86 September/October 2021
ALL
SYSTEMS GO
It’s time to reconnect,
reset, restart
+
The 2021 Tech Hotlist
Business Travel People Awards
UK accommodation
Instilling travel confidence
THE BUSINESS TRAVEL CONFERENCE • SEPTEMBER 14-15
UP FRONT
Contents
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER
2021
8 42
Features
10 SMEs: They're first off the blocks
with the long-awaited restart,
but will it be a clear run?
16 The Business Travel People
40
16
Awards: With the big night just
days away, here's what's in
store, plus the 2021 shortlist
22
Th e2021
Tech Hotlist
From sexy start-ups to established
players, see which tech innovations
and innovators made it into our
hotlist this year
24
20
26 Airport Update: As air travel
ramps up, we investigate how
airports are speeding up arrivals
and departures
28 2021 Tech Hotlist: Our pick of
the top tech specialists who are
shaking up the industry
34 Accommodation: Join us on a
tour of the most exciting new
openings and renovations on
the UK's accommodation scene
26
(p28-32)
40 The Business Travel
Conference: Expert panels, top
tips and an immersive moviethemed
experience - see what's
on the agenda this year
21
Up front
6 Everyone's Talking About:
The transatlantic restart
7 Speaking Out: The GBTA’s new
25
Executive Director, Suzanne
Neufang, champions the power
of connection
8 The Knowledge: How to instill
confidence in your travellers
News Review
38
19 News and trends, plus comment
from the BTA and the ITM
23
43
Departures
42 Reality check: We test drive an
electric rental vehicle and
escape to a rural retreat just
minutes from Belfast
7
43 Final word: The lighter
side of travel
THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.COM
3
Welcome
Back together again
After months of being restricted and
relying on virtual communication,
our lives are finally getting back to
normal again - and doesn't it feel
great. We're seeing each other faceto-face,
popping back into the office,
and meeting industry friends and colleagues for coffees and lunches.
We've been on trains, even planes, and posted selfies about it on LinkedIn
- in our masks, of course. Our lives aren't completely back to the way they
were – and they might well never be – but the vaccine roll-out has allowed
us to venture out again into the world with more confidence.
On September 14-15 many of us will meet in London for two of our
sector's most important annual events: The Business Travel Conference
and The Business Travel People Awards. For the conference (see page 40)
we've got a fantastic line-up of speakers and some great sessions planned
under the theme Reconnect, Reset, Restart. There's lots to talk about and
still so much to learn. For the People Awards (see page 16) there's a new
relaxed, evening format, new categories, and it's the 10th anniversary too.
For both, there'll be plenty of time for networking and socialising, which
is always a big part of these events and now more than ever.
Being apart for so long has made us all realise how important it is to be
together, to make those spontaneous connections, to put a face to a
name, to forge closer relationships, share experiences, a joke - all those
things that don't happen naturally on a screen and, after all, the reason
why we're in the industry we're in.
For me personally, these events will be a chance to finally meet many of
the people I've only known virtually in the year since I joined The Business
Travel Magazine and I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to it.
EDITORIAL
EDITOR
Bev Fearis
CONTRIBUTORS
Catherine Chetwynd,
Gillian Upton & Gary Noakes
STAFF JOURNALIST
April Waterston
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Julie Baxter
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Steve Hartridge
ADVERTISING SALES
PUBLISHER / COMMERCIAL HEAD
Kirsty Hicks
DESIGN & PRODUCTION
DESIGNERS
Caitlan Francis & Emma Norton
PRODUCTION & STUDIO MANAGER
Clare Hunter
PRODUCTION ADMINISTRATOR
Steve Hunter
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4 THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.COM
UP FRONT
OPINION
Everyone's talking about...
restarting transatlantic travel
“REOPENING OF
THE US BORDER FOR
FULLY VACCINATED UK/
EU NATIONALS REPRESENTS
THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT
MILESTONE FOR GLOBAL TRAVEL.
IT’S THE EQUIVALENT OF
CHRISTMAS COMING EARLY”
Jason Oshiokpekhai, Managing Director,
Global Travel Collection UK
“Transatlantic routes are crucial as
British businesses strive to re-energise
our economy and even more so for some
of our agile and growing SMEs clients that
see the US as a vital market to break into"
Bex Deadman, Managing Director Blue Cube Travel
“SINCE THE UK AND EU RELAXED ENTRY PROTOCOLS FOR FULLY
VACCINATED US TRAVELLERS, WE’VE SEEN A MEANINGFUL UPTICK IN
ARRIVALS. FREEDOM TO TRAVEL IS VITAL TO SAVING BUSINESSES,
JOBS AND ECONOMIES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE POND. IT’S TIME
FOR THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO TAKE A COMMON SENSE,
SCIENCE-BASED APPROACH TO REOPENING INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL"
Martin Ferguson, Vice President Public Affairs, Amex GBT
The safe re-opening of the
transatlantic corridor is
critical so that we can begin
to see a meaningful restart
and recovery of business
travel, and support the
thousands of businesses
and jobs across the UK
and globally”
Sonia Michaels, Head of Business Travel Services and Events, Advantage Travel Partnership
“WITH THE US, UK AND MANY EU COUNTRIES MAKING STEADY PROGRESS WITH THEIR
VACCINATION CAMPAIGNS, WE’RE SEEING A SHIFT IN ATTITUDE AND PEOPLE WANTING TO GET
BACK ON THE ROAD, BUT WITH SAFETY, SECURITY AND WELLBEING STILL HIGH ON THE AGENDA”
Niklas Andreen, CWT President and Chief Operating Officer
“Before the pandemic devastated the sector, the US
was the biggest source market for the UK in terms of
visitor numbers and the UK was the third biggest
source market for the US. This shows just how vital a
corridor would be in boosting both economies”
Virginia Messina, WTTC Senior Vice President and Acting CEO
6 THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.COM
UP FRONT
SPEAKING OUT
When you take a new role in the
midst of a pandemic you’re not
quite sure what to expect, but
in the six months since I joined GBTA I
continue to know one thing for sure:
there’s an important task ahead in
navigating the challenges and fostering
recovery in the business travel industry
and the travel ecosystem.
In normal years, my role would involve
lots of business travel, conferences, and
events, but like so many of you I’ve found
myself working almost solely remotely, with
only my laptop and virtual meeting tools as
a way of connecting with our members,
teams, and industry colleagues.
A big step forward came in early August
when I was delighted to attend my first
in-person conference since the outset of the
pandemic. Walking into a convention centre
with 1,000-plus other attendees felt familiar
THE POWER OF CONNECTION
A CHANGED
WORLD
Life is starting to feel more familiar, says the GBTA’s
Suzanne Neufang, but will it ever be the same?
— but also different. It was energising to
feel the buzz, to see so many people
networking, learning and collaborating,
while event organisers prioritised health
and safety for all.
But the reality is there are still some
detours on the road back to business travel.
Government restrictions and lockdowns
have made it difficult for businesses to plan
a return to travel, especially across borders.
This summer I was able to visit my
husband, who is spending time in Germany,
but I couldn’t travel to the UK for the
industry Day of Action – a reminder that we
still need to keep up our advocacy efforts
for a consistent approach across nations.
There have been upsides too. The pause
in business travel gave the GBTA the
opportunity to reset and implement
changes. I’ve made it my top priority to
listen and speak to members, buyers,
suppliers, partners, staff, and volunteers
across each of the regions. This will enable
us to transform as an association fit for
purpose, to ensure a solid foundation to
see us through the pandemic and support
members through education, networking,
and of course advocacy efforts, to aid the
recovery of the industry.
We’ve also increased global representation
with the recent GBTA Board of Directors
elections, welcoming a UK-based Vice-
President as well as regional board
members to represent Canada and Europe.
Even though there are challenges, our
industry has and will always be resilient.
We know that GBTA members are also
keen to get out on the road again.
In our most recent Covid-19 poll, most
respondents reported they’ve been
vaccinated with their vaccine passport at the
ready. We are optimistic for a future where
in-person events will be the norm again,
even if a little different. The power of
meeting, collaborating and connecting in
person cannot be underestimated nor
replaced.
GBTA is committed to hosting several
in-person events during the final quarter of
2021, with events in Paris, Orlando, Canada
and Berlin. I very much look forward seeing
many of you there.
SUZANNE NEUFANG
Suzanne Neufang was appointed
Chief Executive of the GBTA in
February 2021. She was
previously Senior VP Americas
for HRS Global Hotel Solutions
and before that held roles at
Sabre Travel Network,
GetThere and Travelocity.
ISTOCK.COM/BORCHEE
THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.COM
7
UP FRONT
THE KNOWLEDGE
How to...
instil traveller confidence
With its essential workers continuing to
travel overseas throughout the
pandemic, Oil Spill Response was quick to
put procedures in place to protect its
teams and instil confidence.
THE BACKGROUND
Oil Spill Response Limited is an
international industry-funded
cooperative which responds to
oil spills around the world. It
has 12 global locations
employing around 270 people
– with 150 travelling regularly throughout
the pandemic. Since June, its emergency
response teams have been assisting with a
major environmental disaster in Sri Lanka
after a container ship caught fire off
Colombo’s port. Alongside its emergency
response teams, other employees travel
regularly to undertake essential equipment
maintenance. Although the company
already had effective procedures in place to
protect traveller safety, the outbreak of
Covid-19 meant it had to add a whole new
layer of support and reassurance.
THE CHALLENGE
With the company’s work deemed
essential, some employees
have continued to travel,
even at the peak of
the pandemic.
Travel bookers
There hasn’t been a lot
of nervousness among
our travellers, or their loved
ones, because we’ve been so
thorough in our procedures"
have had to navigate complex and fastchanging
border requirements, which are
different for vaccinated and non-vaccinated
travellers, and also deal
with air and hotel capacity
constraints. “We’re
nowhere near the
previous levels of travel
but as a travel manager it
feels like more because
it’s now so complicated,”
said the company's Alice
Linley-Munro. “We’ve been rushed off our
feet and I only breathe out when travellers
return home.” The company prides itself on
supporting the mental wellbeing of its
people and recognised that concerns over
Covid-19 made this even more vital.
THE PROCESS
Within weeks of the coronavirus emerging,
the company began putting together a
document, called the 'Human Factor',
designed to allay as many fears
as possible for its travellers. It
covers off everything,”
explains Linley-Munro.
