Month: August 2016

Categories
Business Travel Travel Management

Questions To Ask When Looking For A New TMC

benefits of a travel management company

Every travel program is different and we get A LOT of different kinds of questions during our initial conversations with our clients. These questions can cover such topics as duty of care, technology, quality control, integrations with third party tools, etc. You need to make sure your new TMC is equipped to provide the travel program unique to your own needs for the company and your travelers.

The 4 need-to-know questions to ask your potential TMCs:

1) Please include and EXPLAIN your pricing. Some companies will present a seemingly affordable and simple fee structure with a lot of fine print. At Christopherson, we offer simplified pricing every time, without the fine print.
2) Who will we be working with? A potential travel management partner should be able to provide detail on the service team assigned to the account. The Account Manager is responsible for working with you to make your travel program a success. No matter what your desired service configuration is, at some point your travelers will work with an agent and that experience should be stress-free. Christopherson proudly employs some of the best travel professionals in the industry with our account managers averaging over 20 years of experience and our agents averaging over 25 years of experience.
3) Explain your implementation and training processes. You want your travel program to be successful and your travel management partner should strive to make the onboarding process as painless as possible for your travelers. At Christopherson, our priority is to quickly and efficiently transition your travel program while tailoring our timeline to meet your needs. During implementation, we will collaborate with your travel arrangers to design a training and onboarding program which fits into your company culture.
4) What about your technology platform sets you apart from the competition? Christopherson offers both AirPortal 360, a technology platform that integrates both full-service and online travel management, and a choice of three powerful online booking tools. There is so much about our technology that sets us apart, they need their own blog to showcase each feature! Like how we address duty of care responsibilities, hotel attachment rates, or technology integration.

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Categories
Business Travel Travel Management

7 Tips For Keeping Your Employees Safe While Traveling

Recent events like terrorist attacks across Europe and home-bred violence have left many questioning the safety and security of traveling. And unfortunately for some industries, travel is unavoidable. As an employer overseeing your employees,  it is your responsibility to ensure their safety, even while traveling on your company’s behalf. Duty of care and security issues are a growing concern in recent years, and they are expected to continue. So what can you do to create a safe environment even with these growing safety trends?

According to Business Insurance, the best way to keep concerns at bay is to keep both the company and its business travelers informed with facts and tips. Ensuring that everyone has been briefed with information and on the same page can be vital if the unexpected arises. So during this time of growing uncertainty, how can you and your employees feel more confident about traveling for business? Read our 7 tips below.

7 ways to keep employees safe while traveling

  • One of the first steps is providing information about the upcoming area. Having a real sense of what your road warriors are heading into or what can be expected is often the biggest comfort. Research and briefing on the country, city or neighborhood can often reveal interesting facts or tips. Also providing guidelines or schedules can provide more structure and context for travelers.
    • An interactive resource includes the U.S. State Department’s online Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). This free service allows U.S. citizens to enroll with the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate when traveling or living abroad. The purpose is to provide latest safety and security  information in the area, and inform the U.S. Embassy of your whereabouts, in case of an emergency.
    • Additional research can be beneficial depending on the area of the traveler. For instance, the US government has released an app for U.S.travelers attending the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics. It provides tourist and safety information about the area, including the location of embassies, hospitals and emergency numbers.
  • Additional duty of care responsibilities for travelers. We know assessing this risk is your biggest responsibility. Has your organization demonstrated you have taken all practicable steps to meet your employee’s health, safety and well-being needs? Is it credible and well documented? Having open and clear communication with your employees are necessary for this assessment. And of course, if your employee does not feel comfortable traveling, you need to listen to these concerns and assess the situation.
  • Know your travelers specific travel needs. Be aware of any individual requirements needed by the traveler, and ensure they are given the appropriate information in order to manage, reduce or eliminate specific risks. Employers should be aware of pre existing medical conditions and confirm the traveling country has adequate medical facilities.
  • Invest in a business travel policy.  Travel policies are created to establish that companies are providing efficient support for their travelers, and travelers are aware of the support given too. Again, communication about what is provided and what to expect can go a long way.
  • Encourage employees to take appropriate health measures beforehand. Providing guidelines on the area to which they are traveling can prepare them for health measures as well.  Recommend your traveler visits their doctor to go over specific risks and prevention methods.
  • Ensure tech and cyber security has been discussed. This is another growing area of concern. Discuss cyber threat methods and the best ways to thwart them.
  • Finally, Make an evacuation plan or communication plan in case the unexpected arises. If the worst does happen, are you prepared? Are you able to immediately communicate with your road warriors if they are in an insecure area? Do they know the communication protocol should something arise? Unfortunately, the answer is usually ‘no’. That’s why we created SecurityLogic as part of our travel technology suite. This application alerts travel managers if a traveler is in an area experiencing threats or attacks. The travel manager can then immediately text or email from the application to immediately make contact and ensure the traveler is safe.

