taken on a totally new definition. Buyers have spent the last few months becoming experts in hygiene protocols, distancing and tracking, even as they’ve collaborated across their organisation to recalibrate travel programmes with slashed allocations. Accordingly, hotel RFPs are totally revamped, with safety and hygiene questions dominating. Queries include topics such as guest and meeting room cleaning frequencies, the use of sanitising

The biggest change presented by the pandemic is the massive leap to the front of the line for duty of care” 38

chemicals, contactless check-in and checkout, including virtual pay options, distancing guidelines for public areas like lobbies, elevators, and gyms, and enhancements to food and beverage preparation, individual item options, and so on. The answers to these questions are vital as buyers manage up and down in their companies. C-level executives are keenly focusing on travel expenditures, as most corporations endure lower revenues yet still face competitive pressure to engage with clients and prospects as economies recover. Travellers seek continuing reassurance that the locations they are going to have revised protocols and that going on the road to support corporate objectives will be safe. Some parties have advocated simply carrying over rates as hotels still don’t have enough staff back from furlough. Unfortunately, corporates would be derelict in their duty to not do so. The world has changed, and the industry’s economics have changed with it. For the first time in more than a decade, it’s a

buyer’s market. Buyers have an obligation to explore the latest rates and terms in their key markets, wherever they may be. New bundles that appropriately balance critical hygiene issues with financial considerations are becoming the next normal. It’s hard to justify paying extra for Last Room Availability with occupancy rates down. Companies are reconsidering breakfast as part of the bundle. If they are paying for it, they want safely packaged items. Cancellation flexibility is crucial as the pandemic’s next spike is impossible to predict. Understanding pricing models – where static rates can be secured, where dynamic / hybrid rates make sense – is crucial to maximizing a (likely) smaller accommodation allocation. The good news for buyers in the face of these challenges is that automation and analysis tools have advanced and been refined. These services enable shorter RFP cycles, repeated rate auditing to ensure negotiated savings turn into actualised savings, and transparency that shines a light on hotel partners that work best with corporates to drive mutual programme performance.

LOUIS FERNANDES Louis Fernandes is Managing Director Northern Europe for HRS, the global corporate lodging platform and provider of hotel procurement services for more than one-third of the Fortune 500. He joined HRS in January 2020.

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PROCUREMENT

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Accommodation B A C K

T O

B U S I N E S S

Aparthotels Adagio

Frasers Hospitality

Nika Corporate Housing

Portfolio

We are proud to have 110 aparthotels opened this summer. All UK sites are ready to welcome guests in a safe and warm environment. Your safety is our priority and we have reviewed all of our working methods and welcoming procedures. Social distancing is made easy with a fully-equipped kitchen in all apartments and an enriched offer in our mini markets in the lobby. Ask our sales team for advantageous offers with flexible conditions and details on our sanitary measures.

is a leading global hospitality operator of Gold-standard serviced, hotel residences and boutique lifestyle hotels with more than 140 properties in over 70 cities across UK, Europe, Middle East & Africa, North Asia, Southeast Asia and Australia. A globally-awarded leading hospitality operator, Frasers Hospitality aims to anticipate and exceeds customers’ evolving expectations and lifestyle preferences through continuous innovation and intuitive service to deliver memorable experiences.

As part of the International Serviced Apartments Association, Nika Corporate Housing is implementing new cleaning procedures in between guest stays that are beneficial for the peace of mind for essential industry travellers in temporary housing scenarios, down to the last detail. For example, high-touch items within a furnished apartment, such as the television remote, are not only being sanitized but are being placed in a plastic bag for added peace of mind for our valued guests.

At Portfolio we feel it is now more important than ever to maintain high standards in serviced accommodation. As well as being ISAAP / ASAP accredited, we are also Quality in Tourism assessed, and have received the 'We're Good To Go' stamp of approval from VisitEngland. These all acknowledge that we have followed Covid-19 guidelines, and have had our cleaning and operational processes approved - all measures we have taken to build trust and reassurance with our valued partners and guests.

adagio-city.com adagio.saleseurope@adagio-city.com

frasershospitality.com sales.london@frasershospitality.com

nikacorporatehousing.com salesteam@nikacorporatehousing.com

portfolio-apartments.co.uk info@portfolio-group.co.uk

CAMBRIDGE

Premier Inn

SilverDoor

With over 800 hotels, Premier Inn is the UK’s largest hotel chain. Many of our hotels are close to city centres, major motorways and train stations, so a great choice for your business stays. We’re renowned for our comfort and consistency at great value, and our all-you-can-eat cooked breakfast is back – now plated and served to your table. Our enhanced hygiene promise, Premier Inn CleanProtect, ensures you can stay with confidence every time you book with us.

