Upgrade Magazine - Issue 6 by Flight Centre

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ISSUE 6 FCM TRAVEL SOLUTIONS UK

Elevating business travel intelligence

Channelling the right travel content

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Welcome

Issue 6

he phrase ‘content is king’, coined by Bill Gates over 20 years ago, couldn’t be more appropriate in today’s dynamic world of business travel management.

technology in place to enable us to service all this content via one platform. However, we have made great progress on our NDC roadmap since Nicola Ping joined us from British Airways earlier this year as Manager of Air Content & Distribution. I’m sure you will enjoy our interview with Nicola on page 19. FCM can also give our clients access to an unrivalled range of content via our virtual gateway. Read more about the FCM Marketplace in FCM News on page 16. Wellbeing is a hot topic in the industry today and high on corporate agendas and so we have included a feature on how travel policy can help avoid traveller stress (page 6), as

Corporates tell us they want the richest choice of travel content and price parity through one source, as this correlates directly to traveller satisfaction, compliance, cost savings and duty of care. But NDC, private channels and new entrants are disrupting the distribution landscape. Our lead feature in this issue of Upgrade (page 4) examines ways in which corporates can access the right content and address the challenges of managing their travel programme amidst this disruption. Content is also king for us as a TMC, and one challenge we face is that the GDS providers, and airlines, don’t yet have the

Contents

well as ways in which you can incorporate CSR activities into an event for your staff or delegates (page 26). I hope you enjoy reading this issue of Upgrade and as always we welcome your feedback.

G raham Ross UK General Manager, FCM Travel Solutions

13 Sao Paulo Sao Paulo is the commercial hub not just of Brazil, but of Latin America – here are FCM’s tips for visiting the city

4 Get with the programme Procuring travel content in today’s dynamic distribution landscape

FCM News

22 Livin’ the dream How do we sharpen the blurred lines around ‘bleisure’?

First world hotels find secondary cities Top hotel chains head outside the capital to meet growing demands

EDITORIAL COMMISSIONING EDITOR Betty Low CONTRIBUTORS Catherine Chetwynd, Mark Frary FCM EDITORIAL ADVISER Vanessa Aves ADVERTISING ADVERTISING SALES Sue Robinson DESIGN PRODUCTION & MANAGEMENT WonDesigns, Caren Johnstone LEAD DESIGNER & ILLUSTRATOR André Albuquerque PUBLISHING MANAGER Rebecca Talbot PRINTING REDBOX Group Ed Cooling ©FCMUPGRADE 2019 Images sourced from suppliers, FCM Travel Solutions, and stock photography

10 Frictionless travel Safety and efficiency top traveller priorities

A socially responsible turn of events Building CSR into your next corporate event

New business enquiries salesuk@fcmtravel.co.uk Editorial and advertising enquiries enquiries@fcmupgrade.com FCMUPGRADE.COM

TRAVEL MANAGERS PROGRAMMES

Get with the programme The changing distribution landscape makes managing travel procurement far more complex and challenging for corporates these days…

81% of travel managers have a mandate in place requiring staff to book travel through company tools and platforms but 5% of those admitted adoption is currently lower than 10%. ACTE (Association of Corporate Travel Executives) report, ‘Booking Tools and Technologies: One Size Does Not Fit All’. June 2019

oday’s corporates want rich content through one source, as it correlates directly with effective business travel management. It delivers personalisation, traveller satisfaction, friction-less travel, compliance and therefore ultimately, cost savings from preferred suppliers. If travellers also comply with the in-policy booking channel then the corporate benefits from detailed traveller tracking satisfies duty of care and can influence future supplier negotiations. Happy travellers are generally compliant travellers, so delivering that rich content is vital; but it's challenging in today’s dynamic distribution landscape. Some suppliers, for example, do not offer price or content parity across multiple booking channels, while disruptors tempt travellers away from the in-policy booking channel, sometimes because in-policy content isn’t available.

Issue 6

THE IMPACT OF ONLINE TRAVEL AGENCIES In particular, online travel agencies (OTAs) have had a major impact on the marketplace, luring travellers away from in-policy booking channels and it’s easy to see why. Since their market entry some 20 years ago, they’ve offered more convenience, selection, fewer touch points and better prices – on the face of it, at least. However, OTAs are not authorised booking channels and cause significant leakage, loss of savings and concerns over traveller safety. An OTA hotel rate is not comparable to a TMC negotiated rate for example, as the latter often includes an array of corporate-friendly benefits such as a room guarantee, room upgrade, F&B vouchers and maybe even loyalty scheme points. A TMC rate is also more likely to be refundable, which an OTA rate is usually not. Some 39% of travel managers surveyed by ACTE said travellers think they can

“

Gone are the days of just negotiated hotel rates. Corporates need more flexibility outside the key chains”

booking channels they must do the right deals with the right suppliers. Is there a mix of boutique hotels alongside corporate hotels? Does the programme include apartments for re-locating staff or staff on long-term contracts?

safe. While TMCs strive to offer full content, there is a strong argument that curated content will sit better with today’s traveller than unlimited access to multiple suppliers, as personalisation is what travellers want.

“A lot more customers want a more varied approach to their hotel programmes. Gone are the days of just negotiated rates. They need more flexibility outside the key chains,” says Rachael Deede, FCM’s Director Product & Marketing for Asia.

What’s key is not to strike deals with everybody but just those that will be effective. The deal might make perfect commercial sense, particularly if an airline has offered vastly reduced fares and no targets, but if travellers are not going to use that airline then the deal will be ineffective.

It’s a conundrum for the corporate who wants all content in one place. A report from ACTE (Booking Tools and Technologies: One Size Does Not Fit All) this summer summed up that 80% of travel managers said consolidating all channels into one platform is important. TMCs can aggregate these multiple booking channels via third-party APIs regardless of source or user to deliver the widest range of omni-channel content. For it to work seamlessly, booking technology has to be open source and connectable with other technologies to aggregate new disruptors. Worryingly, some four out of five (80%) travel managers surveyed by GBTA/ SAP Concur do not use technology to capture bookings made outside of their programme.

Data capture of all bookings is key - and the good news is that today’s booking tools aggregate OTA content so travellers can benchmark with an OTA rate.

THE RAMIFICATIONS OF BOOKING OUTSIDE IN-POLICY CHANNELS FCM’s Scott Reddie, Global Director of Account Management, says: “Booking outside of corporate channels takes away one of the key things driving management of spend – visibility. We flirted with open booking and trying to loop back into cost tracking via expense systems, but that left too big of a support gap when things don’t go according to plan. Who likes sitting on hold for hours to get through to a lowcost airline?”

DOING THE RIGHT DEALS TO IMPROVE COMPLIANCE If corporates wish to keep their travellers away from non-compliant

Business travel management has become more complex, and the role of the travel management company vital to simplify, add value and keep travellers

get a better deal and save money outside of their programme. Yet 56% of travel managers are apprehensive about employees booking outside of policy, and 55% recognise that the company may be missing out on opportunities to save money. Moreover, less than half of respondents in a GBTA/SAP Concur survey say they do not capture traveller data if they book outside of corporate channels. “This lack of visibility has critical implications for both travel spend and duty of care,” says the report.