“It’s a 12-page document
which runs through all the
different scenarios, such as
‘what if I have to
quarantine?’, ‘what if I catch
Covid while I’m away?’ or
‘what if one of my family
members catches it?’. It’s a
comprehensive checklist, down to tiniest of
details. We wanted to cover off anything our
people could potentially worry about.”
Crucially, the company also distributed a
leaflet for the families of travelling
employees. “We made sure the leaflet was
written in layman’s terms, with no jargon,
explaining how we were going to keep our
people safe at every step of the journey,”
says Linley-Munro. Travelling employees
have also posted blogs about their journeys
on the group’s intranet, sharing their
personal experiences and tips, often in a
light-hearted way. These posts have led to
online conversations, creating a sense of
community and alleviating concerns. “We
have our documents and checklists but this
is people living the documents, which really
helps. It’s nice to see it taking shape.”
THE RESULT
“There hasn’t been a lot of
nervousness among our
travellers, or their loved
ones, because we’ve been
so thorough in our
procedures, constantly
checking everything and
adjusting measures along the way,” says
Linley-Munro. For example, employees who
have had to isolate – either at home or in
hotels - are now sent hampers with their
favourite snacks and magazines, along with
all the necessary IT equipment. “We’ve
arranged the delivery of toasters, an
afternoon tea, car magazines.” HR teams
send fortnightly wellbeing questionnaires
asking employees to score 1/10 on how
they’re feeling. “It helps us to spot patterns,”
says Linley-Munro. “We’ve learnt things
from the first wave of travellers and we’ve
updated the procedures in place.”
8 THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.com
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SMEs
First
off the blocks
SMEs are way out in front when it comes to getting
back to business travel, but there are still many
hurdles to overcome, says Gill Upton
It’s no surprise that the more nimble
SMEs, with their flat hierarchies and
quick decision-making skills, are
leading the charge back to business travel.
Return-to-travel policies have been created,
pre-trip approvals tightened up and thirdparty
providers engaged to share the latest
on quarantine rules, certificates, vaccination
centres, new testing requirements, safety
protocols and the like.
James Mcilvenna, Corporate Traveller Head
of Account Management, neatly sums up the
sentiment: “SMEs are done with the
pandemic. They're all hyper-focussed on
growth and getting back to normality.”
The situation is particularly acute for those
companies who acquired other firms during
lockdown and haven’t been able to meet any
of their new employees or colleagues.
In contrast, the larger PLCs are slowed by
their structure, believes Douglas O’Neill,
Managing Director of Inntel. “Our larger
corporates (generally plc level) have very
strict internal governance that is restricting
travel and meeting enquiries being placed.
Overcoming this internal governance or the
changing of it does not happen very quickly.”
Maggie Monteith, Client Services Director –
Corporate at VENTUR, believes the large
PLCs have another reason to be slower off
the mark. “Some larger, blue-chip companies
may hold out a little longer as they’ll have the
financial luxury to do so,” she says.
Wyndham Hotels, however, has witnessed
a mix of demand for hotel stays from both
SMEs and large corporates, “which is a good
sign of economic recovery momentum,” says
Julie White, VP Commercial, EMEA.
Leading the way by sector are the IT,
creative industries, media, entertainment,
sport, training, HR and consultancy
companies, while critical oil, gas and energy
workers had no need to dust off their
suitcases as they continued to operate
throughout the pandemic.
The early push was domestic travel and the
end of quarantine for fully-vaccinated
journeys between amber-list countries
announced in early July gave a fillip to
international travel. The EU vaccine passport
kickstarted frantic intra-European travel and
the UK has now reached agreements so
foreign vaccination records can be
recognised. At the time of going to press,
talks continued on a US-UK 'travel corridor'.
A corporate travel ban is still in place at
Inchcape Shipping services, a global maritime
services company with offices in 68
countries. Simon Potter, Group Procurement
& QHSSE Officer, says the ban won’t be lifted
until the passport vaccination scheme takes
off. “Clear guidance from government would
make my life easier and an international
vaccination scheme recognised by all the
major nations,” he says.
It is the vagaries of different countries’
restrictions he finds the most challenging.
His costs have also increased, not only for
PCR testing but from higher hotel rates
and the need for more hotel stays.
10 THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.com
SMEs
istock.com/ Nastasic
THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.com
11
SMEs
All companies are keen to fill their
business pipeline, while British companies
must find new markets for their goods in a
post-Brexit world. They have overcome huge
challenges to get back on the road,
exemplified by SME corporate Samantha
Matthews, Admin Manager/Engineer
Supervisor at LBBC Technologies.
“To start with it was understanding the
travel rules, reference isolation periods, what
and how many PCR tests are required, what
supporting paperwork is required to get our
engineers safely through the borders and
what PPE equipment is required," she says.
“We also have to make sure our customers
have their Covid measures in place in
preparation for a visit and sometimes we
have to educate them if they’re unsure.
Essential workers letters are required from
every customer for overseas work, so there
is a lot of prep work involved. “
To add to the strain, government websites
are sometimes not very clear and offer
conflicting information, she says, causing a
lot of confusion for both LBBC and its TMC,
Good Travel Management.
Helping hand
Corporates are relying heavily on their TMCs
to ensure clients are prepared and their
travellers kept safe. Sourcing and
understanding the current guidelines is a
minefield because of the uncertainty. “As
long as there is confusion and disparity
between governments globally we’ll be
needed,” says Corporate Traveller's Mcilvenna.
Much of the groundwork was undertaken
during lockdown. TMCs helped travel
managers update travel policies, with
stronger pre-trip approvals, shared links to
official sites and communicated a clear
process flow from approval to journey end.
“Robust travel policies are a must,” adds
SMEs are done
with the pandemic.
They're all hyper-focussed on
growth and getting back to
normality”
Emma Louise Forrestall, Head of Service
Delivery at VENTUR. “We are considering
things such as accommodation requirements
in a Covid world, the process for booking
travel to amber or red-listed countries, and
ensuring bookers leave flexibility in their
plans should things needs to change.
“We can provide quotes and route
suggestions, which then change in less than
24 hours, so we need to be on top of the
current recommendations around entry
requirements and tests, always.”
Starting bookings much earlier than usual
is key, largely to satisfy the ever-changing
testing requirements. TMCs are generally
outsourcing this service to third party
providers but corporates are footing the bill.
LBBC Technologies’s Matthews says: “We
are taking the hit. There are lots of extra
costs, in the hundreds for each engineer for
each visit. There is much more prep work for
engineers planning a trip, to make sure they
have the tests done within the required
travel windows." LBBC has a big US customer
base and has had to apply for visa entry for
each trip, not only a long process but not
always successful.
“This has had a big impact on our
scheduling and planning work. We have a
massive backlog due to all the postponed
visits. The list goes on….” says Matthews.
Travel managers, bookers and PAs are also
having to balance a return to travel with ESG
(environmental, social and governance)
agendas to reduce unnecessary travel.
Bill Gates’ gloomy prediction that 50% of
business travel will disappear permanently
hangs over the industry and many
corporates are grabbing this once-in-alifetime
moment to use their zero emissions
status as a new sustainability baseline.
Sense of purpose
All corporates are deciding what travel is
really critical. Blue Cube Travel, for example,
ran a series of client webinars earlier this
year to re-set expectations and challenge the
purpose of travel.
Corporates are also asking TMCs to cajole
reluctant travellers. “We’ve been helping to
restore traveller confidence as they’re
reticent over their safety,” says Blue Cube’s
Managing Director Bex Deadman.
“What Covid has done is allowed travellers
to spend time with their families and they’ve
bought into working from home so they
don’t want to travel as much,” she says.
Blue Cube has also been helping clients
to change the office environment, adding
12 THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.com
A pioneer of
modern nursing
Florence Nightingale introduced effective sanitisation in military hospitals during
the Crimea War in 1854 and laid the foundations of modern nursing. Surprisingly,
the ‘Lady of the Lamp’ was a sharp statistician too. Her ability to visualise data
revealed in one study that 89% of 18,000 military deaths were from preventable
diseases not battle. This helped revolutionise military medical care but also
shaped civilian hospital nursing the world over.
DIAGRAM
OF THE
CAUSES
OF
MORTALITY
IN THE ARMY
IN THE EAST
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
JULY
BULGARIA
CRIMEA
1854-55
DISEASE
FEBRUARY
WOUNDS
MARCH
OTHER CAUSES
Businesses get judged
by how they look after
their employees
How many corporate websites declare ‘our people are our most valuable asset’?
So, when did we lose sight of treating business travellers with appropriate due care and
attention? Whether you are a global corporation or a fledgling SME business, is the
mental and physical wellbeing of your travellers truly a priority?
Global opportunities have driven expansion at an unprecedented rate, and expectations
for travellers being available 24/7 wherever they are in the world have increased
dramatically. But the cost to human capital has also escalated. And the downsides of
reduced productivity, demotivated employees, and mental burnout often undermine
business goals, risking project disruption and potentially dissatisfied customers.
Blue Cube is pioneering a shift in corporate expectations, moving away from a narrow
cost-driven focus to treating travel as an investment. And the best way to invest in future
success is to look after your people, especially when they travel on business.
We’re here to help you integrate traveller wellbeing into your travel programme as a
crucial part of a wider approach to making travel safer, productive, and more sustainable.
TO FIND OUT MORE TALK TO US ON 0208 948 8188 - OR EMAIL sales@bluecubetravel.co.uk
www.bluecubetravel.co.uk
SMEs
Starting bookings
much earlier is
key, largely to satisfy the
ever-changing testing
requirements”
Deliveroo services, pop-up cafes and the
like. “Some clients want to make their office a
destination,” she says.
Inchcape is moving offices in London,
triggering such a re-think, explains Potter.
“There was quite a lot of uproar when we
first sent staff home and I think we will
probably experience a reluctance to come
back but it’s the commuting before the
travelling that is the challenge,” he says.
He hopes new offices with a more openplan
workspace, no fixed offices, more Zoom
booths and a social area will entice them.
Blue Cube Travel books the flights to
manage the crew rotations and Potter and
his 30-strong team manage the journey
between the airport and vessel.
“It certainly hasn’t got easier,” he says.
But the logistical nightmare that is now
corporate travel has an unlikely silver lining.
Kevin Harrison, Managing Director of Good
Travel Management, points to a closer
engagement between TMCs and clients.
“Our Account Managers and Relationship
Managers have been able to step up further
in their consultancy offering and this is now
starting to translate into an improving trading
environment," he says.