SilverDoor is very much open for business with staff from our UK, USA, Singapore and India teams providing full support and services to clients and property partners globally. We are seeing a healthy increase in bookings and enquiries, and are confident the serviced apartment sector will flourish in the post-pandemic world. Our Account Managers are on hand, as always, for advice on new or existing bookings, whether this be around safety and hygiene, or to provide guidance for your next trip.

The Apartment Service (TAS)

Your Space Apartments

is the global specialist serviced apartment sourcing and booking agent providing accommodation solutions for business travellers, global mobility assignees and project teams working away from home all over the globe. Responsibly sourced accommodations, selected to offer value, choice, space, home comforts and 24/7 guest care for any length of stay. TAS is ready to help you find your next serviced accommodation globally.

The Smart Hotel Alternative, with luxury apartments in 8 central Cambridge locations. Serviced apartments ensure the comfort and safety of your travellers. With contactless check-in, minimal communal areas, fully-equipped private apartments and stringent cleaning with Electrostatic sprayers and virucidal products, our priority is guest safety, comfort and wellbeing. Stays booked by the night; from 2 nights upwards. ISAAP compliant and quality accredited, Visit England We’re Good To Go certified.

premierinn.com/business corporate.bookings@whitbread.com

silverdoorapartments.com stay@silverdoorapartments.com

apartmentservice.com globalreservations@apartmentservice.com

yourspaceapartments.com info@yourspaceapartments.com

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TMCs

To the

RESCUE

Amid all the new complexities, could TMCs be the ones to help travel buyers ﬁnd their way? Gill Upton investigates

o-one could have imagined the situation the business travel industry finds itself in right now. Travel managers feel organisations are not fully ready to deal with the pandemic, to manage the constantlyevolving needs and expectations of travelling employees, to deal with the mountains of cancelled reservations, processing refunds and, moreover, determine whether it’s safe to travel. These are the findings of a survey by SAP Concur which neatly sums up buyers’ current nightmares. Conversely, they represent a massive opportunity for travel management companies to be the one vital conduit of intelligence and, in turn, give TMCs a potential new source of revenue. TMCs’ initial response revolved around repatriation, but the needs of corporate travellers are changing constantly as the world attempts to return to normal. Countries have been acting separately to protect their citizens, which is throwing up anomalies in quarantine rules, for example. Getting through airports and waiting for baggage sanitising and/or temperature checks will make a nonsense of minimum connection times. 40

Understanding these disparate and fluid rules falls neatly to TMCs. “The positives are that the situation has heightened the need for professional management services,” says Kevin Harrison, MD of Good Travel Management. “We’re seen as experts and businesses are coming to us asking if they can travel to various places. Online bookings have dropped off considerably as they want to speak to us.” Many TMCs don’t have enough staff and are not in a cash positive position to bring them off furlough and build something at point of sale. Clive Wratten, CEO of the BTA, is cognisant that the speed of return is difficult to work out. “The ramp-up has got to be really carefully managed,” he says. “The biggest issue is that travel remains grounded, and that’s what keeps the industry awake at night.” Buyers’ key concern is traveller safety, followed by the advice on the best way to travel. Pop-up Covid-19 travel policies will need to be created and communicated pronto, pre-approval processes tightened up and so on. All of the above is why a TMC’s account management team will be critical to handle the inevitable flood of enquiries and collate all the intelligence.

“Corporate travel programmes have fundamentally changed in role and scope because of Covid-19, which in turn has changed a travel manager's role from being one that focusses on cost and supply to one that focusses on reducing risk,” says Alex Kaluzny, SVP and Chief Product & Technology Officer at Egencia. “The TMCs that recognise this shift and help their customers navigate this change will come out of this pandemic stronger.” Now is the time for TMCs to articulate their status as category expert, either as white glove-style TMCs with the traveller every step of the way or digitally-advanced TMCs prompting the traveller via apps. Either way, their response has varied widely. Altour and Good Travel Management have both designed resource hubs online, BCD provides notifications of entry restrictions through its TripSource traveller platform, Egencia has launched a 30-day ‘look back’ capability and extended security approval capabilities, while most TMCs have created a Covid-19 map to track the hotspots. American Express GBT recently launched an information hub called Travel Vitals. “It allows users to search travel guidelines by destination, airline, airport, hotel, rail or