“

THE NEED TO CREATE THE LEISURE BOOKING EXPERIENCE The next hurdle is replicating the leisure booking experience. Apps can offer updates on gate changes, flight delays and the like, helping business travellers run their work lives just as seamlessly as their personal lives. The key is to reduce trip friction and enable self-service across multiple devices. The crucial piece of technology in the booking process is the online booking tool, which usually accounts for the bulk of bookings. “The booking experience needs to be highly flexible and should look and feel like it does when they book personal travel,” said Fitzgerald Draper, director of research at ACTE. Travel manager respondents in the GBTA/SAP Concur report revealed they are “excited about different booking innovations, such as a more consumer-friendly booking experience, personalised booking and live online chat.”

Booking outside of corporate channels takes away one of the key things driving management of spend – visibility”

Confirming a booking with a minimum number of strokes is key. Visual guilt can also be used to advantage, with timed messages appearing on the screen at key stages of the booking process as reminders to do the right thing. Moreover, the OBT can show hotels and airlines that are in policy, by using rate caps for example. According to ACTE, 90% of those surveyed agreed that optimising their online booking tool platform for company policy and preferred options was moderately or extremely important. FCMUPGRADE.COM

TRAVEL PROGRAMMES THE RIGHT TYPE OF TRAVEL POLICY IS KEY The travel policy can also help in this regard, by being written in favour of the traveller/user experience rather than applying mandation. The fact that almost two out of five hotel bookings are made outside of corporate channels, whether a travel programme is managed by a strictly mandated policy or more flexible policy guidelines, means that something must change. Today, a travel policy is a tool being used increasingly to improve staff

80%

retention and traveller wellbeing. Nonetheless, a travel policy must detail preferred suppliers, booking horizons, rate caps for cities and the like, and be policed so that exception reports, for example, are acted upon. The skills required to manage a business travel programme today are far more diverse, and the role of the travel manager has evolved to meet these new challenges. Compared to five years ago, the average travel manager now spends far more time on a variety of different functions, namely data/ analysis reporting (66%), evaluating or implementing new technology (66%) and traveller safety/ duty of care (60%) according to the GBTA/ SAP Concur report, ‘Lost in translation: Changing Landscape, Familiar Challenges’.

Four out of five (80%) travel managers do not use technology to capture bookings made outside of their programme.

GBTA/SAP Concur report, ‘Lost in translation: Changing Landscape, Familiar Challenges. August 2018.

39% of travel managers surveyed said travellers think they can get a better deal and save money elsewhere.

55%

56%

believe the company may be missing out on opportunities to save money.

of travel managers are apprehensive about employees booking outside of policy.

ACTE (Association of Corporate Travel Executives) report, ‘Booking Tools and Technologies: One Size Does Not Fit All’. June 2019

Issue 5

A DOUBLE WHAMMY FOR CORPORATES AI AND NDC Change is definitely the new norm. Artificial intelligence is the next big leap into the unknown, so corporates must grasp the opportunities change brings with both hands to simplify the increasing complexity and ameliorate any knock-on cost. The spectre of New Distribution Capability (NDC) is already adding a further layer of complexity. This XML-based data transmission standard developed by IATA allows airlines to not only distribute content in real-time but more of it,

with an emphasis on their lucrative ancillaries. According to the annual IdealWorksCompany report, the top 10 airlines generated US$35.2billion from ancillary revenue in 2018. Airlines want to unbundle fares and package them up in different ways, by adding a seat, a bag, a meal, or departure lounge access. NDC will force a review of travel policy as corporates will have to detail which ancillaries are in policy. Will they allow travellers to book wi-fi, a meal or a different seat, for example, in this new world of unbundled airfares? TMCs recognise the merchandising benefits NDC can bring as it will allow them to tailor airline products to each specific client, negotiating value adds and delivering a better and more personalised overall experience. Once NDC reaches an acceptable scale IATA has phase two of NDC to unveil: ONEOrder, a far bigger change than NDC. ONEOrder will consolidate different elements into a more manageable single entity – and one customer number - and ultimately hotels and car rental bookings could come under its wing. This will make problem-solving for agents and passengers much easier. The PNR will be eradicated in the long term. It’s an exciting, ever-changing world for today’s travel manager, as long as they are proactive and use continuous sourcing as the new business model. As the adage goes, snooze and you lose. 

Read the full report online: https://www.fcmtravel.com/en-uk/ resources/white-papers/businesstravel-procurement

JOURNEY TO

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TRAVEL MANAGERS

Livin’ the dream Seeing lots of places without having to pay the fare? Sounds great for travellers, but how about the travel manager . . .

here’s no question that the long overdue recognition of the importance of traveller welfare has been a good move for both travellers and companies – after all, happy travellers are more productive and their trips tend to produce better outcomes. Today’s demanding work schedules mean that more and more business travellers want to reduce stress and improve their life-work balance by adding a leisure stay to a business trip. This trend, which has been christened ‘bleisure’, sounds like a winwin, doesn’t it? Employees gets costeffective breaks, employers get happier and more productive employees. But like all good ideas, it also needs a plan.

Issue 6

“

THE TRAVEL MANAGER

Travellers need to be clear on what is and isn’t covered”

Jo Lloyd, a partner at Nina & Pinta, said: “A business trip with bleisure needs to be managed within travel policy. For me the key point is not what is the right or wrong policy to follow. The key thing is clarity. Travellers need to be clear on what is and isn’t covered.”

THE ORGANISATION

Clarity suggests that a travel policy review might be needed - and that means identifying the relevant internal stakeholders. This will vary from organisation to organisation; someone might own travel but others might own risk and people. HR and insurance should certainly be represented, but sometimes the person responsible for insurance is actually in the finance team.

As with everything with work in general, and travel management in particular, so much comes down to company culture. Some companies actually have strict policies preventing an extension to a business stay, but most are more relaxed. According to consultant Jo Lloyd, “There’s not one way to do this. The whole approach has to be a reflection of the organisation you’re in.” However, there will be some universal specifics that need addressing.

Once the travel manager has identified the stakeholders, they need to get them together to agree a ‘bleisure’ policy.