The right balance
While the value proposition of a TMC has
been perfectly demonstrated over the last 15
months, questions remain whether they can
handle the surge in demand as travel
resumes. TMCs have empty coffers and many
staff are still on furlough, so tough decisions
have to be made on when and how many
staff to bring back to meet demand.
“The hardest time for TMCs is coming,”
reckons Clive Wratten, CEO of the BTA.
“There is a lot of work going on to get the
balance right; it will be tricky,” he says. He
cites urgent training issues of TMC staff who
have been out of the business for 15 months
and others who have lost confidence. “It’s
going to be a long climb out,” he says.
But Douglas O’Neill, Managing Director of
Inntel, believes TMCs should be primed and
ready to take on business. "We have all had
enough time to think about it and to train our
teams to be ready for it! - so there can be no
excuses. Furlough etc is no excuse.”
ATPI has brought all ops staff back, despite
istock.com/kate_sept2004
not having sufficient demand, and will bring a
further 25-30 staff back in September.
“We’ve had to invest in bringing more staff
back as we can’t manage on the same
staffing levels so it’s an investment decision
for the longer term,” says Adam Knights, ATPI
Regional MD Europe & Middle East.
“We’ve budgeted for travel not to come
back to 2019 levels but bookings are taking
six to 10 times as long. It’s very, very difficult
to make a booking. We say, ‘Bear with us’.”
ITM’s CEO Scott Davies agrees: “TMCs have
performed miracles to survive on meagre
volumes and will need support and
understanding to regain their strength and
service levels.”
What is taking the time is the more labourintensive,
white glove, offline service. “People
are avoiding booking online,” says Wratten.
“Bookings are so complex that service will
certainly be high-touch to start with.”
“The average booking took 2.5 minutes
before and now it takes an hour,” says Blue
Cube’s Deadman. That is labour-intensive
and the company is busy recruiting, having
made 50% of its staff redundant.
“I’d rather the headache of a smaller TMC
who can scale up,” says Barry Fleming, Head
of Marketing at Blue Cube. “There is a pool of
incredible talent out there without jobs.”
Some TMCs are starting to charge for calls;
others are looking at costs as a short-term
pain. “To recover quickly, the temptation
would be to hike fees and I can see that
appeal but our model is not a high-volume,
sausage factory,” says Fleming. The company
offers a pay-as-you-go/transaction model and
a subscription model.
Good Travel Management's Harrison says
business models need to change. “We are
seeing that travel managers and PAs are far
more reliant on their TMC and are looking for
guidance in aspects far deeper than it had
been pre-Covid. That creates an opportunity
to look at consulting and financial models
that truly reflect what customers need and
places a value on the expertise we provide.”
14 THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.com
Map your return
to travel.
Corporate travel has changed. It's now time to get back on course and continue
the journey, while taking the opportunity to review and renew your wider goals
and targets – specifically in relation to sustainability, content and service.
Wherever your destination and whatever the future holds,
Direct ATPI has the expertise to get you there.
Delivering what really matters
atpi.com
AWARDS
IT'S PARTY TIME
Just days away, The Business Travel People Awards will celebrate their 10th
anniversary this year with a new-look ceremony, new categories and a new
judging panel. Join the industry's finest talent for a night to remember...
SINCE their inception a decade
ago, the Business Travel People
Awards have become one of the
major highlights of the business
travel social calendar.
After a year of being
virtual, they're making a
comeback this year
with a new evening
format, new judges,
brand new categories
and, of course, a new
shortlist of potential winners all
hoping to take one of the
prestigious trophies back to
their desks.
This year the
ceremony has been
timed to coincide with
The Business Travel
Conference (see page
40), and will take place at
the same venue, the Hilton
London Bankside, on the evening
of Wednesday September 15.
After all these
months apart,
the business travel
community cannot wait to
meet face-to-face again
to network and celebrate
with the winners”
If you haven't already got
your tickets, there are still
some available, but be
quick: after all these
months apart, the
business travel
community
cannot wait
to meet
face-to-face
again to
network and
celebrate with the
winners.
As always, the fizz will be
flowing but guests can
also be reassured that
the evening has been
planned with Covid
safety and comfort
firmly in mind.
Tickets will be sent
electronically prior to the event
to simplify arrivals and registration
staff will be increased to further
speed up the process.
Bowl food will be served on trays
so guests can select their choice
and have minimal contact with
waiting staff.
Hilton's stringent EventReady
and CleanStay programmes will be
in place and all hotel staff will be
wearing masks and taking regular
lateral flow tests in the lead-up to
and during the event.
Tickets cost £95 plus VAT and
include welcome drinks, bowl
food, and entry to the after party
in the Hilton London Bankside's
fabulous ballroom. We look
forward to seeing you there.
As always, the fizz
will be flowing
but guests can be also
reassured that the evening
has been planned with
Covid safety and comfort
firmly in mind”
16 THEBUSINESSTRAVELPEOPLEAWARDS.COM
AWARDS
THE FINALISTS
ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT TEAM OF THE YEAR
Corporate Traveller
Reed & Mackay Travel
Agiito
Click Travel
SilverDoor
ACCOUNT MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Amy Ashby, Inntel
Emma Horton, Synergy Global Housing
Ann Thomas, Agiito
Trish Williams, Clarity
OPERATIONS TEAM OF THE YEAR
Production Team, TAG
Operations Team, ATPI
Operations Team, Reed & Mackay Travel
Continuity Team, Diversity Travel
OPERATIONS MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Charlotte Winter, Synergy Global Housing
Danielle Myers, TAG
Hazel Maw, Click Travel
MEETINGS & EVENTS TEAM OF THE YEAR
TAG
Agiito
Reed & Mackay Travel
MEETINGS AND EVENTS MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Jadene Cook, Agiito
Dani Ives, Focus Travel Partnership
BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR
TrustedStays, UnderTheDoormat
The Working Party, Reed & Mackay Travel
Sarah Wilson, ACE Travel Management
Lynne Griffiths, Sirius Talent Solutions
CUSTOMER WELLBEING INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR
Colleagues Unite, Clyde Travel Management
Covid Shield, Agiito
Juliette Hassell, Fastrack VIP
DUTY OF CARE INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR
Repatriation Service, Focus Travel Partnership
ATPI
Accor
Supplier Management Team, Agiito
BEST NEWCOMER
Amber Madden, Agiito
Kris Kolev, SITU
RISING STAR
Jennifer Cummins, Synergy Global Housing
Molly Winterton, Agiito
Dani Ives, Focus Travel Partnership
Matt Furnell, SITU
CHANGE CHAMPION LEADER
Katie Blount, Agiito
Samantha McKnight, London North Eastern Railway (LNER)
Nico Nicholas, Trees4Travel
Annette Ritson, Clarity
INDUSTRY CONTRIBUTION AWARD
Clive Wratten, Business Travel Association
James Parkhouse, Agiito
Julia Lo Bue-Said, Advantage Travel Partnership
OPERATIONS MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Charlotte Winter, Synergy Global Housing
Danielle Myers, TAG
Hazel Maw, Click Travel
COVID-19 SUPPORT INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR
Homes For NHS, UnderTheDoormat
Sirius Talent Solutions
Agiito
Synergy Global Housing
ALTOUR UK
With special thanks to our sponsors
THEBUSINESSTRAVELPEOPLEAWARDS.COM 17
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ThE NEWS REvIEW
G O O N L I N E F O R L A T E S T N E W S
BRITS To PAy vISA WAIvER To
ENTER SChENgEN STATES
BRITISH nationals will have to pay
a visa waiver fee to enter Europe’s
Schengen Area from next year
under new rules confirmed by the
European Commission.
An online platform – the European
Travel Information and Authorisation
System (ETIAS) – will come into
operation before the end of 2022.
ETIAS authorisation will cost €7
for all applicants between the ages
of 18 and 70.
It will be a one-off fee, valid for
three years, and will allow multiple
entries into Schengen states.
Travellers will need to complete
an online application form via an
official website or app to receive
their approval.
The European Commission said it
expects a "vast majority" of cases
(expected to be over 95%) will
result in automatic approval.
If further checks are needed, the
authorisation may take up to 30
days.
The EC said the scheme would
facilitate border checks, avoid
bureaucracy and delays and
substantially reduce the number
of refusals of entry at border
crossing points.
IAtA IntEGRAtES nHS CovId APP
Into dIGItAl tRAvEl PASS
THe NHS COVID Pass and EU Digital COVID Certificate
can now be uploaded into the IATA Travel Pass as
verified proof of vaccination for travel.
Nick Careen, IATA Senior VP for Operations Safety and
Security, said it was “an important step forward,
providing convenience for travellers, authenticity for
governments and efficiency for airlines" and urged the
WHO to revisit its work to develop a global standard.
Eurostar adds trains
after rise in demand
eURoSTAR is adding more rail services between the UK and
the continent in response to growing demand following the
relaxation of travel restrictions.
It will expand schedules from September 6 after the
removal of quarantine for fully vaccinated travellers from
France to the UK and the easing of restrictions for travel to
Belgium and the Netherlands.
A new timetable, running until November 1, will see eight
daily return services, with five in each direction on the
London to Paris route and three in each direction between
London and Brussels, with one each way extended to
Rotterdam and Amsterdam.
All tickets are flexible with no exchange fee up to seven
days before departure. Fares start from £39 each way.
98%
expect travel to return
before the end of 2021
The majority (98%) of
American Express GBT
clients expect travel to
return before the end of
2021, according to the
TMC's latest report on
business travel trends
and insights, based
on client research,
traveller surveys,
and data analysis
[ NEWS BITES ]
>> ADVANTAGE Global Business Travel and WIN Global Travel
Network have signed two TMC partners in Australia – Bay Travel
Group in New South Wales and FBI Travel in Victoria >> HYATT
has opened its second property in Ekaterinburg and its first Hyatt
Place property in Russia, developed by LLC Hotel Development
Company >> AIR CANADA is increasing its non-stop flights
between Heathrow and its Montréal hub from three times weekly
to four times weekly from September 8 >> GBTA has moved its
2021 European conference from Weisbaden on October 13-15 to
Berlin on December 6-8 after a survey of members and potential
delegates >> TRANSPENNINE Express has added two extra train
services on its Glasgow-Manchester route
ThE NEWS REvIEW
G O O N L I N E F O R L A T E S T N E W S
RISK SPECIALIST To oPEN
LoNDoN CoMMAND CENTRE
WoRlD TRAVel PRoTeCTIoN has
expanded into the UK with a core
London-based team and has
announced plans to open a
purpose-built Command Centre in
the city in the coming year.