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TMCs

ground transport operator,” explains Jason Geall, Vice President Northern Europe. It displays travel restrictions for specific locations and identifies Covid-19 hot spots, based on data aggregated from hundreds of sources and updated daily. “For GBT clients, itinerary-specific Travel Vitals information is delivered in digital channels including mobile app, chat and OBTs, as well as via our travel counsellors. This is helping to instil confidence in travellers and their organisations,” he says. Reed & Mackay has delivered numerous product enhancements, including a pretravel risk assessment that is configurable to clients’ needs and completed at the point of booking, a global tracking map specific to Covid-19, information to advise clients at point of sale on the precautions and measures each of the airlines are taking when it comes to Covid-19, and info on whether a property has been accredited with the AHLA Safe Stay standard. “We’ve also been building on our current unused ticket feature, particularly for the U.S. market, to help our clients keep cash in their businesses where it’s possible,” says Julie Oliver, Global MD – Solutions & Operations, at Reed & Mackay.

Caroline Strachan, Managing Partner at Festive Road, believes not one TMC is doing all that they need to be doing. "It’s not just a map with quarantine rules but a range of services, including an enhanced policy tool to accommodate the new rules," she explains. "The players that are digitised and have a foundation in place to update quickly were the first out the door." TripActions has built new features and functionality for the recovery phase, explains Chris Vik, SVP EMEA. These include an enhanced Covid-19 report, deeper policy controls and customisation, real-time data for travellers, automated unused tickets and waivers within the booking flow, a business travel recovery app to assess the safety of planned travel and webinars to log best practice for travel managers. TMCs are also allocating additional staff to handle the more complex checks required pre trip. “Our travel consultants have been more consultative than they’ve ever been,” says Harrison at Good Travel Management. “The journey is not the biggest concern,” adds Wratten. “It’s the actual destination that’s the issue.” Much of the help and advice has been offered free, which is not sustainable. With

income decimated, furloughs ending in November and no big buckets of supplier funds to compensate them, TMCs will need to revise their funding model. “There’s great value attached to what they’re doing and smart buyers are open to a discussion on professional services fees,” says Strachan. Good Travel Management anticipates a retainer fee for the professional advice and lower transaction fees, while Reed & Mackay’s Oliver says some clients want to look at ways to charge for services. “We’re working with them on that,” she says. “It’s not about charging more, it’s about looking at how the client need has changed.” Egencia is testing alternative pricing models such as tiered packaging, bundling and a fixed flat management fee, while BCD Travel is pushing up transaction fees “slightly” to reflect longer call times. The BTA is using the crisis to look at what the TMC commercial model could look like in the future. “It comes down to what people are prepared to pay for,“ says Wratten. Strachan believes the crisis may trigger a wave of RFPs. “The capability requirement of the TMC has changed,” she says. “Who you contracted with two years ago may be a very different TMC to the one you need now.”

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SPEAKING OUT

TMC VALUE

RIPE FOR EVOLUTION The crisis is a chance for TMCs to find a better place in the eco-system, says Festive Road's Paul Tilstone

t the peak of the lockdown in March and April, the value of the TMC was highly visible and much lauded. It always is in times of crisis, and rightly so. TMCs were processing complicated refunds and vouchers, repatriating travellers and doing their best to support a fast changing and increasingly complex landscape. And they did so whilst their revenues fell through the floor and their human resources were placed on furlough. They deserve huge praise.

TMCs have arrived at a place where they often provide value which isn't charged for and charge for services which aren't valued”