THE POLICY Every organisation will do it differently but there are some common issues to consider when creating the bleisure guidelines within a travel policy: 1. Process It is essential to work out a methodology for defining how the line between business travel time and leisure time is determined. Consider whether this should be incorporated into the request to travel. 2. Insurance Corporate insurance policies differ and whether or not the traveller is covered when the business element of the trip ends will come down to individual policies. Travellers need to be made aware not only of whether they are covered on the leisure segment but for what – people in sober business suits on Friday have been known to abseil and parachute or Saturday. Are all activities covered or does the employee need their own personal travel insurance? 3. Duty of care and risk management Travel disruption can happen at any time, anywhere. If an incident happens during the leisure segment of the trip, has their location been tracked to ensure they are safe? 4. Forms of payment and data The best hotel for total business costs

31%

of business travellers expect their organisation to be responsible for traveller safety on added leisure days

and productivity might be near to the destination while for leisure travel a buzzier part of the city where the bars and restaurants predominate might be preferable. If a traveller moves to different accommodation after the business trip, there will automatically be clarity around the payment and data elements. However, there are business destinations (think Milan, Barcelona, Edinburgh) where travellers might want to extend their stay in the same property. If so, will the hotel let them keep the room at the corporate rate? That corporate rate, however, might be higher than the weekend rate as many hotels in business districts offer low rates at the weekend to fill the rooms that are in less demand at these times. What happens about cost, payment and data? Does the traveller settle the bill on their individual corporate card on Friday, then start a new bill to be cleared with their personal card on Sunday? If it is one bill and the traveller pays on one card, with the aim of being reimbursed only for the business element, what happens about collecting the right data? The process the company expects the traveller to follow must be made explicit. 5. Cost Responsibility for the division of the costs needs to be spelled out so that both employer and employee are clear as to what expenses are reimbursable and which are not. For example, is the return to the airport for the flight home covered by the business (they would have had to pay anyway) or does it become the responsibility of the traveller once the trip becomes a leisure break? “The general rule of thumb is that a trip with bleisure shouldn’t cost

56%

of business travellers extended their business trips into personal or leisure time in the past year

The suppliers respond Hilton’s new Signia brand has what every bleisure traveller might want from their business or conference hotel. Features include design-led public spaces such as the lobbies which can double as a “social destination”, “destination bar” and “signature restaurant”. The rooms are high-tech, not only in having digital key access and temperature control, but sleek connectivity including personal device streaming. The brand was launched this year in Orlando, Indianapolis and Atlanta, with more expansion planned. The brand has clearly been developed with the meeting business in mind – all will have a minimum of 500 rooms and premium meeting space – but there are also wellness facilities. The objective is surely also to tempt that business traveller/conference delegate into extending their stay.

the company any more than a trip without,” says Jo. However, rules need to be agreed by stakeholders and incorporated into travel policy. THE COMMUNICATION The key to success, explains Jo Lloyd, is clarity and making sure people understand what’s expected of them. Organisations must let their travellers know what their stance is and what the employer expects of the traveller and what the traveller can expect from the employer. 

40%

of bleisure travellers reported that they encountered issues during these added leisure days and that their company helped resolve the problems

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TRAVELLERS

Under pressure Do your travellers know if they’re coming or going?

he GBTA’s 'Frictionless Travel' report has a subheading worth reading: “For companies around the world, enhancing the travel experience for employees instead of cutting corners on cost promotes workplace satisfaction, organisational loyalty and operational efficiencies.” In other words, if you reduce travel stress you not only improve employee welfare, but you increase the corporate travel programme’s ROI. A no-brainer really. Accepting that this is a good idea is not the same as implementation. That requires identifying, measuring and analysing the problem and then coming up with a strategy for a solution.

passenger ratio, on long-haul flights will be more stressful than flying in premium. 2. Transfers Airport transfers have costs beyond the fare. In some frequently visited business cities – London, Stockholm, Amsterdam, to name a few – there are accessible, efficient and frequent rail services to link an airport with the centre of a business destination. But travellers arriving late at night at a destination with an unfamiliar language and without that kind of service can find this aspect quite daunting. Pre-arranged airport transfers can reduce stress. 3. Hotels

How well equipped and comfortable a hotel room is may be an obvious stress factor, but many forget that business travel accommodation which is located near the ultimate trip/meeting destination reduces not only total trip cost, but the time spent travelling and therefore stress for the traveller. 4. Individual travel profiles As well as reviewing overall travel programme content choices, managers need to monitor the business travel profiles and special needs of their individual executives. The volume and profile of trips can vary hugely among travellers. It’s one-thing to be in an unpleasant hotel for one night; it’s quite another if that is the case for 90 nights a year. Stress levels are affected by the total number of trips or miles travelled and time away from home.

WHAT CAUSES TRAVELLERS STRESS?

The study found that hotels were the most significant factor affecting travellers’ experience.

The report surveyed travellers from different regions and found that in EMEA the two most difficult aspects of business travel are time spent in transit (cited by 62%) and layovers (47%).

Safety and efficiency are travellers’ top priorities

These factors are also implicit in the specific points which FCM addresses with its Stress Watch Reports. FCM knows travel can be stressful in several ways: 1. Flights All flights are not created equal. Direct flights will cause less stress than those with changes. Domestic trips are less stressful than international travel for reasons of length and simplicity (no need to remember foreign currency, passport, etc). And flying in economy class, with its narrower seats, smaller seat pitch and higher cabin crew to 10

62%

54%

40%

CONVENIENT, COMFORTABLE HOTELS

NON-STOP FLIGHTS

BOOKING FLEXIBILITY

Source: GBTA, Creating a Frictionless Travel Experience, 2017

Issue 6

HOW TO ADDRESS

2. Travel department processes

1. Travel policy The GBTA begins its report with almost a trite observation: “While travel programmes that rely on cost-saving tactics (like negotiated air, hotel, car and rail rates) can deliver significant ROI, the benefits of a traveller-centric programme that boosts employee wellbeing and job satisfaction can often outweigh the savings of a cost-centric programme.” Once the sources of travel stress overall are identified, the travel manager can assess the financial cost of any adjustment in policy – for example, by reducing the threshold at which travellers are eligible to travel in a premium cabin from 10 hours to 8 – against the benefit. If a corporate does not have access to an automatic reporting system such as FCM’s, its internal stakeholders should agree which factors to measure and a scoring system to assess the cost – to both the traveller and the company – against the possible benefit of any amendment. In addition to class of travel, some examples to consider might be rail versus air and whether the method of choosing a hotel is preferred supplier or rate ceiling.

FCM TRAVELLER STRESS WATCH REPORTS Reporting is what all travel management companies do. FCM’s reporting tool Client Bank can cut and slice data to benchmark not only fares but the average stress of its travellers. It looks at the following factors: 1. Number of segments flown in economy 2. Number of miles flown

3. Days away 4. Nights away 5. International vs domestic travel

The tool will analyse all the bookings in the reporting period by these factors to benchmark the organisation’s stress score versus the average for a similar organisation. If travel stress is indicated, the manager can identify which factor is contributing and recommend changes in policy or behaviour to reduce it. For example, if too many hours are spent travelling on longhaul flights in economy class, the manager might recommend that policy be adjusted so that travellers are eligible to fly in a premium cabin on shorter long-haul flights.

Technology can improve the traveller experience. The pre-trip approval, booking and expense-reporting, reimbursement and traveller support processes can all affect traveller stress as much as the journeys themselves.