The company, part of Zurich
Insurance Group, already operates
two Command Centres in Brisbane
and Toronto, providing 24-hour
emergency assistance to travellers.
CEO Adrian Leach said: “Until
recently World Travel Protection
didn’t have a team in place within
the UK but with a growing team
based in our new office in London
we’re working hard to raise
awareness that our travel risk
management services are now
available for UK organisations.
"Discussions are already starting
on how travel has changed since
Covid and our services will be even
more essential as travel resumes
for organisations in the UK.”
Zurich’s Global Head of Accident
and Health, Drazen Jaksic, added:
"The growing complexity of
business travel risks has brought
into sharp focus the value of
assistance services helping
travellers on the ground."
IAtA SuRvEY SHowS PASSEnGERS
fEEl SAfE on boARd
THe MAJoRITY of travellers who have flown since June
2020 felt safe onboard (86%), while 89% believe
Covid-19 protective measures were well implemented.
According to an IATA survey of 4,700 global travellers,
air passengers also strongly support mask wearing
onboard flights (83% ) and strict enforcement of mask
rules (86%), but the majority also believe mask
requirements should be ended as soon as possible.
Emirates scales up
UK operations
eMIRATeS is expanding services to and from five UK
gateways after a relaxation of travel restrictions prompted a
spike in demand.
Since August Emirates has been serving London Heathrow
with three daily flights, all operated by its flagship A380, and
by the middle of October it will have restored its Heathrow
operations to six daily flights, four served by the A380.
It will also fly double-daily A380 flights from Manchester, 10
services a week from Birmingham, daily flights from Glasgow
and twice a week from Newcastle.
Across its entire network, Emirates will be restoring
capacity across 29 cities and fine-tuning its schedules to
boost frequencies and capacity this autumn.
32%
increase in average
EMEA air fares
Average flight ticket
prices for the EMEA
region in April
to June 2021 jumped
32% compared to
January to March 2021,
according to the latest
quarterly report from
travel management
company FCM, based
on data from its
corporate bookings
[ NEWS BITES ]
>> CORPORATE TRAVEL MANAGEMENT (CTM) has been selected
as Supporter Travel Provider for Arsenal FC for the 2021/2022
season >> ACCOR has teamed up with venuedirectory.com to
make it easier for meeting and event planners to make bookings at
its properties >> GRAY DAWES EVENTS, the MICE division of the
Gray Dawes Group, has signed an agreement with venuedirectory.
com for its end-to-end venue finding software, GRATIS >> RADIUS
TRAVEL has announced that Clyde Travel Management, a
specialist in corporate, maritime, offshore and renewables travel,
has joined the its partner network >> ENTERPRISE has opened a
new £1.8m flagship vehicle rental site and technology hub in
Sheepscar, Leeds, replacing a smaller branch on North Street
ThE NEWS REvIEW
T H E B U S I N E S S T R A V E L M A G . C O M
September is a time of new
beginnings and this year a
new start is needed more
than ever. As children start
a new school year, workers
head to the office and MPs
return to Westminster, we
in the business travel
industry need urgent action.
Many will have enjoyed a
staycation and applauded
themselves for helping the
UK’s economy. This is to be
celebrated, but two vital
sectors – business and
leisure travel – are being
prevented from making
valuable contributions to
this economy.
For MPs keen to do their
homework, business travel
contributes £220billion to
UK GDP every year and we
employ tens of thousands
of people across the supply
chain. Business travel is
essential to the aviation
sector and enables lower
fares for holiday makers.
This term, we are setting
three tests that MPs must
pass to keep this vital sector
alive. Firstly, end the arrivals
testing debacle.
The expense and Wild
West nature of the process
is a huge barrier for the
corporate traveller.
Instead, work with the
BTA COMMENT BTA UPDATE
It's time to go
back to school
Clive Wratten
Chief Executive Officer
business travel community
to do a proper trial of daily
lateral flow tests on arriving
travellers. If it’s good
enough for Michael Gove,
we’re willing to give it a go.
Secondly, abolish the
traffic light system. Bring
forward the final review and
rid travellers of the
confusion around green
and amber countries.
With the UK’s effective
vaccine roll-out, we should
be making it easier for
people to go about their
daily lives. This involves
travelling for work. Travel
remains the only sector
being governed by Covid
regulations. We need to be
opened up once more.
Finally, extend furlough
for our sector.
While the current
conditions remain, we can’t
fling open our doors and
operate effectively in a
pre-pandemic fashion.
We want to trade, to
travel, to facilitate global
Britain. We urge the hand
that is taking so much away
from us to give back the
furlough scheme in a
targeted way.
At the BTA, our door is
open for MPs who need a
cramming session.
TapTrip ventures
into new waters
FolloWINg a further £1.7 million investment, TapTrip has
unveiled Vessul, an online service to more efficiently manage
the movement of essential marine and energy workers.
Using similar technology to its online booking tool, TapTrip
says Vessul is set to “revolutionise the industry”, where 98%
of travel bookings are still made offline.
Vessul is a dedicated marine and energy solution, providing
travel bookers with easy-to-use, hands-on, real-time travel
management technology blended with human support.
A key feature of the technology is a multi-city departures
function, a smart tool which gives companies the ability to
book up to 50 flights for multiple travellers, in a single
booking, to arrive at the same destination at the same time,
no matter which location they have departed from.
NEW ChAPTER FoR AER LINgUS
AFTER SToBART FAILURE
AeR lINgUS has signed a 10-year
franchise agreement with Emerald
Airlines to operate its regional
flights, starting from January 2023.
Emerald will replace former
franchise partner, Stobart Air,
which ceased trading in June.
Aer Lingus said until the
agreement comes into play, it will
continue to “work closely with
Emerald Airlines to evaluate
options with respect to an earlier
contract start date".
Lynne Embleton, Aer Lingus
Chief Executive, said the franchise
agreement "marks a new chapter"
and “significantly boosts" the
airline’s intent to develop Dublin
Airport as a hub between Europe
and the US.
She said it will also facilitate
convenient connections between
Ireland and regional airports in the
UK, the Isle of Man and Jersey, with
options for network expansion to
other airports in the future.
THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.com
21
THE NEWS REVIEW
G O O N L I N E F O R L A T E S T N E W S
IN BRIEF
Cairo change
British Airways will start
operating a second daily
flight from London
Heathrow Terminal 5 to
Cairo from October 31. The
service will operate on
BA’s short-haul Airbus
fleet. Services will run
year-round with a slight
change in schedules from
March 27 2022.
Flexi time
Accor has launched a
Commute and Stay aimed
at flexi workers. It gives
workers a central base in a
city hotel, with discounts
up to 15%, enabling two
days in the office and a
venue for evening
entertainment before
commuting back home.
Train link
TapTrip has teamed up
with Trainline Partner
Solutions (TPS), Trainline’s
B2B arm, to further
streamline its service
and give users greater
rail coverage.
Capital returns
Air Astana resumes direct
flights from Kazakstan’s
capital Nur-Sultan to
London Heathrow on
September 18, starting
with two frequencies on
Saturdays and
Wednesdays. Economy
Class return fares
start from £511.
EasyJet seat
Former Royal Bank of
Scotland boss Stephen
Hester has been named as
the new Chairman of
easyJet. He initially joins as
Non-Executive Director
and will succeed John
Barton as Chairman in
December.
IAn SCHRAGER's Public hotel has
become the first in new York city to
require guests and visitors to
show proof of covid-19 vaccination
on arrival. The new policy came
into force on September 5
TRIPBAM begins
trials of air solution
TRIPBAM, the hotel reshopping specialist, has begun the
Beta testing phase for its air solution, working in partnership
with selected global TMCs and corporate clients.
CEO Steve Reynolds said if the trials are successful the
product will be officially released in mid-October.
With NDC content available from the start, the solution will
give users ‘lowest qualified fares’ to accurately measure the
value of air travel contracts. Clients will also be able to audit
contracts to make sure they are being applied accurately.
This data, along with some historical data, will be fed into a
benchmarking solution called Air Intelligence.
Reynolds said the next step would be to move into the car
rental space, with discussions set to start in early 2022.
QANTAS: ALL
STAFF MUST
BE JABBED
QANTAS is to make it compulsary
for all frontline employees – including
cabin crew, pilots and
airport workers – to be fully
vaccinated by November 15 2021
and the remainder of employees
by March 31 2022.
The decision follows a major
consultation with Qantas and
Jetstar employees, including a
survey sent to 22,000 people to
seek their views on vaccination.
The results showed that of those
who responded 89% had already
been vaccinated or are planning to
be and only 4% were unwilling or
unable to get the jab.
In a separate survey of more
than 1,000 Qantas customers, 92%
cent said they expect Qantas crew
to be fully vaccinated.
United Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines
and Cathay Pacific are also
mandating Covid vaccinations for
their employees. There will be
exemptions for those who have
documented medical reasons for
not having the vaccine.
SIA revamps
highflyer
programme
Singapore Airlines has
combined its SIA Corporate Travel
Programme, aimed at large
corporates, with its SME-focussed
programme, HighFlyer. From
September 1 they will both come
under the HighFlyer brand.
Current SIA Corporate Travel
Programme accounts will have
their contracts renewed under the
new HighFlyer programme.
The airline said all benefits will
be retained and new features will
also be introduced, including the
option to "earn and burn" options
with non-air partners such as
hotels and car rental services.
22 THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.com
THE NEWS REVIEW
thebusinesstravelmag.com
IN BRIEF
Delta on track
Delta has launched an
Air+Rail programme in
partnership with Thalys
high-speed trains to
provide speedy rail
connections between
Brussels and Antwerp.
Passengers can seamlessly
transfer between plane
and train at Amsterdam
Airport Schiphol with
one ticket booking.
Kayak launch
Travel search engine
KAYAK has officially
launched its free
corporate travel solution,
KAYAK for Business, and
is promising to bring
“the leisure travel
experience to the outdated
interface of the corporate
travel world”.
TAG app
TAG has developed a
new integrated travel
app, TAGgo, to help
travellers and travel
managers prepare for the
return to business travel.
Part of the TAG Digital
suite, TAGgo provides real
time updates and traveller
essentials like gate
changes and baggage
collection.