But this reminds us that the TMC proposition and business model needs reconsideration. When they are most needed, most valued, their finances don’t always align. And this isn’t just the case during the recent pandemic. As remuneration methods have evolved since the commission cuts of the 1990s, TMCs have arrived at a place where they often provide value which isn’t charged for and charge for services which aren’t valued. Too few have managed to develop a model which simultaneously celebrates their worth, highlights their differentiation, and provides a robust revenue stream. This was illustrated by an exercise we undertook a few years ago where we asked TMCs what makes them different. The vast majority told us “our service, our people and our

technology”, but when everyone says the same things make them different, then of course there is no difference. That isn’t to say it’s true of everyone. We know that some TMCs are already on a path to differentiation and there are some existing cases of alternative financial models. But our new, post-Covid world and the changing requirements of travel managers and travellers will surely accelerate the need for TMC development across the board. Now we’ve started on the return slope, scaling staff at the right pace whilst revenues are returning is going to be a difficult balancing act for TMCs until the technology catches up and online resumes. This will seriously occupy their time. But it's equally as important for them to take this time to reconsider what makes them different and valuable for the long-term and develop a revenue model that ensures they don’t just survive, but thrive. If we look to other sectors we can see that subscription and freemium pricing, the business models du jour pre-Covid, really showed their appeal during the crisis. If you think about what you consumed in March and April, apart from the food and Gin of course, it was probably via a subscription or freemium model. Just think Netflix or Zoom. We should look to these sectors as our TMCs become more digitised and consider what other models might work. There’s no doubt these difficult times will see some TMCs struggle and fade, but those with the will, the skill and the financial position (the bill) to change into something where remuneration is aligned to value will emerge as better partners in the eco-system. You get the sense that this could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to start from a blank sheet of paper, to create something exciting and desired beyond dire times, and yet born out of our biggest crisis to date. #BeyondThePause

PA U L T I L S T O N E Paul Tilstone is Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Festive Road, a consultancy providing insights, strategy and engagement services to corporate travel buyers and suppliers worldwide.

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PRICING TRENDS

Price

POINTS

The pandemic is impacting prices in ways the industry has never seen. We asked ﬁve TMC experts to try to make sense of it all ANTI CI PATE A VO L ATI L E MA R KE T The basic principle of offer and demand remains the same but the pandemic has brought a massive disruption and both have collapsed. The global offering from airlines is around 50% of what it was last year and the vast majority of this is on domestic networks, driven by China and other parts of Asia. Pricing is going to remain volatile. We are advising clients to identify what their travel is likely to be in the next 3-6 months, and to which destinations, and then chose airlines which are a good match and provide them with an estimate. We advise not to run an RFP. It will be a waste of time. Instead embark on very specific renegotiations on the terms agreed in 2020, based on market share and revenue goals. At the same time, anticipate market volatility and consolidation in the aviation sector. Some airlines are partially grounded and could go bankrupt, leading to less competition on specific routes and pushing up prices. Finally, and importantly, consider biosafety. Ask, is this airline safe, is it following the right protocols?

LOOK AT T H E WID ER PIC T URE Previously, forecasting air, hotel and ground transportation pricing was based on five years of GBT data, macroeconomic data and industry metrics specific to cities and routes. This is not currently possible without clarity on supply and demand trends. Now, more than ever, it’s time to think about the wider impact of the travel programme: what are its objectives and how can it support successful outcomes? Often known as a commodity strategy, this has elevated sourcing discussions beyond narrow focus on savings on routes or properties and requires consideration of six foundational tenets:

stay proactively and regularly engaged with your supplier partners; make sure stakeholders (HR, legal, security and so on) understand the reasons for your sourcing strategies and you understand their objectives; communicate and measure the value of your sourcing options; establish a framework to capture and process traveller feedback (how they feel, what they need, how willing they are to travel); monitor the supply landscape which will be volatile for some time; and finally, make sure your sourcing plan is flexible - your strategy may be right for now, but things may look very different in six months’ time. Jim Ranney, Director of Global Business Consulting American Express GBT

Olivier Benoit, Principal and Vice President Air I&A Advito

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PRICING TRENDS

E X PE CT CR E ATI VE VAL U E -A DDS We saw a year-on-year increase of 12% in air fares immediately after the air bridge announcement but traveller confidence was knocked due to the speed at which Spain was removed from the ‘safe’ list and with rising cases across Asia, and now Europe. As a result, we estimate fares are to fall by an average of 15% globally for the remainder of 2020 and early 2021. By the

summer of 2021 we expect them to rise to between minus 10% and plus 10%, depending on the availability of a vaccine, as demand grows with pent-up demand for holidays, plus events and conferences. For hotels, the financial crisis in the autumn of 2008 pretty much halted the hotel real estate market. Once hotel performance bottomed out in late 2009, hotel investors jumped in and by late 2010 and 2011 prices went above prerecession levels. So, I predict hotel rates will drop by 25% in 2020, 15% in 2021, and 5% in 2022 and then a recovery is expected in 2024 with rates up by 2%. Some of these price drops will be masked by hotels in other ways as they try to stimulate demand by delivering value-adds. So we expect to see a mixture of Buy X nights, get Y Free, or hotels offering discounted or free food and beverage, and hotel passes where corporates could buy 30 rooms to be used over a period with a discount applied up front. David Bishop, Commercial Director Gray Dawes Group, a member of Advantage Travel Partnership