European travellers’ experience would be enhanced by these technological amenities:

49%

28%

Automated travel destinations info

Customised traveller profiles

Is the booking tool user friendly? Does the traveller have to do full research every time to find suitable options or does the system automatically recognise repeat journeys and suggests a repeat flight/ hotel/car rental? A pre-trip approval process which results in requests lingering in an inbox for days before travellers receive authorisation can create uncertainty. And a manual expense claim system can take up valuable family time.

“

37%

28%

Itinerary apps

Mobile expense reports

35%

18%

Mobile payment capabilities

Travel policy live chat

33%

13%

Safety-tracking apps

Wearables

Source: GBTA, Creating a Frictionless Travel Experience, 2017

The benefits of a traveller-centric programme that boosts well being and job satisfaction often outweigh the savings of a cost-centric programme”

The importance – and communication – of support cannot be over-estimated. Whether it’s 24-hour helplines or an online tool that allow travellers to rebook their own flights or support in case of disruption, travellers should know how to access help at any time. The GBTA survey also found that the ability for travellers to get the right information easily was highly valued.

CONCLUSION In late 2018, Amadeus invited business travellers and travel managers from medium to large companies to take a survey about traveller well being. Nearly 900 travellers and 96 travel managers from around the globe responded. Most companies gave medium to high attention to this topic. However, when asked whether their organisation takes active steps to improve it, only 39% of travel managers answered yes, while 22% were not even sure. The survey “showed that when travel managers made suggestions to improve travellers’ wellbeing, these were generally accepted in 33% of the cases, sometimes in 40% of the cases.” Travel managers can have a real impact. But a process for evaluating the number, length and extent of individual trips is essential if individual ‘at risk’ travellers are to be identified before any damage or stress sets in.  FCMUPGRADE.COM

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DESTINATION

DOING BUSINESS IN

São Paulo

ão Paulo is the commercial hub not just of Brazil, but of Latin America. If it were a country its GDP would rank it as one of the largest in the world.

The ex-Portuguese colony’s huge coffee export income has enabled it to grow into a wealthy industrial city, and now it's following the global trend into services. International law, consulting and financial services are all strongly represented, too. GETTING THERE

There are very few non-stop flights between the UK/Ireland and São Paulo. Oneworld partners Latam and British Airways both have a daily flight from Heathrow. A connecting flight will be required if any other carrier or UK or Irish airport is used, although Virgin Atlantic has announced that it will start a Brazilian route in 2020. However, no start date has been given. The centre of São Paulo is about 15 miles southwest of Guarulhos (GRU – the international airport), so a taxi or airport transfer should be organised. STAYING THERE Traffic in São Paulo is so heavy that

taxis can sometimes take an hour, so it’s vital for the hotel to be close to the intended meeting. First impressions are important in Brazil and businesspeople are judged not just by their dress but by their accommodation. Business hotels are plentiful around Avenida Paulista and in the districts of Jardins and Itaim Bibi, which are also home to some of the city’s finest restaurants. Located in downtown Brooklin, São Paulo’s new commercial district, the Grand Hyatt São Paulo is close to Itaim Bibi and Congonhas (the domestic airport) and has panoramic city views and two international restaurants. The Hilton São Paulo Morumbi is situated inside the CENU Complex, close to Berrini Avenue, WTC Convention Center and Berrini rail station. The city’s skyline can be admired from most of the guestrooms and there are stunning views of the Ponte Estaiada suspension bridge from the top floor’s swimming pool and fitness centre. Hotel Emiliano, a boutique hotel on Rua Oscar Freire, one of São Paulo’s most

stylish streets, has many sophisticated features. These include a fully-equipped spa, a vertical garden, a champagne bar and even a rooftop helipad. The Renaissance São Paulo, also close to a metro and Avenida Paulista and Rua Oscar Freire, has the bonus of two better-than-hotel-average restaurants: Terraço Jardins features Brazilian cuisine with local ingredients from small producers, or Living Lounge Bar & Sushi for Japanese food. EATING São Paulo is a huge melting pot. With many of its population having Italian or Japanese roots, there are many Italian and Japanese restaurants. Latin America has also become something of a foodie heaven and São Paulo has many creative chefs and restaurants eager to showcase local products. The Jardins restaurant D.O.M. has two Michelin stars and has been a stalwart on the world’s ‘bests’ lists. It’s famous for rock star chef Alex Atela (literally, as he is an ex-DJ) and a multicourse tasting menu with Amazonian ingredients, including ants and Brazilian seafood such as Santa Catarina oysters. FCMUPGRADE.COM

DESTINATION Mani’s head chef, Helena Rizzo, and her contemporary Brazilian-European fusion dishes are regulars on Netflix’s The Final Table. Her tasting menu can be sampled in this former residence in Jardin’s leafy Jardim Paulistano neighbourhood. Carnivores who don’t want to linger over a Michelin-starred meal but find themselves in Republica should visit A Casa do Porco, a bar which, as its name suggests, is a temple to imaginative, not-breaking-the-expense-account creations from bacon, sausage and ham. DRINKING Close to the Avenida Paulista, inside the Maksoud Plaza, is the very cool and classy Frank Bar. It was created as a homage to Frank Sinatra but the cocktails, both the classics and some imaginative modern inventions, are the star of the show. Whether to describe its shape as a watermelon or an old ship is debatable - but the luxurious Hotel Unique’s rooftop Skye Bar is the place to sip a wasabi martini and share stunning views of the city. The Riviera Bar is for those who want to sip their caipirinhas somewhere with history. This home to musicians and left-wing intellectuals, particularly during Brazil’s military dictatorship throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s, on Avenida Paulista and Rua da Consolação, reopened a few years ago as a much larger – and smarter – bar with superb cocktails. And if you’re a footie fan, try São Cristovado in Vila Madalena, a temple to Brazilian football.

INSIDER’S TIP Valquiria Mendes, National Account Manager, FCM Brazil “If you stay in the central area the metro is an efficient way to get around São Paulo. But if you stay further away from the centre, definitely use a taxi or Uber - be aware that it is a city of intense traffic; it is always good to allow extra time and set off an hour in advance, because you never know what to expect. “There are a lot of good bars and restaurants for business lunches, and for fun too. São Paulo is a 24-hour a day, 7 days a week city – there’s always something to do, some place to go.”

Issue 6

GETTING AROUND Traffic is heavy in the city, so by day the best way to get around São Paulo is on foot or via metro. At night, taxis or Ubers are the better option. The São Paulo metro operates six color-coded lines that are also numbered. The routes typically move north and south, and east and west. The metro runs from 4.40am to midnight Sunday through Friday and to 1am on Saturday. You can buy a bilhete unitário (single ride) or a reloadable bilhete único card which can be topped up as necessary at metro station kiosks. BUSINESS CUSTOMS ff UK Foreign Office advice is to be wary of theft or pickpocketing around Avenida Paulista and the historical downtown area. It also warns that the red light districts located on Rua Augusta (north of Avenida Paulista), Catedral da Sé, Praça da República and the Estacao de Luz metro “can be especially dangerous”. ff Brazilians negotiate with people not companies - so first impressions and personal relationships are important. Men shake hands and women are kissed on both cheeks. ff Efforts to speak Portuguese are appreciated. When first introduced, it is polite to say "muito prazer" (my pleasure). Expressions such as como "vai and tudo" bem are used to say hello once you know someone. ff Business starts at 9am but many business meetings are held over a coffee in a coffee shop or restaurant. Decisions are rarely made after one meeting. ff Good conversation topics are football and family. ff The city’s trademark is heavy traffic, so punctuality is relaxed and being late by up to 15 minutes is acceptable.