Brand loyalty
Ascott has launched a
single global online
booking platform,
discoverasr.com, for its
Ascott Star Rewards (ASR)
loyalty members, covering
all of its brands.
Covid alerts
Shep has enlisted Riskline
to provide API-driven,
in-depth local, city and
state-level Covid-19 travel
information for its alerts
and notifications.
SME travellers keen
to get back on the road
the vast majority (95%) of travellers working for SMEs are
willing to travel again for business within the next year and
63% are actively willing to do so, according to new research.
The study, commissioned by SAP Concur, found travellers
from small businesses see their companies facing severe
consequences if they don’t increase travel soon.
Among their concerns, SME travellers fear there will be
fewer deals signed (35%) and a difficulty to build new
relationships (33%).
According to SAP Concur, travellers at SMEs are more likely
than those at larger companies to have professional
concerns about not travelling (79% compared with 72%).
See feature on SMEs on page 10.
British airways reopens flagship
lounge at New York JFK
British Airways has reopened its flagship US lounge
at JFK’s Terminal 7 after a 16-month closure due to the
Covid-19 pandemic. It came after a change in entry
requirements for US customers flying to the UK.
The lounge is available for those travelling in First,
Club World and eligible card holders.
BA also recently reopened three domestic lounges
in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
ITM
Scott Davies
Chief Executive
Travel managers have, for
many years, been adaptable
chameleons, embracing new
skillsets and frames of
reference. During the
pandemic, their priorities
have morphed from
emergency response to
crystal ball-style forecasting,
to budget cancelling, to
border immigration/
quarantine gurus – all while
reviewing and improving
existing suppliers and
programme management.
Many travel buyers have
earned enhanced respect
within their businesses by
demonstrating their value in
new forums as their
companies revise their
strategic understanding of the
way travel oils the wheels of
their operation.
Of course, some travel
buyers have felt the same
pressure on headcount that
has bitten so hard on
suppliers and providers.
The irony here is that travel
is likely to be a little more
complex than before as it
picks up again, so the very
experts that have reduced in
number may be disproportionately
needed and central
to a recovery.
Next time you meet with a
travel manager, ask what they
are focussed on in the short
term. I guarantee you will gain
a new level of respect.
THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.com
23
THE REVIEW
O N T H E M O V E
EVENTS
SEPTEMBER 14-15
THE BUSINESS TRAVEL CONFERENCE
London Hilton Bankside
thebusinesstravelconference.com
SEPTEMBER 15
THE BUSINESS TRAVEL PEOPLE AWARDS
London Hilton Bankside
(evening event)
thebusinesstravelpeopleawards.com
SEPTEMBER 19-21
ROB JONES CAROL PETERS MIKE WEBB
JOINS: HotelHub
AS: Business Development Manager
FROM: Gray Dawes Group
Formerly Global Corporate
Sales Manager at Gray Dawes
Group, Rob Jones has joined
HotelHub to help grow its TMC
customer base in the UK and
across Europe.
JOINS: Festive Road
AS: Consultant
FROM: American Express
Carol Peters joins the team at
global consultancy firm Festive
Road. She was previously at
American Express, where she
worked as Travel and Expense
Consulting Manager.
PROMOTED AT: Healix International
TO: Chairman
FROM: CEO
After four years as CEO, Mike
Webb has been promoted to
the role of Chairman for Healix
International. Charlie Butcher,
formerly Commercial Director,
takes over as CEO.
THE BTA CONFERENCE
Liverpool
thebta.org.uk
SEPTEMBER 30-OCTOBER 1
BUSINESS TRAVEL SHOW
ExCel London
btn.businesstravelshow.com
NIKKI STIMSON PETER GIANUSSO LAURA RURODE
OCTOBER 5
JOINS: TripActions
AS: Senior Director of Communications
REMAINS WITH: GBTA
JOINS: Flight Centre Travel Group
AS: Global Chief Technology Officer
FROM: Prudential Financial
JOINS: CAP Worldwide
AS: Director Key Accounts North America
FROM: The Apartment Service
TBTM DINNER CLUB
Corinthia London
thebusinesstravelmag.com
NOVEMBER 17-19
GBTA CONVENTION 2021
Orlando
convention.gbta.org
DECEMBER 6-8
GBTA CONFERENCE EUROPE
Berlin
europeconference.gbta.org
APRIL 26-27 2022
TripActions has appointed
Nikki Stimson as Senior
Director of Communications.
Stimson, who runs her own
marketing and PR consultancy,
continues to work with GBTA.
Flight Centre Travel Group has
appointed industry outsider
Peter Gianusso to the role of
Global Chief Technology
Officer, Core Systems, for its
Corporate Division.
CAP Worldwide Serviced
Apartments has welcomed
Laura Rurode to its global
senior leadership team to
manage CAP service delivery
in North America.
ALSO ON THE MOVE... HotelHub has appointed Andrew Harreiter, previously Marketing Manager for
ACC Aviation, as Head of Marketing >> Mark Cuschieri, Executive Director Global Head of Travel UBS,
has been elected Vice President of the GBTA and will serve a two-year term, while Jens Liltorp,
Manager Global Travel and Meetings LEO Pharma, also joins the GBTA's Board of Directors in the role
of Direct Seat, Regional European, for a three-year term >> Sarah Hanan joins Dohop as Commercial
Director from Omio >> CWT has appointed Cheng Meng, Hwang as Head of Global Market Management
and Development to its dedicated APAC Leadership team >> Air Transat has promoted UK and
Ireland Commercial Director Adrian Keating to a role which also covers Europe and the Americas
GALLERY
The Business Travel Magazine
Dinner Club
The first Dinner Club since the start
of the pandemic was the chance for
travel buyers, TMCs and suppliers to
experience, once again, the joy of
meeting face-to-face. The event, held
at The Corinthia Hotel London, was
sponsored by South Western Railway
and Sixt Rent-A-Car. Pre-dinner
drinks, with Covid safety measures in
place, were followed by a threecourse
dinner and a fascinating talk
and discussion on the travel restart.
An industry overview was shared
by American Express GBT CCO
Drew Crawley
Dinner Club ▼
The Corinthia Hotel
London
▲ 12.07.2021
The after dinner talk was
followed by a lively Q&A
Guests enjoyed
networking and a
three-course dinner
In association with
Travega
Travel Marketing Solutions Worldwide
THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.COM
25
Airport Update
Fast
track
Additional checks will be required as air travel
resumes but new technology is helping to
counteract any disruption. Gary Noakes reports
26 THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.com
Airport Update
Business travellers who breezed
through empty airports during the
pandemic must be dreading the
return of normality and the crowds that
will follow. The good news, however, is
that technology is making getting moving
again more seamless and less stressful.
Negotiating immigration control on return
to the UK has been a challenge during the
Covid crisis but the UK Government is due to
finish upgrading e-Gates by the autumn,
when corporate travel is expected to restart
in a meaningful way.
According to a Government spokesperson,
upgraded digital gates will then recognise
Passenger Locator Forms and pre-departure
test certificates. London City airport had
upgraded all its e-Gates by July but bigger
airports were still completing changes.
While Border Force deals with incoming
passengers, airlines must process those
departing and develop systems to do so.
“Carriers will play a critical role, checking
passengers’ documents before boarding and
ensuring people have the right Covid-19
certification,” said the Government
spokesperson.
The whole departure and arrival process
will take longer but there are ways travellers
can make some up some of this lost time.
For British Airways passengers, the luxury
of checking in their bags at the airline's
London Paddington station desks
disappeared after 9/11 but Covid has
prompted BA to revive this concept for
Heathrow Express customers, who can drop
their luggage on train platforms and get it
taken straight to Terminal 5.
The new fast bag-drop is free to passengers
who have checked in at home but is initially
only available between 05.00 and 10.00. BA
said it would continue to look at options for
bag-drop areas “at other key locations”.
The stop-gap measure is in response to the
extra time needed to check Covid
credentials. BA’s partner on this, Airportr, is
testing whether London Underground
locations could also be used to alleviate
queuing at terminals.
Airportr screens travel documents and tags
bags, storing them in secure cages before
shipping them airside. It also offers BA
passengers baggage collection and check-in
from home or the office up to 24 hours
before the flight (from £19), in an area
spanning Guildford, Oxford, Watford and
Greater London – something Airportr feels
will be in demand once airports fill again.
Its founder Randel Darby believes Covid
prompted the beginning of the end of legacy
airport processes. “If you look at trends
coming from the pandemic, it’s e-commerce,
home delivery and logistics. They appeal to
Airlines are way
behind theme parks,
attractions and retail in
offering virtual queuing, but
it's coming"
consumers not previously engaged with
delivery solutions,” he said.
Ground handlers, airports and airlines are
examining long-term developments, shocked
into action by the pandemic. The need to
fast-forward integration of health credentials
with bookings was one example, Darby said.
“The pace with which this is happening is
really surprising. People would have laughed
five years ago. In the near future the journey
can be entirely contactless.”
The pandemic’s legacy means more
passengers will arrive at airports readier to
fly, having undertaken extra procedures at
home that digital systems enable. “It all lends
itself to the trend of doing it before you
travel. You will be able to confirm your digital
ID from home, check in, send bags, book a
shared ride and proceed through a
designated security channel,” said Darby.
For Airportr the next stage, from late
September, is a luggage delivery service for
inbound passengers using a digital customs
declaration that will permit passengers to
“entirely bypass” baggage reclaim.
Contactless travel is the new trend and
while many airports already match boarding
passes to travellers’ photographs taken at
security, facial recognition technology is a
step further, removing the need for handlers
to check that faces match photos.
ANA introduced Face Express in July at
Tokyo’s Narita airport for passengers using
automatic bag check-in.
Travellers are photographed by the kiosk,
allowing them to pass through Security and
board without presenting their ticket.
Following trials on Narita-Mexico City, ANA
plans to offer the facility at Haneda airport
and on other international services.
If Covid has prompted some radical
innovations, others are more mundane.
Airlines are way behind theme parks,
attractions, and retail in offering virtual
queuing, but it's coming. This summer BA
completed trials of an intelligent queuing
technology from Qmatic, which allows
passengers to pre-book a timed check-in slot
before they travel to the airport. The system
is already used by the Post Office and during
the trial BA passengers who had not booked
a slot either proceeded as normal or joined
the virtual queue by scanning a QR code.
All these things will chip away at the extra
time needed to pass through airports postpandemic.
It is not all good news, however.