TAKE I T M A R KE T B Y MA R KE T After months of on-and-off national and local lockdowns, we have seen some very strange dynamics in the airline pricing market. For short haul trips, it seems demand is very much still there, so pricing apears to be remaining somewhere near to where it was pre-Covid, if not slightly lower. But long-haul is a different story. Flights between the UK and China, in particular, have seen some crazy pricing, with British Airways charging upwards of £4,500 for a non-refundable return premium economy ticket from London to Shanghai, while Air China doesn’t even sell its tickets publicly anymore (although we hear stories of economy tickets to Europe on Air China and other Chinese carriers being sold on the black market for upwards of £7,000). As choices diminish and demand remains high between Europe and China for Chinese returning home, the airlines

are able to inflate prices. We see less price inflation for US flights. There seems to still be quite a large selection of flights, which are all nowhere near capacity, but the transatlantic carriers don’t seem to be changing their pricing. A discounted London-Los Angeles business class ticket is still anywhere from £2,000-£4,000, no matter how full the plane. Looking forward, I think most markets will slowly return to some form of normal pricing structure and capacity, starting from the start of next year as travel restrictions hopefully begin to be lifted. Once we are through this crisis and the major players must begin to start repaying the debt they’ve racked up this year, prices may very well go up in several markets. However, I would assume the most important thing would be getting people back on planes in the short to medium-term before worrying about profit margins.

WATC H OU T F OR THE TIPPING POINT A perfect storm continues to ravage the travel industry and consumer confidence is at an all-time low. Airlines and airports are having to reassess the size of operations in the face of a slow and difficult recovery that could take up to two years to return to pre-Covid-19 traffic levels. This, coupled with low demand, initially saw high fares on popular routes. Now supply is starting to open up and airlines are trying to stimulate demand, fares are stabilising on popular routes and we're seeing extremely low fares on other routes. I see lower airfares continuing in the short and medium term as low fuel prices, excess capacity and weak demand prevail. A tipping point will happen and we will see an upswing in traveller confidence, brought about by a reduction in travel restrictions, a vaccine or when testing is the norm. Then we might see air fares rise. Hotel prices, meanwhile, have varied depending on location and facilities, with rates in some European cities dropping up to 35%. Hotels were swift to reduce operational costs and will further look to reduce distribution costs to negate the new expense of making the hotel experience touchless and safe. Hotels have looked to their local markets and taken advantage of the staycation trend to buffer a dramatic decline in occupancy, which is helping to stabilise prices. Edel Doherty, CEO and Founder of Beyond Business Travel, a Focus Travel Partnership partner

Noah Meyerson, Managing Director of Traveltrust, a member of Advantage Travel Partnership

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Our Safe Travels Pledge We’re committed to making sure you can travel on the West Coast Main Line with confidence.

MAXIMISING SPACE We’re running more trains which means more room for social distancing onboard.

EXTRA CLEANING We’re cleaning more than ever with extra focus on touch points in stations and on trains.

HELPING WITH HYGIENE We’ve put more hand sanitisers in our stations to help you keep your hands clean.

KEEPING YOU UP TO SPEED We’ve added more signage, posters and guidance to keep you informed every step of the way.

Visit avantiwestcoast.co.uk for more information on travelling safely during this period.

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UK RAIL

O FF T R AC K Improvements in Britain’s rail services have been gathering pace but how will investment be sustained after such a sharp drop in passengers, asks Dave Richardson