TIME OFF

If you have any time off, just walk around the city. São Paulo’s amazing architectural history includes iconic buildings from its neo-Gothic cathedral to skyscrapers like the 1929 Martinelli and Oscar Niemeyer’s curvy Edifício Copan. The colonial-style Pátio do Colégio church marks where Jesuit priests founded the city in 1554. As well as being South America’s largest urban park, Ibirapuera Park is also home to several museums including the Museum of Modern Art. 

DESTINATION CHARITY

Front of Mind FRONT OF MIND FCM staff played a big part in helping Flight Centre Foundation raise £200k for Mind, the company’s UK chosen charity for the last two years. Each year employees select a charity to support company-wide through a nomination and voting process. Mind was chosen for 2017/18 and again the following year. FCM staff across the country have undertaken countless fundraising activities from running marathons, climbing mountains, sky dives and 100km walks, to officebased Halloween bake sales, World Cub sweepstakes, Easter Egg Hunts and Christmas jumper days. “One in four people in the UK will experience a mental health problem every year. By working with Mind for the last two years we have helped this life-changing charity ensure no one has to face a mental health problem alone,” commented Emily West, Flight Centre Foundation UK. “Our fundraising supported their national helpline, which offers a lifeline to those in desperate need, as well as mental health projects across the UK.” FCM staff are now looking forward to supporting Age UK, the chosen charity for 2019/2020 (see FCM News on page 16)

when the bell rings on Friday, many of these children go hungry until school resumes on Monday morning.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT Flight Centre’s recent Global Gathering in Las Vegas was the scene of an extraordinary effort by staff to support local organisation Three Square’s “BackPack for Kids” initiative. As an affiliate of Feed America, Three Square is Southern Nevada’s only food bank providing assistance to the residents of Lincoln, Nye, Esmeralda and Clark Counties. Three Square’s mission is to provide wholesome food to hungry people, while pursuing a hunger-free community. This includes thousands of children who are eligible for free and reduced-price meals at school, but

Three Square’s “BackPacks for Kids” programme provides a lifeline for these hungry children by supplying a bag ofshelf-stable, ready-to-eat meals to help bridge weekend and summer break gaps. Each bag contains items like granola bars, crackers, pudding, cereal, shelf-stable milk, cartons of juice and main meals. Around 1,000 FCM and Flight Centre staff volunteered to pack 3,000 bags in under one hour. 

KITCHEN WILL SOON BE COOKING The new kitchen is taking shape at the Qhoboheane Primary School in Soweto, Johannesburg, part of FCM and parent company Flight Centre’s “Adopt a School” initiative. After a few challenges with the foundations at the original kitchen site, the structure is built. Once engineers have given the green light, a stove will be fitted. The much-needed new kitchen will replace the current facilities of a stove and sink in a shipping container, where lunch is prepared for almost 500 pupils a day – for some it’s their only meal. Soon the pink container will be a distant memory and the children will have meals cooked in a fully functioning, swish-looking kitchen.

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NEWS

TOP STORY

FCM launches MarketPlace travel content gateway FCM Travel Solutions has created MarketPlace, a virtual gateway to the TMC’s extensive proprietary and speciallynegotiated air fares, hotel rates, car rental and rail booking options. The move underpins FCM’s approach to giving customers access to the widest choice of business travel content via multi-channel online and offline sources from across its global network. A key driver within MarketPlace is FCM’s team of over 500 global travel procurement specialists, one of the largest content teams in the travel industry. Each team member is responsible for a specific sector of supplier relations, from air and hotel to rail and ground transport and has at least 10 years’ experience in supplier negotiations. “Travel content is vast and covers a huge array of choice which can be confusing for the corporate customer,” explains Mick Heitzinger, Product Director, FCM EMEA “Travel buyers are frequently concerned about whether they are getting the best value, the widest choice of air content, hotel rates, and so on, in order to achieve cost-savings and ROI on their travel programme. “Not only does MarketPlace give our customers access to FCM’s exclusive and vast range of global content all in one place, it also embraces disrupters and new entrants to the

distribution landscape to ensure our customers have full availability and visibility. Our core purpose with Marketplace is to provide our customers with the widest travel content in a way that no other TMC can, so that they benefit from unparalleled choice and savings,” said Heitzinger.

FCM EXPANDS IN FRANCE AND SWITZERLAND

Solenn Le Brazidec has been appointed FCM President for France and Switzerland

FCM has strengthened its European footprint with the announcement that parent company Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) has taken 100% ownership of 3Mundi, FCM’s partner in France and Switzerland. In July 2017, FCTG made an initial 25% investment in 3Mundi, which has been a licensee partner of FCM since 2015. On 30 June 2019, FCTG

acquired the remaining 75% of 3Mundi’s business. 3Mundi was established in 2006 as a progressive agency combining highperforming technology and human talent to optimise business travel services. Thanks to its innovative business model, 3Mundi has grown rapidly over the last six years achieving growth of over 35% per

FCM NAMED LEADING TMC FOR EUROPE AT WORLD TRAVEL AWARDS FOR THE 11TH YEAR RUNNING FCM Travel Solutions has been named ‘Leading Travel Management Company for Europe’ for the 11th consecutive year at the prestigious World Travel Awards. The World Travel Awards programme is acknowledged across the globe as the ultimate travel accolade. Awards are voted for by travel and tourism professionals worldwide and these accolades recognise the commitment to excellence FCM

has demonstrated over the past 12 months. Andrew Boxall, Managing Director – Europe, FCM Travel Solutions commented: “We are extremely proud to win this award again this year. This is an outstanding achievement for FCM Travel Solutions and reflects the exceptional travel management services, professionalism and value that our people provide for clients in Europe.”