From October, Heathrow will impose a £5
drop-off fee at terminal forecourts for all
vehicles, including taxis and private hires,
meaning the only free option will be in
Heathrow’s long stay car parks, which entail
a bus transfer to the terminal. Picking up at
terminal forecourts is already forbidden.
The airport said the fee will help alleviate
the £5 million a day lost during the
pandemic, but as travel resumes it might
well be this new development that frequent
travellers remember, not all that new
technology speeding their progress.
THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.com
27
The 2021
TECH HOTLIST
Here are the innovators
and innovations
shaking up the industry…
TAPTRIP
The young and enthusiastic TapTrip
team has brought a breath of fresh
air to the sector with eye-catching
marketing campaigns and bold
ambitions to make managing travel
“as easy as watching Netflix".
Its technology
– designed for
mobile first, not as a mobile add-on
– is achieving impressive results: 95%
compliance, 98% repeat business, up
to 30% savings on monthly travel
spend and 90% faster bookings. In a
change of direction, TapTrip is about
to launch Vessul, a tech solution
designed to tackle the logistical
challenge of crew rotation for
marine, oil and renewables. If
anyone is going to make waves in
this niche corner of the sector
(deliberate pun) it’s these guys.
THRUST CARBON
Driven by the belief that going green
must be effortless, Thrust Carbon is
creating the future of emissions
reporting, reductions and removal
with products which are easy to use,
visually persuasive and designed to
work with existing solutions. It’s
working in partnership with TMCs
and directly with Fortune 500 clients,
who can view their travel emissions
and see where
they need to
change their
behaviour
thanks to engaging dashboards,
innovative carbon budgeting and
point-of-booking nudges. It’s already
making a difference and the next
step is to integrate its full product
suite inside the OBT environment.
28 THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.COM
ALTOVITA CORPORATE
HOUSING SOLUTION
TRAVEL VITALS AND WORKSPACES,
BY AMERICAN EXPRESS GBT
AltoVita’s founders – road warriors
Vivi Cahyadi Himmel and Karolina
Saviova – had a bold vision: to
simplify the “fragmented and
inefficient” corporate housing
booking process. In January 2018
they launched an innovative
cloud-based accommodation
platform, delivering duty of care
compliant housing solutions
across 165 countries and more
than 800 cities through a two-way
API integration. Their technology is
designed to reduce the legacy
sourcing timeline from 48-72
hours to a few minutes, saving
clients 80% in accommodation
The tech teams at American Express
GBT have been beavering away since
the start of the pandemic updating
existing technology and bringing
brand-new products to market.
Quick off the mark was Travel
Vitals, deserving particular
credit because it was
immediately made available
not just to the TMC’s own
clients but to the wider
industry. It’s a one-stop shop for
up-to-date Covid information,
providing data aggregated from
hundreds of sources, including GBT’s
travel risk intelligence partner
Riskline. All the information can be
searched by destination, airline,
airport, hotel chain, train operator or
ground transport provider.
What began as an agile response to
an acute situation has evolved into
being part of the TMC's longer-term
strategy to help the industry navigate
the safe return to travel and, at the
last count, there had been
more than 2.35 million
searches in the Travel Vitals
portal. Meanwhile, in
recognition of the new ways
of working, GBT has
developed Workspaces, a booking
service which helps remote workers
and teams make flexible, daytime
bookings of co-working spaces, hotel
rooms, meeting venues and small
hotel meeting rooms for work and
collaboration. Launched in the US in
March 2021, it is now being rolled
out to clients across Europe.
charges. This year Alto Vita added
new functionalities, helping clients
contrast and compare average and
seasonal market prices and search
more easily for specific needs,
such as accommodation that’s
pet-friendly, comes with good
entertainment facilities, or is
geared up for remote working.
Based on the company’s most
recent figures – 976% revenue
growth year-on-year – they’re
clearly doing something right
and have earned their place in
our 2021 Tech Hotlist.
BLACKLANE CHAUFFEUR
Ride hailing is nothing new, of course,
but Blacklane took it to a whole new
level earlier this year when it
introduced chauffeur hailing in 21
key cities, including London, New
York, Paris and Berlin. Crucially for
corporate travellers, Blacklane
chauffeur hailing promises the same
quality, health and safety standards
and fixed competitive fares as its
pre-booked trips. Better still, in
London if you hail a chauffeur drive it
will always be in an all-electric Jaguar
I-PACE or Tesla thanks to the
company’s investment in Havn,
London’s all-electric chauffeur
service. In other cities, Blacklane
offsets journeys, helping you reach
your sustainability targets.
29
THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.COM
29
The 2021
TECH HOTLIST
GRAPEVINE
With TMC revenues drastically
down in the travel downturn,
Grapevine is coming into its
own. It’s a selling platform,
driven by an AI engine called Marvin
(get it?), to help TMCs grow their
ancillary sales beyond air tickets,
using techniques widely used by the
retail industry to capture revenue
from hotels, car hire, parking and
ground transportation. Eventually it
will also capture in-destination spend
such as restaurants and attractions.
Its a no-brainer for TMCs – Advantage
Travel Partnership and WIN Global
Travel Network have adopted it –
while for corporates it provides a
single source for ancillary bookings,
which is crucial with duty of care
higher than ever on the agenda.
JYRNEY
TRIPBAM’S AIR TRAVEL SOLUTION
It’s still relatively early days for this
Manchester-based start-up, due to
officially launch this autumn, but
backed by a highly-experienced
team and already signing some key
deals in the corporate travel space,
we felt it was worthy of a place in
our hotlist. In a particularly
fragmented market, Jyrney brings
Mobility as a Service to business
travel, offering ground transport
within a traveller's online booking
tool or directly into its portal, with
visibility of total journey cost, CO2
emissions and meeting duty of
care. The only thing we’re not so
keen on – because it confuses our
sub-editors – is its spelling!
We’re jumping the gun a bit with this
one, but having witnessed how
TRIPBAM’s global rate auditing,
benchmarking, analytics and
sourcing has shaken up the hotel
sector, we’re confident that its foray
into air travel later this year will be
HOTELHUB
Inefficient processes, low visibility of
volumes and leakages are just some
of the pain points HotelHub promises
to help eradicate with its next
generation tech, which consolidates
GDS and non-GDS content into
intuitive web-based platforms – one
for TMCs and another self-booking
tool. In addition, its Rate Optimiser
dynamically tracks hotel rates,
continuously searching for lower
rates and rebooking if a better rate is
just as impactful. If all goes to plan,
travel buyers will be able to enjoy big
savings by rebooking flights, auditing
air contracts, grading suppliers for
how well they uphold agreements,
and benchmark against peer
companies down to a single route.
found. Already a long-term partner
of CWT, it was recently selected by
Flight Centre after a rigorous RFP.
30 THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.COM
Launching October ‘21
Crew rotation
logistics tech
Sign up for updates at:
Vessul.com
A TapTrip company
The 2021
tech hotlist
Locomote
Traxo
Detecting and eliminating travel
programme leakage is more vital
than ever as we emerge from the
Covid crisis and, in this area, Traxo
continues to lead the pack. Its tech
solution automatically captures
comprehensive information on TMC
and non-TMC bookings to help travel
managers drive compliance, identify
TRIPACTIONS
When Covid-19 struck, TripActions
jumped into action and developed a
Return to Travel Feature Suite
to help clients upload,
manage and share health
documents and track entry
requirements, with instant
chat support and a travel
impact dashboard. But the main
reason it's in our hotlist are its new
See businesstravelmag.com for video
entries from the 14 innovators who
made it on to our 2021 Tech Hotlist
savings and maximise duty of care.
As its CEO Andres Fabris says:
“Expectations for traveller safety and
support are higher than ever. If
itinerary blindspots prevent
companies from knowing where
travellers are, or plan to be, they’re
putting themselves and their
travellers at unnecessary risk.”
sustainability tools, added this year.
Users can set carbon budgets based
on historical spend and
industry benchmarking data
and get real-time data for all
inventory via an easy-to-use
analytics dashboard, and
with access to three
globally-recognised methodologies
to measure and track progress.
This Melbourne-based tech-led
TMC made the business travel
headlines back in 2016 when it was
snapped up by Travelport. But
following a change of leadership at
Travelport and the arrival of the
global pandemic, the original
founders – cousins David and Ross
Fastuca – bought back the
company in early 2020 and say it’s
time to complete some unfinished
business. They’ve got some of the
old gang back on board and have
been busy expanding beyond Asia
Pacific into the UK and US.
Definitely one to watch.
NavAgent
“A game changer for the travel
industry - we love it!” says Scott
Pawley, MD at Global Travel
Management, an early adopter of
NavAgent. In a nutshell, NavAgent
makes life much easier for travel
consultants who
use the GDS by
giving them
dynamic
customer data
without
interrupting
their normal workflow, freeing
them up to deliver a more
consistent and personalised service
to you, the client. With TMCs under
enough pressure already, it got a
well-earned spot on our hotlist.
32 THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.com
BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW
TO FIND OUT THE WINNERS AND
CELEBRATE ACHIEVEMENT AT THE
2021 AWARDS CEREMONY ON THE
EVENING OF SEPTEMBER 15, 2021
Recognising outstanding individuals and teams across all
aspects of the supplier element of corporate travel
TheBusinessTravelPeopleAwards.com
ACCOMMODATION
step
INSIDE
Catherine Chetwynd takes a tour of some of the most
exciting developments in the UK’s accommodation sector
this year – from renovations to new openings
Lockdowns might have been
financially punishing for hoteliers
and serviced apartment operators
but on the plus side they provided an
opportunity for refurbishment without
disrupting guests.
The pandemic also failed to suppress
investment in new-builds and conversions –
many projects were already too far down
the line to stop – so as domestic business
travellers get back on the road they will
discover some new kids on the block.
Let's start our tour in London. Quick off
the mark was the Cheval Collection, with
the opening of its first four-star brand,
Cheval Maison, just off Cromwell Road.
The building was taken over from another
provider, stripped down, redecorated and a
ground floor lounge and lower-ground gym
introduced. The group’s upgraded app
brings pre-arrival check-in and instant
messaging with front office teams.
The Savoy opened its forecourt as a
1920s-inspired pop-up bar and terrace in
April, allowing it to welcome visitors before
taking overnight guests in May; and the
former The Curtain Hotel launched as
Mondrian Shoreditch London after a
comprehensive redesign, with 120 rooms
and BIBO Shoreditch brasserie and tapas
bar under Andalucian Michelin-starred chef
Dani García, complete with an adjoining
Spanish Courtyard with a retracting glass
roof. With Covid safety and comfort in
mind, many hotels have created such
outdoor spaces for their guests.