ear-empty station car parks and forecourts; shuttered shops and catering outlets; closed waiting rooms and customer lounges; almost deserted trains where the few passengers on board eye new arrivals with suspicion, if not fear. Welcome (or otherwise) to rail travel in Covid-19 Britain. This was how it looked in the summer, but how it will look as autumn progresses is anyone’s guess. Government surveys indicated that rail travel had slumped to a mere 4% of the April 2019 figure in April this year, and had not recovered beyond 34% by August. Car traffic, however, was back to 90% of 2019 levels. The mass avoidance of rail travel could be a problem not just for potential passengers and the environment, but a giant headache for taxpayers too. The Department for Transport (DfT) has revealed that the cost of subsidising passenger train operators was £2.279 billion in the 13 weeks from March 1-June 27 (nearly £760 million a month) – and that’s just in England. Add in subsidies paid by the Scottish and Welsh governments and by local authorities responsible for rail travel in their areas and the monthly bill is around £1 billion. The DfT effectively re-nationalised passenger train operators in March, under “Emergency Measures Agreements” due to continue until September 20, but likely to be renewed. Franchise agreements were replaced by management contracts, this being one of the proposals made by the 2019 Williams Report into the rail industry. The report was never published and has largely been overtaken by events, but management contracts are likely to remain the norm.

What passengers want to know is whether this is good for them, or whether train operators will lose interest and the will to invest. Incentives are likely to be built into new agreements, but in the harsh recession now under way the days of major investment in rail could be over while fares will again rise in January. The more immediate concern of rail users is whether it is safe to travel by rail, and how to minimise the risks. Many office workers look set to remain working from home, at least for some of the time, with asset management group Carlyle one company that is telling its staff to avoid public transport when offices reopen in September. Train operators have introduced various cleaning protocols to reassure passengers,

while one-way systems are in operation at major stations and hand sanitiser is widely available. Some operators employ on-board staff to challenge anyone not wearing a face covering, but the biggest reassurance is the sheer amount of space available with so few travelling. When that changes, how safe will passengers feel? The Business Travel Association (BTA) has conducted fam trips for TMC staff on Avanti West Coast and LNER, the two biggest players in business travel. Chief Executive Clive Wratten says: “There has been a real shift from fear of the mode of transport being a risk to what happens at your destination and if trains become crowded again. “The Government has been very supportive of the rail industry, and it wouldn’t be a 

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UK RAIL

good political move not to continue to invest. Rail is very appealing because of the sustainability message.” Fears that the cost of subsidising rail could lead to service cuts in future – trains are back to around 85% of the pre-Covid timetable – are acknowledged by Black Box Partnership, a rail consultant working with TMCs. But the announcement of a £589 million package in July to improve transPennine services is seen as confirmation that railways are a priority. Associate Ground/Rail Services, Nick Bamford, says: “Clearly there is a risk that cutbacks will happen, but not across the board. The Government has said it wants to invest its way out of the financial crisis, but there could be a contradiction between the DfT’s plans and what the Treasury says is affordable. “We don’t see pre-Covid timetables being reintroduced across the board, especially on commuter routes where the downturn in passengers has been very significant. Flexible season tickets are needed.” Bamford says what business travellers want most is reassurance around cleanliness and minimising direct contact during travel, flexibility to change plans at short notice without undue penalty, and reliability of service. Reliability generally has increased with fewer trains running, but some of the flexibility over tickets evident at the start of the crisis has been rolled back. Some operators were still insisting on reserved seats or reserved space on particular trains at the time of writing, although switching to alternative services was rarely a problem. Business travellers are also looking for a simplified fares system and better access to e-ticketing, the latter made all the more

New trains roll out

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We don’t see preCovid timetables being reintroduced across the board, especially on commuter routes where the downturn in passengers has been very significant. Flexible season tickets are needed” 48

important as people try to avoid station ticket machines or ticket offices. The BTA’s Wratten says: “Only about 30% of rail tickets are e-tickets, compared to 100% of air tickets. There are infrastructure issues, but the main problem is that some online booking tools can’t handle e-ticketing by rail. We then need to move on to multimodal e-ticketing with airlines and other ground transport.” Click Travel – one of the biggest rail bookers among TMCs – wants to see e-ticketing become the norm. Head of Sales and Implementation, Vicki Williams, says: “We would love to see this become extended to all routes and fares, and ultimately help to make the traveller experience smooth and completely consistent. We expect the popularity of trains to rise due to their contactless nature in the current pandemic. “We’re also expecting passengers to be looking for incentives and reassurance from train operators and the Government so that they can travel again with confidence, knowing that the new safety measures – including hand sanitiser stations, additional cleaning protocols and plans to avoid overcrowding – are in place.” Will this autumn see a return to confidence in rail, assuming people are confident to book or feel the need to travel at all? “Train operators realise they won’t get back to the passenger levels they had before in the medium term, and that they can’t go back to what they offered previously,” says Black Box’s Nick Bamford. “Old working practices are being questioned and will change for good. But we don’t know what the ‘new normal’ will look like, or how long it will take.”

