Challenge
A customer of ours, ALK-Abello, a pharmaceuticals company, had a travel program that needed some rigor when it came to their hotel booking. Instead of booking hotel stays through ALK-Abello’s policy, a majority of their travelers—78%¹—were using local hotel management agencies to book their overnight stays. On top of that, there was not a streamlined hotel program across all of their regions. When travelers booked directly with hotels and not through their policy, it prevented ALK-Abello from adequate oversight into spending, reporting, and most importantly, duty of care.

ALK-Abello had to consolidate all hotel bookings into one travel program and for good reason. As their Travel Management Company (TMC), we were ready to bring solutions to the table.

Solution
First, we needed to look at the current state of the travel program. We provided an analysis of the air and hotel booking data to see where changes could be made.

When we noticed the high number of hotel stays missing from air reservations, we presented a solution—increasing hotel adoption—that would provide increased benefits and greater oversight.

By simply streamlining all hotel bookings through their travel policy, they gained numerous additional benefits:

  • An accurate reflection of their volume of spend on hotel stays giving them greater negotiating power
  • Improved data consolidation between hotel and air for easier oversight and reporting
  • Better tracking abilities in case of a crisis or an emergency
  • Increased traveler compliance and enhanced risk management

 

By integrating an efficient hotel booking solution for both their online and offline booking, ALK Abello now has a smooth and efficient booking process that their travelers have been receptive to adopt.

Results
The improvements continue to develop.

  • Hotel with air reservations increased from 22%¹ to an impressive 35%¹ in nine months
  • Improved ability to locate travelers impacted by a crisis
  • Enhanced cost controls and increased preferred hotel buying power


¹Source: American Express Global Business Travel reporting

  • INDUSTRY: Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals
  • TRAVEL SPEND: $2M USD
  • TRAVELERS: 250+

 

CHALLENGE

  • Use of local hotel agencies
  • Numerous travel programs
    across countries
  • Minimal oversight and duty of care

 

SOLUTION

  • Streamlined into one travel management program and
    travel policy
  • Mandated hotel bookings within policy
  • Consolidated travel spend to enable bigger discounts and vendor negotiation power

 

RESULTS

  • Hotel with air reservations increased from 22%¹ to an impressive 35%¹ in nine months
  • Improved ability to locate travelers impacted by a crisis
  • Enhanced cost controls and increased preferred hotel buying power