CASE STUDY
Streamlined and consolidated global travel management
Key Highlights
A world-leading food and beverage (F&B) brand needed to consolidate its fragmented global travel program. The program had an annual budget exceeding US$40 million across 20 countries. With ten different travel management companies (TMCs), multiple reporting systems, and global distribution systems (GDS), the program lacked unified management.
Objective
Our challenge was to create a consolidated travel program that would adhere to local nuances while aligning with a global travel policy. This ambitious plan was set to benefit over 5,000 travelers and contractors.
At FCM, we were up to the challenge.
Significant challenges
A global travel consolidation of this scale brought its share of hurdles:
- 14 varying and conflicting travel policies across global markets.
- 150 preferred hotels in the APAC and EMEA regions identified that did not exist in the corporation’s hotel program.
- 100 global hotels that didn’t know they were selected as preferred and were loaded into the GDS incorrectly.
- Diverse payment methods across markets, with company credit cards not available to all travelers, which would require a tailored yet aligned approach.
- Significantly higher-than-forecast travel volumes in one APAC market requiring immediate upscaling of staff and resources.
- Resistance to change among travel administrators due to job security fears.
Meeting these challenges would require a thorough plan that addressed each issue, while offering booking support and reduced administration work.
A well-designed plan
A highly skilled FCM global account manager led our efforts, supported by regional and national account managers. Here are some highlights of our strategy:
- Consistent but market-tailored change management and implementation plans across all locations.
- Centralised service solutions in key regions, and removal of unnecessary implant services.
- Implementation of FCM’s travel management technology as a single point of entry across countries.
- Localized, local language roadshow presentations for travelers and bookers.
- Rigorous auditing and implementation of preferred airline and hotel rates:
- 21 preferred airlines and 1,400 client fares.
- 7,500 hotel rate audits completed in 40 days.
- Comprehensive travel handbooks in English and the local language where required.
- An end-to-end booking process for air, hotel, car, visa, and leisure travel.
An end-to-end success story
The implementation of this end-to-end service model yielded impressive results:
- A 12% average reduction in hotel rates.
- Strategic recommendations on air contracts leading to program savings of over US$1 million.
- 80% customer satisfaction post-implementation, increasing to 86% after six months.
- Enhanced support ratio of travel administrators to managers in key global markets.
- Consolidated travel management reporting delivered monthly.
The brand's global procurement team were happy with the consolidation process, stating
FCM has given us transparency over regions where
we previously had no visibility.
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