CASE STUDY
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Key Highlights
On a mission
The missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints travel to far-flung, remote destinations to preach their doctrine. While travel has evolved dramatically over the decades there remains challenges when travelling across Africa, where some 1,400 missionaries are posted across 26 countries. Think remote villages that are largely inaccessible with rudimentary travel facilities. Before FCM, multiple local travel agencies were being used, supported by a team of 14 and volunteers on the ground to arrange and book travel.
Travel plans of two extreme halves
Young and enthusiastic, the missionaries of The Church are often embarking on their very first flight. Among the new experience of it all, they often get lost in airports and miss flights and connections, or there’s often lastminute changes. You can’t blame them for worrying. It’s not only their first international trip but their unconventional travel arrangements are challenging for even the most seasoned of business travellers.
A dedicated travel team and tool
FCM’s global presence means all The Church’s offices are managed under one TMC but with local expertise in destinations such as Africa, which require specialist knowledge. Consolidating all its Africa offices through AeTM technology was hugely successful and was later seamlessly migrated to Concur. 92% of profiles were migrated to Concur with dormant and duplicate profile data cleaned.
Results for all parties
The unconventional nature of business travel conducted by The Church and volume of travel to remote destinations by inexperienced travellers has proven an exciting challenge for FCM. The blend of cutting-edge tech and personalised service is critical in a programme like this that needs to deliver on specific requirements but still deliver value and peace of mind,
- Bonnie Smith, General Manager, FCM South Africa.