2019 Europe's Leading Travel Management Company

AGE UK NAMED AS CHARITY OF THE YEAR Staff at FCM and parent company Flight Centre have voted to support Age UK as ‘Charity of the Year’ for the company’s 2019/2020 financial year which began on 1 July 2019. Fundraising activities have already started, including football matches, 4 July American-style brunches and 10k runs. All funds raised by employees will be matched by Flight Centre. Age UK is the UK’s leading charity for older people dedicated to helping everyone make the most of later life. Age UK provides friendship, advice and support for older people most in need. Lizzie Bekhradnia, Head of

annum. The company’s managing director, Solenn Le Brazidec, will continue to oversee 3Mundi’s dayto-day operations and has been appointed FCM Travel Solutions’ President for France and Switzerland. Steve Norris, Corporate Managing Director - EMEA, Flight Centre Travel Group commented: “FCM and 3Mundi have enjoyed an

Corporate Partnerships, said: “On behalf of Age UK and older people everywhere – a huge thank you to FCM colleagues for choosing to support Age UK as your charity partner. Older people often get forgotten, and millions find themselves alone with no one to turn to for support and friendship. So, it means the world to us that FCM staff have voted to help Age UK to be there for more older people when they need us most.”

For the last two years, FCM UK’s chosen charity was Mind and inspirational fundraising efforts by staff around the country raised almost £200k (See Charity update on page X)

excellent partnership since 2015 and we forged a closer bond in 2017 when we first invested in the business. We are excited to be investing in this further acquisition which will give FCM an even stronger presence in France and Switzerland.”

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INTERVIEW

How did you get into the travel industry? I studied economics at university and started out doing pricing for the telecoms industry, but always loved travelling. One day I was really frustrated at work and just decided to look on company websites for another job. British Airways was advertising a role in pricing – I thought I can do that, so I applied. I’m glad I did, telecoms is quite boring.

What did your previous role at British Airways encompass? I joined British Airways 10 years ago, starting in revenue management as a pricing analyst. BA has a team reorganisation every two years or so, and one happened when I’d only been in the company five months. It worked out well, as I applied for a pricing management role and was successful. I changed roles every couple of years, looking after various revenue management teams. In 2015, a role in distribution was advertised which looked new and exciting - so I became Manager of Distribution, working closely with IATA to build British Airways’ internal NDC technology offering. I was also responsible for educating corporate and leisure agencies externally on BA’s NDC content and represented the airline on IATA’s Passenger Distribution Management Group.

In conversation Upgrade talks to Nicola Ping, who joined FCM from British Airways earlier this year as Manager of Air Content & Distribution, responsible for driving the TMC’s NDC strategy in EMEA

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Can you tell us more about your role at FCM? I’m part of the new Global Air Content & Distribution team – working with Jason Toothman, Executive General Manager Global Air Distribution based in the US, and Jason Nooning General Manager Global Air Distribution in Australia. My role covers EMEA and all the other markets where FCM uses Amadeus. My responsibility is to ensure that we can access all the air content that our customers want, but also to ensure that it works with all of our end-to-end systems and processes, so that the customers get the same level of service that they are used to. I’ve continued to work closely with IATA and now chair the NDC Advisory Group. As a team, we also educate not only our customers, but also the airlines – they are keen to know more about how travel agents really look after the customers.

What are the main differences or challenges about NDC that you’ve observed from the TMC point of view, now that you’re on this side of the fence? As an airline, the challenges are making old technology cope with doing new things, like being able to bundle ancillaries and price dynamically, in a way that agencies can still buy. Airlines are the start of the chain, so they are effectively in control of the pace of change. As a TMC, there is pressure on us from the airlines to adopt the new content and pressure from the customers to buy it, but because the technology and processes are still being developed, we have pressure from both

sides of the chain. It’s key that we keep working with IATA to understand the pressures and drivers of the entire chain.

talking to our larger customers and prospects. New Malden is not far from where I live, so I like having days in the

Although everyone in the industry talks about NDC a lot, actually only a handful of the world’s largest airlines are doing NDC transactions. At FCM we sell tickets on hundreds of airlines globally - so it’s absolutely key that we can offer our customers comparisons between those carriers effectively. Sabre and Amadeus are ensuring that we can get access to the new NDC content alongside the other traditional carrier content, without needing to change how our consultants work. That involves a lot of development work by the technology providers in order to build a solution, but it’s definitely the most efficient method for FCM.

and then be back home quickly at the

office when I can catch up on emails and spend time with the team who are doing lots of NDC testing in the background, end of the day.

Any other differences you’ve noticed working for a company like FCM compared to an airline like BA? I think there are two main differences, both around culture. Firstly, customer focus: in everything that we do at FCM we ask ourselves whether this good for the customer – that’s before we do it, rather than make changes and have to deal with the customer complaints subsequently. Absolutely everyone I work with here has

What do you enjoy most about your job? I like the fact that NDC is still evolving and FCM is actually involved in driving that forward. As we’re involved closely with the airlines and IATA, I can explain what a TMC needs for its customers and then help IATA and the airlines design how to build it. It’s genuinely new and I love that.

this focus and that’s really refreshing. Secondly, it’s the Flight Centre Foundation. Many companies have links with charities, but it’s not part of the culture. When I came to look round New Malden as part of my interview, the Flight Centre Foundation was explained to me and since then, there have been loads of opportunities to get involved – things like SolarBuddy, and raffles for

What is your average working day like?

our Charity of the Year. That generates

Genuinely, there is no average day. Although I’m based at FCM’s UK head office in New Malden, some weeks

the company. Staff who have only ever

Singapore. It’s a really easy place to be – everything works seamlessly from arrival to departure and there’s plenty of time to sleep on the plane!

What’s your pet hate when travelling on business? What’s the one thing you would like to see that would make travelling on business easier? I am a really anti-social traveller when I’m working, particularly when I’m flying, so I don’t like people being chatty when I’m doing my emails! I’d love airport security to be standardised. I think that the queues are sometimes so long because even regular travellers don’t know what the rules are at each airport – iPads in or out, shoes on or off? If it was the same in every major business airport, it would be much easier.

Summer Issue 6 2018

at IATA meetings, meeting airlines or

Why did FCM decide to work with its technology providers, Amadeus and Sabre, to find a long-term solution for booking NDC content?

Favourite business travel destination?

I’m only there for one day, as I may be

a really nice feeling of community in worked at Flight Centre/FCM shouldn’t assume all companies are like this! 

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SUPPLIERS

First world hotels find secondary cities Catherine Chetwynd discovers how the big global companies have found their way to India and China’s regional cities

ot so long ago the presence of global hotel brands in emerging markets would have been largely confined to major cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, New Delhi, Mumbai or Jakarta. However, the likes of Accor, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott and Radisson Hotel Group have all established local brands in launching new properties in secondary cities. In India, for example, Marriott has properties in Itabagar and Nagpur, while in China it has two in Guiyang, five in Nanjing, nine in Qingdao and five in Foshan. For its part, Wyndham now has seven in Guiyang, 17 in Nanjing, eight in Qingdao, eight in Foshan and one in Puyang. And Accor has one in South Tangerang, Indonesia, three in Semarang, one in Batam and two in Padang, according to STR’s June Existing Supply Report. Secondary cities in countries like India, China and Indonesia have massive populations. For example, 40 cities in India outside New Delhi have more than one million people. Though outside of London, in the UK only Birmingham, Glasgow and Greater Manchester have populations of more than one million people. “Those countries have a fast-developing middle class and a very fast-developing