It's ironic that as several operators introduce new trains to increase capacity and enhance onboard services, there are far fewer passengers to reap the benefits. Northern England is the focus for many improvements, with Northern Rail introducing 101 new electric and diesel trains and TransPennine Express introducing 44 new trains offering business class standards for the first time. The biggest train renewal programme of all is under way at Greater Anglia, operator of the London-Norwich inter-city route, Stansted Express and most local services in the region. New electric or bimodal (electric/diesel) trains represent a total investment of £1.4 billion. The first of South Western's new £1 billion fleet, Arterio, is due to be introduced later this year on the Reading line. As with nearly all new trains, Wi-Fi and charging points for mobiles and laptops come as standard. The East Coast route out of London King’s Cross to the North East and Scotland has new Azuma trains, increasing capacity and bringing modest improvements in journey time. Great Western is benefiting following delayed completion of electrification on the London-Cardiff route, with Hitachi-built bimodal trains now operating all longdistance inter-city services. ScotRail, Merseyrail, Caledonian Sleeper, Hull Trains and West Midlands also have new trains. In total, it is estimated that train operators will bring into service over 1,000 new carriages in 2020 alone, and 8,000 by 2025 – on top of 2,500 already delivered since 2017. The question now is where the passengers will come from to fill these new trains, and enable operators to make a profit.

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[ Most of these operators – except for Grand Central, Heathrow Express and Hull Trains – operate franchises awarded by the Department for Transport. LNER and Northern were put under direct DfT control when the previous franchise holders gave up, and all franchised operators came under direct control in March. Management contracts rather than franchise agreements are likely to be introduced.

Avanti West Coast Owned by: A partnership between FirstGroup and Italian operator Trenitalia. Main routes: London to the West Midlands, North West, North Wales and Scotland; Birmingham to Scotland.

c2c Owned by: Trenitalia, part of the state-owned Italian rail operator. Main routes: London Fenchurch Street to Essex.

Caledonian Sleeper Owned by: Serco. Main routes: Overnight services from London Euston to Scotland.

Chiltern Trains Owned by: Arriva UK Trains, part of state-owned German operator DB. Main routes: London Marylebone to Aylesbury, Oxford and Birmingham.

CrossCountry Owned by: Arriva UK Trains. Main routes: Birmingham to the South West, Bournemouth, Cardiff, Nottingham, Stansted, Manchester, Leeds, the North East and Scotland.

East Midlands Railway Owned by: Abellio, part of Dutch operator NS. Main routes: London St Pancras to Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield; Norwich to Liverpool.

Gatwick Express Owned by: Govia Thameslink Railway, a partnership between Keolis (majority owned by French state-owned operator SNCF) and Go-Ahead Group. Main routes: Part of the Southern franchise, it operates between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport.

Grand Central Owned by: Arriva UK Trains, part of state-owned German operator DB. Main routes: London King’s Cross to Bradford, York and Sunderland, with a new route from London Euston to Milton Keynes, Nuneaton, Preston and Blackpool planned.

UK RAIL: WH O's WHO

]

Greater An glia Owned by: A partnership between Abellio and Japanese rail interests. Main routes: London-Norwich; Stansted Express; regional services throughout East Anglia.

Great Northern Owned by: Govia Thameslink Railway, a partnership between Keolis and Go-Ahead Group. Main routes: London King’s Cross to Peterborough, Cambridge and King’s Lynn.

Great Western Railway Owned by: FirstGroup. Main routes: London Paddington to the West Country, South Wales and Cotswolds; regional services in the South West and Thames Valley.

Heathrow Express Owned by: Heathrow Airport, but operated by Great Western. Main route: London Paddington to Heathrow.

Hull T rains Owned by: FirstGroup. Main route: London King’s Cross to Hull.

London North Eastern Railway (LNER ) Owned by: Department for Transport. Main routes: London King’s Cross to Peterborough, Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness.

London Northwestern Railway Owned by: West Midlands Trains, a partnership between Abellio and Japanese rail interests. Main routes: London to Birmingham and Crewe; Birmingham to Liverpool.

London Overground Owned by: Arriva UK Trains, part of state-owned German operator DB, operating on behalf of Transport for London. Main routes: Local services around London.