Over in Soho, the much-anticipated debut
of The Londoner – billed as 'the world’s first
super boutique hotel' is set to breathe new
life into Leicester Square. From Edwardian
Hotels London, the 16-storey hotel opens in
September and brings 350 rooms, six
concept eateries, a members club-style
private area, a wealth of meeting and event
space, a cinema and an entire floor
dedicated to wellness.
Beaverbrook Town House, a 14-room
sister hotel to the luxury country house
hotel in the Surrey Hills, has just opened in
Sloane Street in partnership with Cadogan
and The Westin London City is another
notable September opening.
Dorchester Collection’s 45 Park Lane has
added a spa with a 20-metre pool, private
training room, gym, sauna and steam
rooms, and hydrotherapy pool to Mayfair
Park Residences – facilities that are open to
guests in either property.
Leonardo Hotels spent an aggregate £34.5
million on the Royal London City, Royal MONDRIAN SHOREDITCH
34 THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.com
ACCOMMODATION
As domestic business
travellers get back on
the road they will discover
some new kids on the block”
THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.com
35
ACCOMMODATION
ANDREW BEASLEY
THE LONDONER PENTHOUSE
London St. Paul’s and Royal London
Tower Bridge, providing updated bedrooms
and Leo’s bar and a restaurant on all three
sites. New is a rooftop bar with public
access at the St. Paul’s property and a
renovated and rebranded Spa at Royal
London City. In addition, May saw the
launch of BREEAM-certified Leonardo Hotel
Bristol Glassfields on Temple Way, with 197
rooms, meeting room, bar and restaurant.
A massive makeover took place at The
Hoxton, Holborn, creating a brighter, larger
lobby, a coffee bar, restaurant and wine bar
Rondo, 46 additional bedrooms, and
redesigned event space described as ‘disco
chic’ (which sounds more distracting than
conducive to work!). Lower occupancies
and lockdowns allowed all the work to be
done at once, rather than in phases.
Bishopsgate Plaza, opposite Liverpool
Street Station, hosts Pan Pacific London,
which will open at the start of September
and represent the group’s entry into
Europe. An entire floor will be dedicated to
wellness with an 18.5m infinity pool and
gym, while the hotel's meeting rooms will
come with floor-to-ceiling windows.
Flying Butler took on 12 new properties
throughout London and in Reading as part
of its plan to grow inventory by 140 units
and undertook major refurbishments of
four of them. This included a £800,000 refit
of Flying Butler Reading Central, where in
response to the isolation some guests may
have experienced during lockdowns a
multifunctional communal area was created
on the ground floor with a café and zoned
spaces for working or socialising.
It was important to
offer our corporate
guests a chance to socialise
with other like-minded
customers outside their
private apartment”
“It was important to offer our corporate
guests a chance to socialise with other likeminded
customers outside their private
apartment,” says CEO Dominic Sherry.
As Flying Butler hosts many long-stay
travellers, the apartments are notably
spacious, starting at 33sq.m for a studio.
Properties on London’s doorstep have
also had a retelling. For example, Coworth
Park in Ascot has opened a three-bedroom
gatehouse cottage, North Lodge, on the
outskirts of the grounds, with a private
garden and outdoor dining area.
De Vere Beaumont Estate in Windsor
undertook a refurbishment of Georgian
mansion house The White House, which
forms part of the property. The upgraded
26 bedrooms include walk-in showers,
Roberts radios and smart TVs.
THE SAVOY RESIDENCE INN SLOUGH STAY CITY MANCHESTER
36 THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.com
ACCOMMODATION
THE HOXTON HOLBORN LOBBY
Lower occupancies
and lockdowns
allowed all the work to be
done at once, rather than
in phases"
Hilton has opened the latest Curio
Collection property, aparthotel The Fellows
House Cambridge, with 131 rooms, pool,
sauna and steam room.
Cycas’ signature double-decker properties
now include aparthotel 92-unit Residence
Inn Slough and the 152-room Moxy, with a
shared Thunderbirds-themed bar, fitness
studio and six meeting rooms. They are in
the former library, part of a multi-use
development that includes restaurants,
retail space and stylish private apartments.
Oxford is benefitting from the opening in
July of Westgate Premier Inn, with the top
floor dedicated to Premier Plus rooms
which come with improved working areas,
air conditioning, flatscreen TVs, fridges with
free water, Nespresso machines with pods,
stronger Wifi and more. The hotel hosts the
brand’s 1000th Premier Plus room and
there are plans to double the number of
these to 2,000 across the network.
Development in Manchester continues
apace, including the opening of Staycity in
the Northern Quarter, with 224 apartments,
24-hour reception, lounge, pantry, Staycafé,
exercise room and laundry.
Meanwhile, The Midland Manchester has
emerged from a £17 million overhaul of its
bedrooms. New is a split-level bar and
Say hello to
Turing Locke.
Opening October.
Whether you’re here for punting or partying, working
or researching, discover a thoroughly modern side to
magical Cambridge.
# FEELFREE
lockeliving.com | @lockehotels
Turing Locke, 47 Eddington Ave, Cambridge CB3 1SE
ACCOMMODATION
MONDRIAN SHOREDITCH
lounge in the foyer; Mount Street restaurant
now serves classic dishes all day.
Meliá property INNSide Liverpool opened
in August after a three-year redevelopment
of the former Echo and Daily Post building,
with 207 rooms, restaurant, Sky Bar with
360-degree city views, and seven meeting
rooms on a floor with a dedicated kitchen.
In Scotland, Cheval Abbey Strand
Apartments at Holyrood were renovated
ready for reopening in June, with new
access to the physic garden – with its
medicinal and culinary plants that would
have grown in the 17th-century garden – in
the grounds of the Palace of
Holyroodhouse. It is exclusive to Cheval
guests in the evening, once the palace is
closed to the public.
Meanwhile Cheval Old Town Chambers
has added an extension, with 24 new
apartments, ground-floor reception, lounge,
bar and restaurant, plus a new entrance on
the Royal Mile (rather than via an alley).
A £1.3 million renovation of The
Ballachulish Hotel, Glencoe, upgraded 53
RESIDENCE INN SLOUGH
bedrooms, restaurants and three meeting
rooms for a reopening in April, while Crerar
Hotels invested £500,000 in Glencoe Inn,
modernising 15 bedrooms, public areas and
introducing a garden Spa. Its restaurant,
The Gathering, features a new Steak &
Lobster Bistro and Red Shed Pizzas.
And last on our tour is The Isle of Mull
Hotel & Spa, which has undergone a £3.5
million makeover of its 75 bedrooms with
six Seaview and two Retreat suites. Its
public areas, restaurant, spa and pool have
been upgraded and a new sea deck
overlooks Craignure Bay. It's dog friendly
too, so perfect for all the lockdown puppies.
With Covid safety
and comfort in mind,
many hotels have been quick
to create outdoor spaces for
their guests”
People deserve to feel at home -
even when they’re not.
www.staywithreside.com
CONFERENCE
Long-awaited and much-needed, The
Business Travel Conference is back for
2021 and promises to be one of the most
memorable in its 15-year history.
The intimate event, with a maximum of 200
buyer delegates, is being held at the Hilton
London Bankside on September 14-15 with a
top line-up of speakers and a programme
packed full of content that will help you and
your travellers get back to business travel.
With a theme of ‘Reconnect, Reset, Restart’,
the event will kick off with a keynote speech
from MP Stephen Hammond, Chairman of
the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG)
dedicated to business travel.
Delegates will then hear from industry
leaders, including Ian Sinderson, CEO of
ATPI, and James Parkhouse, CEO of Agiito
(formerly Capita Travel and Events), and
Dave Bishop, CCO Gray Dawes Group,
who will set the scene
before the
TBTC'21
RECONNECT,
RESET, RESTART
With just days to go until The Business Travel
Conference 2021, here's a reminder of what's in store...
conference sessions begin. Programme
highlights include a Back to the Futurethemed
immersive experience, with headline
sponsors Blue Cube Travel, where delegates
will step into Doc Brown's time machine for
an unforgettable journey back to the origins
of business travel and into its future.
Alongside lively and engaging sessions,
there'll be plenty of time for the networking
that we've all missed so much during the
pandemic and exhibitors representing all
corners of the sector are looking forward to
meeting you and updating you about their
products and services.
Peace of mind
With the safety and comfort of visitors in
mind, the conference organisers and the
Hilton London Bankside have put a number
of measures in place. Hilton is continuing to
implement EventReady, its stringent global
meetings and events programme designed
to create event experiences that are
clean, flexible, safe
and socially
responsible. This
includes room
seals for guest and
meeting rooms,
sanitising stations
in public areas and
meeting spaces and an
EventReady Room
Checklist.
Hilton Bankside staff
will continue to wear
masks throughout the
conference and will also be
taking regular voluntary lateral
flow tests. There will be numerous
hand sanitisation stations positioned
throughout the venue and attendees will be
encouraged to use them frequently.
Speedy arrivals
To minimise queuing and speed up the
arrivals process, conference registration will
be open an hour early each morning (8am)
and registration teams have been expanded.
Registration teams and all conference staff
will wear masks when interacting with
attendees and will also take daily lateral flow
tests in the run-up to and during the event.
Attendees will also be asked to take a
voluntary lateral flow test prior to attending.
The right signals
In order to meet different levels of comfort
with regards to social distancing, visitors to
the conference will be offered optional
wristbands in three colours, based on a
traffic light theme.
Wearing a green wristband will indicate to
others that you're comfortable with hugs
and physical contact, amber will show that
any greetings should be restricted to fist or
elbow pumps, while red signals that you're
comfortable to chat but prefer to avoid any
physical contact. Wristbands can be changed
during the conference.
“We hope this will help all attendees relax
and respect comfort levels and avoid any
awkward moments!” says Kirsty Hicks,
Publisher and Head of Business Travel for
event organisers BMI Publishing.
Risk factors
In collaboration with the Hilton London
Bankside, a full risk assessment has been
completed for the event.
The hotel has an NHS check-in/check-out
code displayed at the entrance to the
property and if anyone presents with Covid
symptoms at the conference there are plans
in place to protect them and others from the
risk of transmission.
Double celebration
All of the safety measures outlined here will
also apply to the conference refreshment
breaks, lunches and evening events.