Issue 6

economy, much quicker than Europe Status also plays a part. “When real - which makes them big markets,” estate markets develop, many owners says consultant to the hotel industry, and businesses are keen to showcase Melvin Gold. “And to the extent that their success by building a hotel and international travellers want to be affiliating it with an international brand,” there, either for leisure or business, says managing partner for HVS Asia international brands need to and can Pacific, Daniel J. Voellm. “International establish a viable presence - either operators will ensure that the build through their quality is sufficient own investment, and meets their but more brand standards, normally through and they will assess a franchise that the operation arrangement is viable. As much with a local of their share price entrepreneur is propped up by who is happy revenue growth, to own a hotel ie hotel pipeline, and put an expansion into international new markets is brand name inevitable.” on it.” Daniel J. Voellm Managing partner HVS In China, there Asia Pacific He added: are 65 cities with “Properties can populations of over serve as a billboard in a city, so the a million, and 360 cities with 100,000 spread of brands deeper into some of to 1 million people. However, “there these countries will increase awareness. are only a few second-tier cities in the Therefore, when the aspiring middle China national system: Tianjin, Nanjing, class travels out of their country, they Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuhan, Xi’an, are going to be more aware of those Shenyang, Chengdu and Chongqing,” says Voellm. “It is arguable that many names; that helps people when they among the 360 are not suitable for travel. And it’s secondary, but the brand international brands - and some smaller also starts to pick up loyalty ones might be well positioned card members.”

“

International operators will ensure that the build quality meets their brand standards”

to accommodate demand for tourist attractions or similar that would help develop a hotel market. Given the broad portfolio of brands these hotel groups have, they can penetrate less-developed markets with their mid-scale brands before following through with those positioned at the higher end.” Indian hotel group OYO has been expanding its presence in China, focusing on tier 2, 3, 4 and 5 cities, rather than markets like Shanghai and Beijing. As of June 2019, OYO Chinese subsidiary OYO Jiudian had expanded its presence to more than 337 cities and 500,000 rooms which, the group claims, surpasses the scale of traditional and established hotel chain brands in the country.

“

“In many parts of Asia, tier 2 and 3 destinations are growing quickly as the middle class rises, so there is strong demand. In addition, governments are often keen to support investment in these locations because it helps to spread the benefits of tourism throughout a country,” she says. “In Indonesia, we have over 120 hotels and resorts, including a growing presence in destinations like Bandung, Surabaya, Bandara and Yogyakarta.”

It's important for us to have a strong local presence in these markets, so the domestic audience gets to know our brands.”

In China, the company is increasingly expanding into cities with populations of up to 10 million people, such as Hangzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan, Gaynor Reid, Vice president Guiyang, etc. It is communications & CSR Asia Pacific Accor a similar story in India. Because it can take five years or more from signing to opening a hotel, the company looks out for emerging In India, OYO has more than 200,000 destinations in countries where it is rooms in 300 plus cities. It saw a 159% already the No.1 operator. increase year-on-year in bookings in largely non-commercial destinations such as Coorg, Chail and Yercaud. And with 85% occupancy on average, the group’s midscale Collection O has seen an increase of almost 30% in corporate bookings in the second quarter of this year.

“It is important for us to have a strong local presence in these markets, so that the domestic audience can get to know our brands and show

preference for them when venturing overseas,” she says. Growth in second tier cities in Asia is predominantly led by domestic travellers and intra-Asian travel, especially in cities like Surabaya, Hyderabad and Suzhou, which are predominantly business destinations. There are many reasons for hotel groups to set up shop in Asian destinations outside the capital. And given a growing middle class with a disposable income they are happy to spend on business and leisure travel, supported by willing investors, the trend is set. 

Accor is also a case in point. “While we have a geographic spread across tier 1, 2 and 3 cities throughout the region, in Australia, China, India and Indonesia especially, we are very focused on opening hotels in second and third-tier destinations, where there is growing demand and easier investment opportunities than in first-tier cities, where the market is more mature and space is at a premium,” says vice president communications and CSR Asia Pacific, Gaynor Reid.

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TECHNOLOGY

Brain dump Mark Frary assesses how artificial intelligence is becoming integral to travel management

f you’ve booked travel recently, chances are artificial intelligence (AI) has helped during the process – whether you realise or not. The power of AI to improve business processes has been glorified for many years - but it is now getting embedded throughout our lives and we may not even be aware.

New technology is inevitably hyped and AI is no exception; the tech companies developing it need their huge investments to bear fruit. “Just look at the smartphone,” says FCM’s EMEA Chief Technology Officer, Michel Rouse. “No one needed a smartphone before, but now we can’t live without one. We don’t necessarily need AI, however we see opportunities where we can drive real savings and better service for customers.” A recent survey by McKinsey shows that 47% of companies have embedded at least one AI function in their business processes, up from 20% in 2017. Crucially, three-quarters of those companies have seen moderate or significant benefits from doing so. Part of the reason for this uptake is the wider availability of AI tools. “Google, IBM and others have commoditised some of the building blocks that companies can use to build models and applications,” says Keesup Choe, CEO of AI consultancy PredictX. 24

Issue 6

While most companies are using AI in their service operations (including implementing chatbots), a growing number of companies are starting to use the technology in managing their supply chains, according to the research. The industry sectors leading this revolution are retail, telecoms and high-tech.

“We are looking at building AI into our complete workflows, looking at the Its use in business travel is starting to take context of each individual booking off, too. FCM is at the forefront of this and and driving has implemented AI some automated in its Smart Assistant operations and for Mobile app, Sam:]. some manual “It has given Sam:] interventions,” its personality,” says says Rouse. “When Rouse. “It takes a lot someone calls in of information out or emails, AI can there, the context of determine whether it your booking, where is a support issue, an you are and your urgent flight change profile, the check-in request or a regular time for the flight, any flight enquiry - then delays, security alerts Michel Rouse, Chief Technology offer up information and other things that Officer, EMEA, FCM Travel Solutions to the consultant to may affect you, giving provide a better level you something a bit of service.” more personalised.” FCM is also investigating the use of AI Over the past two years, FCM has also in driving contextual approval flows to employed bot-like technology to optimise get away from approving every single airfares and hotel rates after booking. The booking. “With this, you can start to do travel management company is looking things like smart budgets where, say, at embedding AI further in its operations. you only want to spend X amount per

“

No one needed a smartphone before - now we can’t live without them”

Source: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/artificial-intelligence/ai-adoption-advances-but-foundational-barriers-remain

month and using that to drive approval flows,” says Rouse. The TMC has included AI within its online booking tool to filter search results into two buckets as well. “We take a blend of traveller preferences – if they want to fly at certain times perhaps – and corporate policy. The AI-powered OBT takes these rules and determines if something matches both criteria. If it does, it goes into one bucket, if not, it will put it into the alternative options bucket.” The use of AI is not just restricted to travel management companies. On the sell side of business travel, suppliers are investing heavily in AI, not least in the area of revenue management which has traditionally used historical statistics for its models.

