Travel Programme Consolidation.

2024/09/17

The client achieved 15% in savings due to the consolidation of their travel programme. Marvel Travels – Corporate & Leisure assisted in the consolidation of the client’s travel programme across 04 markets.

Overview
A MTCL client in the marketing and event management space had experienced double-digit growth, adding over 150 new employees, and was looking for consolidation of their travel programme with a global mandate across India and border.

Challenges
A Full Services Agency in India with branches in Bengaluru, New Delhi, Mumbai and Singapore with expertise in the fields of digital, marketing and event management had experienced double-digit growth year over year for five years and added over 150 new employees.

Their travel programme was fragmented and lacked transparency, with no travel mandate across their markets. The company’s growth amplified its need for better travel forecasting and consistency. Using benchmarking, it was found that their hotel and airline programmes were delivering savings in a few key markets; however, they were not implemented in all INDIA level and were unable to take full advantage of hard-won supplier agreements without consolidated data.

The company set out to partner with MTCL that could support their global needs in a way that empowered their local affiliates to take part in the process.

Solutions
MTCL worked closely with the client to accomplish:
Phased implementation: Local stakeholders on both sides were brought into the process early to ensure that key influencers were fully engaged and equipped with the bid outcome rationale, including customisable communication plans that would ensure the greatest buy-in for local offices and their travellers. The phased approach gave us the opportunity to build an ever-compelling managed programme as more markets went live.

Programme transparency: The first step to achieving greater spend visibility and consolidated reporting was to implement globally standardised data requirements. For example, consistent application of trip reason codes made internal benchmarking possible. Standardised consolidated reporting provided visibility into areas such as unused air tickets, refundable and Non Refundale tickets.

Policy adoption: A new travel policy was introduced to balance managing costs and traveller satisfaction. Advance booking of is now well over 76% of air purchased. Our travel account manager continues to drive adoption by working with local stakeholders to educate and encourage compliance.

Consistent service: We report on multiple performance metrics to deliver our service level commitment. These metrics are then used to calculate a combined percentage of service quality and consistency.

Results
The client consolidated their programme across all their markets and implemented 90% of their travel spend.The company’s consistently consolidated buying power driven by supplier negotiation and optimisation, online adoption, and policy compliance.