On the first night, delegates will be able to
catch up with friends and colleagues over
drinks and canopés and, for the first time,
the Business Travel People Awards will be
held on the evening of the second day of the
conference. There's so much to catch up on
and we can't wait to see you there.
thebusinesstravelconference.com
40 THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.COM
CONFERENCE
CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
DAY ONE Tuesday September 14
8AM Registration opens/breakfast networking
9.30AM WELCOME
9.45AM OPENING KEYNOTE AND Q&A Stephen
Hammond MP, Chairman of the All Party
Parliamentary Group for Business Travel
10.20AM VIEW FROM THE TOP Where are we now?
Industry experts share their insights into the
current state of the business travel sector and set
the scene for the conference.
4PM
4.30PM
5PM
SUSTAINABILITY FOCUS Now is the time to
make your travel programme truly sustainable,
but how is that achieved? Our experts offer
practical ways to make your business travel more
responsible and outline what suppliers are doing
to help you meet your targets.
DIVERSITY CHALLENGE In an open and honest
conversation, our experts will discuss what the
corporate travel sector must do to be truly
representative and how it can fully represent the
business travellers it serves.
DRINKS & CANAPE RECEPTION
11.00AM
11.40AM
12.20PM
12.50PM
2PM
Refreshments/networking
TMC TRANSFORMATION Brand, culture,
servicing, data capabilities and business models
are all under the spotlight as buyers look for their
future TMC partners. Experts will discuss the
shifting landscape to help you ensure you have
the right relationship for success.
READY FOR TAKE-OFF As domestic and
international air travel restarts - with reduced
schedules, fewer suppliers and no meaningful data
to base your negotiations on - an expert panel
shares top tips on how to get your programmes
back in the air and instill confidence in flying.
Lunch/networking
WAKE UP CALL Representatives from across the
accommodation sector provide valuable insights
on rate and booking trends and how to progress
your hotel programme post-pandemic.
DAY TWO Wednesday September 15
8AM Registration opens/breakfast networking
9AM VIEW FROM THE TOP What’s next? Industry
leaders share their insights into what the future
brings for the sector, how it should respond to
current challenges and take advantage of the
exciting opportunities going forward.
10AM Late breakfast/networking
10.45AM BACK TO THE FUTURE In a first for The
Business Travel Conference, an immersive
experience will take delegates on a journey to the
origins of business travel and back to the future of
corporate travel, featuring travel risk management
as the flux capacitor and traveller wellbeing safely
strapped into a DeLorean. Hold on tight!
11.45PM Refreshments/networking
2.30PM
TRANSPORT LINKS Experts from rail, car rental
and taxis and transfers debate the impact of
technological innovation, remote working, and
growing concerns about sustainability and safety,
and tell you how to better manage that 'last mile'.
12.15PM
THE NEXT GENERATION A buyer-focussed
panel discusses the changing role of the travel
manager and the exciting new opportunities for
those who are up for the challenge.
3PM
Afternoon refreshments
12.50PM
1PM
CLOSING REMARKS
Lunch/final networking
6.30PM THE BUSINESS TRAVEL PEOPLE AWARDS 2021
THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.COM
41
DEPARTURES
Reality check
Go online for the full reviews: thebusinesstravelmag.com
CAR HIRE: VAUXHALL CORSA E RENTAL FROM ENTERPRISE
BACKGROUND
Starting with Teslas two
THE RENTAL
Branch staff had told
years ago, Enterprise has been
us charging the car was a very easy
expanding its electric fleet and this
plug-in-and-go process but whilst this is
summer added a selection of lower-mid
the case for Teslas, all other makes of
range cars, including the Vauxhall Corsa
electric cars use a different network of
E. With five doors, built-in satnav,
chargers and it’s more complicated. It
climate control, and up to 160 miles
turned out we needed an account with
range on a full charge, it seemed
‘Charging Place Scotland’ to access the
perfect for our 850-mile Scotland trip.
network, and ideally a RFID card linked
BOOKING
The online booking
to our account to tap on the machines
process was easy. We’d originally
to begin charging. It's also possible to
booked to collect the car from the
charge using an app but this caused us
Edinburgh Waverly branch but due to
a wealth of problems as internet signal
Covid it was temporarily closed. Instead
was limited, if not non-existent, in many
we were offered complimentary pick-up
locations. The machines themselves
from our accommodation to collect
also needed internet connection to
very receptive of our comments on
from the Edinburgh City Centre branch.
receive data from the app and more
charging issues and said they'd relay
COLLECTION
The wheel was
often than not this proved impossible.
this back to the head office.
wrapped in a protective cover and with
Enterprise’s ‘Complete Clean Pledge’ we
felt very confident the car was sanitised
and all necessary precautions had been
taken. Masks were worn at all times,
Thankfully, mid-way through our trip, a
fellow EV driver kindly lent us his
personal 'Charging Place Scotland' card
so we no longer had to worry about
difficulties charging. This meant we
A SMOOTH RIDE
OVERALL, BUT WITH
A FEW BUMPS IN
THE ROAD
THE VERDICT A smooth drive overall,
but with a few bumps in the road.
Directions on charging could have been
clearer but otherwise the process, and
the car, was efficient and enjoyable.
even outside. After a thorough check
could begin to really enjoy the car –
THE DETAILS
enterprise.co.uk;
and a brief on how the charging worked
(more on that later), we hit the road.
effortlessly smooth and almost eerily
quiet to drive. At drop-off, staff were
0800 800 227. Rentals from £88 a day.
April Waterston
HOTEL: THE CULLODEN ESTATE & SPA, BELFAST
THE HOTEL
A Hastings Hotel
THE ROOM
My spacious and ultra-
property and a Small Luxury Hotel of
comfortable Bishop Suite on the fourth
the World, this five-star hotel is six miles
floor had a partial dividing wall
from Belfast city centre and yet its
separating the bedroom from the
setting is more akin to a tranquil rural
lounge area. Features included a King
retreat. With the wooded slopes of the
Coil ‘Cloud Bed’, a work table, couch and
Holywood hills as its backdrop and 12
lounge chairs, and two TVs. A large bay
acres of manicured gardens, it has a
window offered views down to Belfast
real sense of grandeur, history and
Lough and the County Antrim Coastline.
serenity. Its 98 elegant rooms and
THE BUSINESS
There's a dedicated
suites, spa and restaurant have been
business reception area, with secretarial
recently refurbished.
services, and a plethora of conference
COVID STRATEGY
Health and safety
and meeting rooms. The gardens offer
protocols are in line with industry-wide
team building exercises and activities
'Peace of Mind Policy' guidelines, an
like archery, laser clay pigeon shooting
industry standard established in
and target golf. WiFi is free and speedy.
treatments), a pool (with Jacuzzi), a
association with the National Tourism
THE FACILITIES
The main restaurant,
weight room, sauna and an eucalyptus
Organisations of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland. Measures include
sanitising stations throughout the hotel
and a chemical-free disinfectant system.
THE CHECK-IN The reception area is
surprisingly small for such a large
Vespers, is serving dinner only on a
Friday and Saturday but is open daily
for breakfast. The Lough Room, which
will revert to a residents' bar once Covid
rules allow, offered a limited but
wholesome menu. At the bottom of the
SIX MILES FROM
BELFAST BUT ITS
SETTING IS MORE
AKIN TO A TRANQUIL
RURAL RETREAT
steam room.
THE VERDICT A premium-class hotel
with top-range facilities that offers a
sense of peace and solitude that no city
centre hotel could match.
THE DETAILS Bangor Rd, Hollywood,
property but never felt crowded. Two
estate is the pub-cosy Cultra Inn.
Belfast, BT18 0EX; hastingshotels.com.
front desk staff members, wearing
masks, were friendly and efficient.
Afternoon Tea is served in the Drawing
Room. There's a gym, Spa (with ESPA
Rooms from £300, including breakfast.
Steve Hartridge
42 THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.COM
DEPARTURES
The final word
From Shitterton to Twatt
F
orget Lands End to John
O' Groats. If all those
lockdowns have left you
with the urge to do something
worthwhile, like a charity
fundraising trip across
Britain, there's now a much
more fun way to do it.
Follow in the footsteps of Paul
Taylor, from Oxfordshire, who
this summer sped off on a 50cc
moped for a 1,800-mile tour, in
memory of a friend, taking in all
the places with names that'll
make you chuckle.
Starting in the Dorset hamlet
of Shitterton (tee-hee) he'll be
calling at Crazies Hill and
Cockpole Green near Reading,
Berkshire, Butthole Lane in
Shepshed, Leicestershire, and
Titty Ho in Northamptonshire.
His tour - known as the
Moronic Moped Marathon - also
takes in Happy Bottom Nature
Reserve, Sandy Balls Holiday
Park, Pishill, The Knob, Butthole
Lane, Slack Bottom Road, and
more, before ending up in Twatt
in the Orkney Isles.
At the last count, cheeky Paul
had already raised just under
£20,000 for Cancer Research -
way over his initial £1,800
target. If you want to add a
donation, check out this link:
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/
paul-taylor233
Sunhat or
umbrella?
Packing is so much easier when
you know if it's going to rain or
shine, so here's a handy list of
European cities with the most
predictable weather:
1 Valetta
2 Nicosia
3 Dublin
4 London
5 Rome
6 Athens
7 Reykjavik
8 Amsterdam
9 Brussels
10 Paris
Research by Uswitch Car Insurance
Oh, I do like to be...
Whether you jetted
off to sunny Spain
or cloudy Cornwall,
hopefully most of you got a
well-deserved seaside break
this summer. This year, more
than ever, what we've all
yearned for is a day at the
beach, to feel the sea air and
the sand between our toes
Or have we? Apparently not,
according to hotel platform,
Hoo, which looked at some
data and found that 63% of
us prefer a dip in the pool to
the beach, and for a number
of reasons: our dislike of
pebbles, sand, and seawater
and a fear of what lies
beneath. The makers of Jaws
have got a lot to answer for.
What we had for dinner became the most
exciting thing that happened to many of us in
those long, dark days of the lockdowns. With
nothing else to brag about, social media
became flooded with heavily-filtered photos
of mealtimes, showcasing our national
dishes. According to Dutch delivery website,
Thuisbezorgd, pizzas were the instagram
favourites across Europe, while in the UK we
were all keen to share snaps
of our beloved fish
and chips, Sunday
roasts and
Shepherd's Pie.
Sadly, not quite so
photogenic!
THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.com
43
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