“These companies tend to spend the most on technology in their core business area, whether that is drug discovery or financial risk management, and the investment trickles down. One of our clients in the insurance sector implemented an AI-based risk management system at least five years ago. Now they are thinking how they can apply AI to the service functions of procurement, finance and travel.” Buyers who are keen to adopt AI in their own functions often feel they cannot secure the funding. “It could be that there is a fixed budget for procurement spend and that is a difficult route to get funding,” says Choe. “Nowadays there is quite a lot off funding in the centre of organisations for innovation initiatives and that might be an easier route.” Looking ahead, AI is set to become omnipresent. Choe says it will be like “an ivy plant growing on your house”, you turn around one day and you cannot see the bricks. Choe feels one potential development could be a game-changer: at Google’s I/O event for developers in 2018, it made a demonstration that included its AI-powered Google Assistant making an appointment with a hairdresser. The technology may be used to replace offline bookings.

“

You dial a number, you think you’re speaking to a human, but you’re talking to a machine rather than a human” Keesup Choe CEO PredictX

“You call a number, you think you are speaking to a human, they are asking the same questions but you are talking to a machine rather than a human. We are just on the brink of that possibility,” says Choe. FCM’s Michel Rouse raises one concern of this future – the fear that AI will become a black box whose operation is opaque to its users. “The minute the machines are thinking and making educated choices for you, it is important for humans to understand why it is doing it that way.” AI has arrived in business travel – it is up to us to decide what we want it to do. 

“These are static, deterministic models,” says Choe. “If the market changes - if market share changes, there is consolidation or there are external changes, such as Brexit - then the model will stop being effective. With AI/ machine learning, the new models look at the primary factors and are adaptive to changes in those factors.” AI-powered revenue management models are now being used by airlines to optimise for the highest yield in real-time. And some innovative travel buyers are doing their own AI thing, too. Rouse says, “You have a few companies – the tech companies and consultancies particularly – that are well geared towards doing these things. EY, for example, has a sizeable development team and can focus energy on these things. Some customers will develop their own sets of technology but it will generally be complementary to what a TMC can offer.” PredictX’s Keesup Choe says it is the buyers with the biggest travel spends who are adopting AI in-house. FCMUPGRADE.COM

EVENTS

A socially responsible turn of events Corporate events are no longer only about learning or networking - they can also help support company CSR initiatives

vents may be a broad church – training, internal conferences, external client events – but even conferences on the most serious of topics look for ways to engage the audience and encourage relationship or team-building. As corporate social responsibility becomes more prominent in everyone’s consciousness, savvy event organisers are increasingly looking for activities which are engaging and rewarding for participants while also giving back to the community. Rachel Capell, Operations Director at cievents UK, stresses that devising the ideal CSR activity for an event is completely dependent on what it is the client wants to achieve. “One size doesn’t fit all,” she says. “When a new client brief comes in, we begin by asking them a series of questions, such as ‘what is the primary objective of the event?’ ‘What do you want the delegates to come away

Issue 5

with?’ We review the company’s overall strategic goal – why they’re having this event, the demographics of the attendees, the location, the budget. It’s sometimes challenging to find an activity that every demographic can enjoy and relate to, however we do our best.” CSR event decision-making will also depend on whether a company supports a particular charity. “We are finding that more and more clients are becoming affiliated with specific charities,” says Capell. “In this instance, our event manager will discuss options to find an activity that benefits both parties.” Different company cultures – or the culture of the event’s location – can affect the choice of beneficiary. For example, Capell describes an event she recently organised in China where the preponderance of pollution in the country meant that an environmental charity would not be appropriate. CSR events can be tailored to any location, duration, or culture and,

most importantly, they can be fun and rewarding. Come up with your own idea or try one of these CSR activities for your next conference or team-building event: BUILD-A-BICYCLE This engaging and rewarding activity requires the group to be divided into teams of between four and eight participants. Teams are given a “Prove Book” containing a series of challenges – each of which is rewarded differently – to earn tokens that can be exchanged for the tools and parts needed to build the bicycles. The activity ends with the assembling of bicycles by each team. The participants can either then experience the joy of delivering the new toy to nominated disadvantaged children or they can select their own charity. TREE-MEND-US This is a group’s chance to demonstrate the grit and determination (and experience the passion) it takes to attain valuable ‘gold’ coins which will subsequently be used to ‘purchase’ the tools and materials needed for the group to plant trees. The group’s participants are divided into smaller teams which rotate around a game to win points which are allocated according to the team’s performance in each task. The games, which might include Trolley, Aqua Dot, Angry Birds, Puzzled, Bean Bag Toss, Giant Jenga, Dodge Ball and Da Vinci Bridge, are a mix of mental and physical to ensure that there’s something for every member of the group. By planting a tree on one of these sites, such as a park in Malta, the teams will gain the huge satisfaction of having contributed towards reforestation. Delegates will be contributing towards a better environment and helping create greener and healthier places for people to enjoy for generations to come.

MISSION KILO This activity’s objective is to help those in need in the community by collecting the greatest number of kilos of food to donate to the local food bank. All participants are assigned a role and an organiser will distribute clues booklets, coins and the rest of the equipment. The specifics are specially designed with the contestants’ profile and the company’s objectives in mind. The trails will include references to companyspecific details such as products and markets, as well as taking account of the life and history of the town. Once the stipulated time has passed, all the teams will be in the briefing area where the person in charge of the town’s food bank will be waiting to accept all the food that participants have obtained during the activity. NEST HOUSES WORKSHOP In this activity participants build nesting houses for different species of birds. The group will be divided into groups of about five. They will be greeted at the destination by qualified monitors with signs bearing the names of the different teams which will be animal species,

native to the location of the specific event. The monitors will welcome the participants with explanations of what each is going to develop and take them to their specific workshop locations where, under the supervision of qualified personnel, each will become a bird’s house architect for a few hours. Uniforms with the month and date of the event can be created which participants can wear on the day and then keep as a souvenir of the event. SOLARBUDDY Over the last year, delegates and staff attending various FCM events have been building SolarBuddy lights as part of the conference programme. Approximately 18% of the world’s population has no access to electricity. This equates to 1.4 billion people living in the dark - which severely impacts their education, health, the economy and the environment. This activity’s objective is to help break this cycle and improve the educational opportunities of children living in darkness by providing them with solar lights so that they can study after dusk. Building these lights not only fosters more meaningful experiences for participants but also inspires them to spread the word about energy poverty. Each kit comes with instructions and takes around 15-20 minutes to build using a basic screwdriver. The SolarBuddy light kits can be branded with the corporate’s company identity. At last year’s FCM global conference in Berlin staff built 2,000 SolarBuddy lights which were shipped to children in Papua New Guinea and South Africa. And at FCM’s recent Focus conference, delegates made 400 SolarBuddy lights which have been sent to children in Madagascar.  FCMUPGRADE.COM

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