Karen Davies
The National Business Travel Association in April 2007 created the NBTA Asia Pacific regional affiliate after Australasian Business Travel Association members approved a merger with NBTA. Last week, NBTA Asia Pacific appointed Monica Gardner, commodity manager for Australia's Queensland state government, as chair. It also named as regional director Karen Davies, who recently examined travel management practices for the University of Sydney. A veteran of Australia's travel management community, Davies this week spoke with The Transnationalabout her recent work, NBTA's role in Asia-Pacific and travel management trends in the region, including "thriving" technology deployment. An edited transcript follows.
What exactly did you focus on while working at the University of Sydney?
I was engaged to undertake a review of their procurement activities in travel management. The university has a lot of international travel due to its research focus, and we undertook a full re-engineering program--everything from the policies and procedures around how travel would occur and how to manage duty of care. The three areas we looked at were, first and foremost, duty of care in terms of understanding where our staff were at any point in time and looking after their needs; process improvement in relation to financial management and how we undertook our travel bookings through to payment; and the introduction of technology. It was an 18-month project.
What were some specific accomplishments?
We went out to the marketplace and sought some great contracts in relation to airline deals, hotels and car rental, and introduced our online booking tool. We already had an expense management solution, but [we added modules] within that solution to take in all the travel bookings so that all staff could then look over all the details of their travel diary, all the expenses they are expecting to pay and actually manage that trip in one process. For domestic travel, we took the approvals process out and allowed staff to take the best deal. We went to a policy of the lowest fare of the day for the booking they needed; if that meant a low-cost carrier, that is what they had to use. It allowed them to take advantage of some of the specials in the marketplace without having to wait for approval. For international travel, we continued to use travel management companies, and we moved from the 105 travel management companies that we identified--travelers basically had autonomy to do whatever they wanted--down to a contracted three travel management companies. Within the first 9 months, we had 99 percent compliance to the new policies. They are now in a process to reduce that number down to one or two travel management companies. It was a large project that provided the university a lot of opportunity to streamline travel management.
What are the most important trends in Asia-Pacific travel management?
The biggest issue for anyone in the Asia-Pacific region is traveling the distances we need to travel, to the larger global markets. We certainly share all the same issues that all travel managers around the world face, in relation to ensuring value for money and doing everything as cost effectively as we can in terms of business travel processes. And while there certainly is a need to be present at meetings and conferences and the like inside the region, we also look at alternative ways in which we can continue to communicate.
In terms of suppliers, how viable are low-cost carriers for managed travel programs in Asia, and how are companies dealing with rising hotel rates?
Most of the organizations are looking at more cost-effective travel management, and they are looking at low-cost carriers as options. A lot more of them are emerging. Speaking for Australia, we do stick with Qantas and Virgin [Blue], and for business travel we don't necessarily look at the newest low-cost carriers. We have continued to provide our market share to the two largest. Hotel is certainly one of the biggest challenges. For business travel, it's about trying to book well in advance whenever possible. It is certainly an issue that the business travelers here are aware of.
Moving forward, what role do you foresee NBTA playing in your region?
Education is one of the most critical aspects that NBTA can bring in relation to business travel in our region. Our association [the Australasian Business Travel Association], before it merged with NBTA [in April 2007], had a strong base around business travel managers, and hopefully we'll be expanding that through the Asia-Pacific areas. We had, up until the past 18 months, concentrated on the Australian marketplace, and now through this association we have a presence in New Zealand--and we'll be moving into other areas. Our education program had been separate, as a separate association, but now we are looking at a global certified travel executive program that builds off the U.S. model. That is where we are focusing our efforts at the moment, as well as regional conferences and information seminars.