Juliet Thanwerdas -<\/strong> We needed to centralise bookings and monitor travel expenditure. The criteria focused on the agency's leadership and its openness to the public. start-up culture<\/strong> from BlablaCar. This choice was made before I arrived, but I've got to grips with the Egencia tool and I appreciate the responsiveness of its support service.<\/p>\n J. T. -<\/strong> Today, I can't see myself without a travel agency. It allows me to set the parameters of our tool according to the needs of my customers. travel policy<\/strong>to centralise expenditure and track travellers. It's also very useful for me to be advised by an account manager so that I can see where I stand in relation to companies of a similar size and culture, and identify areas for improvement. We have also become aware of our responsibility<\/strong> as an employer. We need to know where our travellers are, and our agency reports allow us to do this.<\/p>\n the travel agency must move towards greater immediacy and open up to new entrants<\/p><\/blockquote>\n J. T. -<\/strong> The dividing line between business and leisure travel is becoming increasingly blurred, with travellers looking for an experience similar to the one they find in leisure. I therefore believe that travel agencies must move towards greater immediacy<\/strong> and opening up to new entrants<\/strong>. The whole sector is aware of this need. It's a real challenge for business travel agencies. A TMC could today integrate a player like Airbnb<\/strong>But I'm well aware that the challenge is enormous.<\/p>\n J. T. -<\/strong> It is impossible for me to speak on behalf of the entire profession. The role of the Travel Manager<\/strong> depends very much on the type of travel, its volume, the budget, the maturity of Travel Management and, above all, the corporate culture. As far as I'm concerned, purchasing and supplier negotiations represent a small part of my activities. We still don't have enough volume to enter into standardised negotiation processes. When the volume is significant enough for a hotel or an air route, we set up partnerships. I've been particularly involved in the setting up a travel policy and structure<\/strong>. When I arrived in 2015, there was no travel structure. Bookings were therefore mainly made via leisure channels. So for over a year, we have been focusing on putting in place a travel policy, the SBT settings<\/strong> offered by Egencia, and the introduction of a communication<\/strong> to ensure that the tool is used and that the travel policy is complied with.<\/p>\n J. T. -<\/strong> We've put the emphasis on fun, on the \"fun<\/em>\"with a \"Wall of best travellers<\/em>\"<\/strong> [wall of the best travellers], but also the \"serious<\/em>\"This is done through quarterly reports that enable us to track the progress of our KPIs [performance indicators] in terms of travel. We also looked at the duty of care<\/strong>I have also set up an insurance and assistance programme for business travel. We are still in a phase of structuring business travel management.<\/p>\n J. T. -<\/strong> Not everyone is setting an example yet. Communication is very important, and we're going to continue to focus on that. One of our values can be summed up as follows: \"fail, learn, succeed<\/em>\"<\/strong>. Rather than slapping the fingers of bad travellers, we will change the travel policy if necessary. We don't want to frustrate anyone. We are well aware that compliance with the rules and booking processes presupposes that employees are satisfied with the way things are done. Under no circumstances do we want to frustrate our employees.<\/p>\n find the right match between our travel policy and travellers' wishes<\/p><\/blockquote>\n J. T. -<\/strong> If employees are to adhere to the new rules, it is important that there is a genuine taking everyone's wishes into account<\/strong> and our corporate culture as a whole. As it happens, our corporate culture revolves around the \"Fun & serious<\/em>\"and empowerment.empowerment<\/em>\". So when we set up our travel policy, we focused our message around these values. We have to find the right balance between our travel policy and what travellers want. For example, we realised that the use ofAirbnb<\/strong> by our employees was generating a large volume of expense claims. So we set up a Airbnb Business<\/a> during the summer of 2016, enabling us to satisfy our travellers while centralising payments<\/strong> and ensuring tracking reservations<\/strong>.<\/p>\n J. T. -<\/strong> Not so long ago, we had virtually no control. We're making slow progress, but we know that there are still reservations.off channel<\/em>\"and this is a very difficult to capture<\/strong>. We will achieve this step by step, taking measures such as making it impossible to switch to expense reports<\/strong> flights or hotels booked outside the recommended channels. Having said that, I'm lucky enough to be part of an open-minded company, grateful for the travel structure that saves them time. The introduction of rules speeds up the decision-making process. We no longer waste time wondering whether it's right or wrong. This time saving<\/strong> is crucial, all the more so in a company that has retained a start-up spirit<\/strong>and where everything happens very, very quickly.<\/p>\n J. T. -<\/strong> We take on new employees very regularly. So we often have to remind them of these rules and processes. In a company like ours, where the employees are young, mobile and very aware of what's going on in terms of new technologies, someone has to be in charge of monitoring the most appropriate tools to put in place. With themes like bots<\/strong>the bleisure<\/strong><\/a>Our role is still necessary to manage this flow of business travel, which is changing both in terms of volume and type.<\/p>\n J. T. -<\/strong> I don't think so. The Travel Manager's tasks involve think strategically<\/strong>And I don't have the impression that bots can do that. That said, in a company like BlablaCar, where it's becoming very rare for people to pick up the phone, the bots system could be relevant for changing a ticket, or offering assistance for a ticket already purchased via the SBT.<\/p>\n we have put in place a system that is clear, understood and respected<\/p><\/blockquote>\nWhat is the added value of an agency today?<\/h3>\n
What changes do you expect to see in the agency offering?<\/h3>\n
What is the role of a Travel Manager in 2017?<\/h3>\n
How did you go about it?<\/h3>\n
What about the \"Worst travellers\"?<\/h3>\n
How does the status and mindset of a start-up influence the way business travel is managed?<\/h3>\n
Don't you feel you're losing control over travellers who are tempted by leisure booking systems?<\/h3>\n
Isn't the role of Travel Manager under threat once these rules have been defined and put in place?<\/h3>\n
Could the Travel Manager eventually be replaced by a bot?<\/h3>\n
Is BlablaCar's travel policy flexible or restrictive?<\/h3>\n