Part 1: Powered by one – global travel programmes delivered differently
Business travel has had a strong return, which was reflected in a recent Corporate Travel Management (CTM) 2022 Global Customer Survey with 80% of respondents expecting to travel more or the same amount in the coming 12 months compared to pre-pandemic. Travellers are eager to get back in front of customers and key stakeholders, to connect and collaborate and as such global travel programmes are on the table for review to support business growth and retention. Having a global travel programme that supports every part of a business and every member of their team in every corner of the world is key to driving strategic results.
We recently sat down with CTM’s VP of Global Customer Solutions, Kristen Pratt, SVP & General Manager New York, Barbara Yarar, and General Manager Southern England & Client Services UK/Europe, Salv Silvera to talk about global travel management and CTM’s approach to delivering global travel differently.
Global travel programmes can be complex. What makes CTM’s solution ‘powered by one’ simple, and flexible?
Kristen Pratt:
“We know global travel programmes are complex, but that is why our global travel teams work collaboratively with our customers to source and select the right solutions for their business and people in every market they operate in, even if the scope is only New York and London and packaging the solution into ‘one’ global travel programme, accessed through ‘one’ platform and supported by ‘one’ team.”
Salv Silvera:
“As a General Manager based in the UK, the Transatlantic is one of the world’s busiest and largest international travel markets with many of our customers making the journey back and forth and further afield. No matter their destination, our customers are at the front of everything we do to ensure their travel programmes are ‘powered by one’ solution and team with the flexibility to optimise and evolve to support the growth and direction of their business.”
The global TMC market is a competitive space. Why do you think customers are turning to CTM for a global travel programme solution?
Salv Silvera:
“Our global customer solutions team know the importance of understanding what global customers want to achieve from their business travel and are at the core of our service delivery. Our Account Management, Travel Consultants, and Product Development teams work collaboratively with key stakeholders to deliver global travel programmes that provide valuable outcomes, evolve with organisational growth and are aligned to drive business success.
Barbara Yarar:
“It’s not uncommon for our customers to provide feedback that they don’t feel like a ‘small fish in a big pond’ with CTM. They value not receiving a cookie-cutter solution that is often sold to global organisations and doesn’t accommodate for all regional nuances. They like the fact that as a CTM customer they get to configure a very bespoke travel solution that is delivered by one team and platform, and that they have a strong voice in their relationship with us. We listen, and because we own our technology, we’re able to deploy solutions quickly which brings about benefits much faster than they have experienced elsewhere.”
Kristen Pratt:
“We understand our strengths and why our customers choose to partner with us. Engaging with them is how we know what will work with our business model and we are focused and deliberate in who we engage with. I believe our customers choose us because they relate to and align with our CTM values of innovation, sustainability, and entrepreneurial spirit.”
What part does CTM’s culture have to play in its success as a global travel management company?
Barbara Yarar:
“It’s our unique culture that underpins how we do business. We were founded on the principle of challenging the status quo with a commitment to continuous improvement ensuring our customers’ global travel programmes are always evolving and adapting to new opportunities. Our flat structure and no red tape allow us to be agile in a fast-moving industry with many moving parts.”
What is the secret to navigating a dynamic industry whilst developing global travel programmes that deliver a return on investment?
Kristen Pratt:
“Travel is such a dynamic and rapidly changing industry and if you couple that with an unpredictable global landscape, developing a future-fit travel programme for our customers requires some out-of-the-box thinking and agility. We know global travel programmes are complex, driven by global objectives and underpinned by regional needs and nuances.
“We are fortunate to have a culture at CTM that is built around empowerment that gives us all a challenger mindset to deliver fast and effective solutions to combat tomorrow’s challenges.”
Global customers still have regional needs. How does CTM service this?
Salv Silvera:
“Our global travel team is centrally managed by a Global Travel Programme Manager giving our customers one point of contact for all programme performance, optimisation, and policy development needs. The programmes are then serviced by designated regional teams of travel experts globally. This provides customers with local knowledge and expertise in every corner of the globe. We understand that what customers need in North America may not be the same in Europe for example. We believe service should feel familiar no matter where our customers travel. We want them to feel like they are calling an ‘old friend’ who knows their every need and can be trusted.”
CTM is currently the 4th largest travel management[1] company globally, ranked 8th largest travel company on the 2022 Travel Weekly Power List (includes leisure and corporate agencies), and placed 2nd in BTN’s list of the UK’s leading TMCs 2022. What does this mean for customers and how do they benefit?
Kristen Pratt:
“We pride ourselves on doing global travel differently, providing a choice in a market of TMC megas. As the world’s fourth-largest travel management company, we have never set our sights on being the biggest but just on being the best at what we do. We believe size comes fourth to service, innovation, and savings when delivering global travel programmes. You don’t need to be the biggest to deliver results, solutions or exceptional service. We know this is far more important to our customers than the size of our business.”
Working through a global pandemic, what have you learned that customers need outside of delivering travel expertise and technology solutions?
Kristen Pratt:
“We understand that financial viability has become more important to customers as a result of the global pandemic to ensure business continuity and ability to invest in delivering on evolving customer needs in the future. Maintaining a strong financial base has always been a benchmark for CTM. It gave us the flexibility to respond during the pandemic and became a competitive advantage with customers seeking a TMC with the capacity to maintain continuity of service.”
Barbara Yarar:
“The other noticeable learning would be the need for premium servicing. Amongst our global customers, there are many across the Transatlantic in industries like professional services or finance and insurance that have a ‘C’ suite or executive level travellers that require VIP solutions with personalised customer service from a dedicated expert team of VIP travel professionals. In response to this demand, we established CTM Elite as a premium service with personalised solutions and priority servicing.”
What advantages are there to partnering with a TMC that has a global partner network?
Kristen Pratt:
“Our customers benefit from our extensive global partner network enabling us to serve 130 countries through a seamless offering, consistent content and technology, and aggregated travel data across every market. We have the privilege of partnering with best-in-class independent travel management companies that complement CTM’s wholly-owned operations through shared service standards, consistent travel tools, secure data aggregation, and common values. This helps us to ensure customers get to enjoy the CTM experience in every country their travel programme operates in.”
[1] On August 18, 2021, based on publicly available financial performance data.
Is it time to review your global travel programmes?
Speak to CTM’s team today.