Merseyrail Owned by: A partnership between Abellio and Serco. Main routes: Local services around Liverpool.

Northern Owned by: Department for Transport. Main routes: Local and regional services throughout the North.

Scot Rail Owned by: Abellio, operating on behalf of the Scottish Government. Main routes: Most services within Scotland.

Southeastern Owned by: A partnership between Keolis and Go-Ahead Group. Main routes: London to Kent, including highspeed services from St Pancras; local services around South London.

Southern Owned by: Govia Thameslink Railway, a partnership between Keolis and Go-Ahead Group. Main routes: London Victoria and London Bridge to Sussex and Gatwick Airport.

South Western Railway Owned by: A partnership between FirstGroup and Hong Kong rail operator MTR. Main routes: London to the south coast and Exeter; local services around south London.

Stansted Express Owned by: A partnership between Abellio and Japanese rail interests. Part of the Greater Anglia franchise. Only route is from London Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport.

TfL Rail Owned by: Transport for London. Main routes: Services around east London, and from London Paddington to Reading. In addition, it will operate Crossrail (Elizabeth Line), which is due to open next year.

Thamesl ink Owned by: Govia Thameslink Railway, a partnership between Keolis and Go-Ahead Group. Main routes: Bedford to Brighton via Luton Airport, King’s Cross and London Bridge.

TransPennine Express Owned by: FirstGroup. Main routes: Liverpool and Manchester Airport to Yorkshire and the North East; Liverpool and Manchester Airport to Glasgow and Edinburgh; Manchester to Hull and Cleethorpes.

Transport for Wales Rail Owned by: A partnership between Keolis and Amey, operating on behalf of Transport for Wales. Main routes: Most services within Wales, and to Birmingham and Manchester.

West Midlands Railway Owned by: West Midlands Trains, a partnership between Abellio and several Japanese rail interests. Main routes: Local services around Birmingham.

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DEPARTURES

The final word

Time to get back to the office?

fter months of taking over the dining room/ kitchen/spare room/ garden shed, many of you are now venturing back to your workplaces again. We know because we've seen your posts on Twitter. While some of you will be skipping with glee, relieved to get back to some kind of normality, one in five won't be quite as keen. That's if you believe the results of a survey by consultancy firm Korn Ferry. It asked more than 1,000 professionals what they were most looking forward to about going back to the office and 20% said a resounding "nothing". We couldn't quite believe that. What about the office banter, Cup Cake Friday, having Steve in the IT department on hand to fix your PC problems? What about the joy of spending all morning deciding where to go for lunch?

LEARNING THE JETIQUETTE Apparently more of us will be switching to private jets in the pandemic, so for all you novices out there, here are some top tips we found online: 1 Be punctual. Don't think you can turn up late just because it's all yours 2 Get the lingo right. Don’t talk about “taking a jet”. Instead say you’re “arranging to fly" and it's not "take off" it's "wheels up" 3 Travel light. They'll know you're a first timer if you turn up with too many bags 4 You don't have to tip the pilot, but they like it if you do 5 Be cool. Don't take selfies

Which brings us neatly to another 'working-from-home' survey (yes, there have been lots coming into our inbox), this time from Just Eat. Its poll of 1,500 long-suffering homeworkers found 13% have been eating the

When it comes to the wearing of face masks on flights, United Airlines has proudly led the way. It was the first major airline in the U.S. to make its crew wear face coverings, before quickly rolling the requirement out to all passengers, and was also one of the first to get heavy with anyone on board who didn't comply. In fact, it's taking the mask thing so seriously it's even extended the rules to Ursa, its very own bear mascot, who - after a spot of brainstorming by the marketing team - is now called Ursa, the mask-ot. Get it? Genius.

same lunch every day during the lockdown, while 13% have been skipping it all together because nothing has taken their fancy. Worse still, 17% have resorted to jam on toast, and 6% have been eating cold beans from a can.

No such thing as a free...

ace to face meetings will always be, of course, the best way to seal a deal. That's why we were pleased to see a generous offer from Frontier Airlines, the U.S. lowcost airline, of free round-trip flights for small businesses to help them get their travelling executives back in the air. Well, when we say free, they were nearly free. Businesses still had to pay the fees, and the charges, and tickets were only available on certain days of the week, and there were some black-out dates, actually quite a few. Oh, and you had to buy tickets seven days in advance, but apart from that.

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