Christopherson Business Travel is a corporate travel management company, dedicated to providing travel solutions for busy businesses. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you are interested in learning more about travel policies, our proprietary technology, or how we continually save companies time and money.

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Categories
Travel Management Travel Technology

Seamless Technology Integration Is Vital For Travel Management

While Travel Management Companies (TMCs) provide many solutions for businesses, I’ve found that one of the most valuable is offering effective system integrations.  A managed travel program needs the flexibility to easily connect to many diverse systems that are required for a complete and effective travel management system.

That’s one reason why we created our own proprietary system, AirPortal. Not only does this provide access to our own unique travel solutions, but it manages all of the information flowing between these systems as well.  AirPortal also provides the user interface for our clients, giving them one central location from which to manage their travel program. 

Our new AirPortal Integrations highlights many of the integrations that we offer, including some ‘one click’ installs.  Take a look and see what we can do for your travel program.  If you have a key vendor that is not on the list, give us a call — we are always adding additional integrations.

integrations8-9

The following are some of the category choices that we offer:

  • Data Feeds/Reporting
  • Traveler Safety/Security
  • Virtual Payment Solutions
  • Online Expense Tools
  • Online Booking Tools
  • Traveler Apps/Integrations

So, leave the heavy lifting to us and get on with the rest of your day. Christopherson Business Travel is a corporate travel management company that specializes in innovative travel technology and consultative customer service. Contact us to learn more about our proprietary technology and how we continually save our clients time and money.

Categories
Choice Humanitarian Travel News

Choice Humanitarian Expedition – Donna’s Story

Nine of our employees had an experience of a lifetime this summer. Every year, Christopherson sponsors a group of employees to travel with CHOICE Humanitarian to volunteer on one of their international work sites. Based out of Salt Lake City, CHOICE Humanitarian is a strategic non-governmental agency (NGO) working in seven countries: Kenya, Nepal, Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico, Ecuador, and Peru. Their overriding goal is to end extreme poverty and improve quality of life through a bottom-up, self-developing, village-centered approach. Christopherson has been involved with CHOICE for more than 20 years and is also a corporate sponsor. Employees who are part of the employee contribution program are eligible to go on an expedition. These employees contribute donations to CHOICE monthly, with Christopherson graciously matching the donation. Below is Donna Alford’s story from this year’s trip to Guatemala:

There really isn’t any way to adequately describe my recent CHOICE Humanitarian trip to the Polochic Region of Guatemala.

Was it hot? Yes! If anyone hears me complaining about the heat and humidity in Alabama, you have my permission to whack me on the head.

Was it exhausting? I typically sit at a desk all day. So, yes! It was exhausting.

Was it amazing? Absolutely. I would go back in a heartbeat!

It was such an incredible experience and I’m so honored to have met and worked with the villagers of Chimaxyat. To say that these people don’t have much is an understatement. At the beginning of the trip, my first inclination was to feel sorry for them. By the end of the week, I realized that what they lacked in material things, they more than made up for in their wonderful spirits. They were so gentle, happy, and full of grace, and I am so thankful that they welcomed us into their lives.

The CHOICE model states that “rather than participating in short term service delivery, we focus on building long term, sustainable solutions to issues related to extreme poverty” and boy, did we see that in action. Instead of CHOICE deciding what is best for a community, CHOICE involves the people of the village themselves. They determined what was needed for their village and we all came together to make that happen. In this case, it was a stove project.
Before this project began, the women and small children spend all day in close proximity to an old, unvented stove or, in some cases, just a re pit, which causes many health problems. Our project was to build new, more efficient stoves that were vented to the outside. They were so welcoming and kind to us as we went into their homes for this project.

We were also fortunate to visit the Sikaabe (meaning “Seek your Path”) Training Center. This is an educational and vocational school that can accommodate up to 32 students. It is a real life changer. The school teaches classes such as masonry, animal production, farming, hospitality, and culinary arts. The students gave a presentation and it was incredible to see the pride in their eyes. No translation needed for that! As a bonus, one of the students was getting married the day we were there and we were all invited. After the wedding, the groom changed back into his work clothes and proceeded to give us a tour of the animal production facility. All in a day’s work!

From the moment we arrived to a ceremonial dance performed by the children, to the end of our stay with the men of the village carrying our luggage on their heads, up the muddy, slippery trail to the bus, we were wrapped in love and caring from “our” village. The CHOICE staff did a wonderful job taking care of all of the logistics and the in-country team of cooks and servers were incredible. They served us three delicious meals each day and I am craving more of their hot chocolate. I am forever ruined for Swiss Miss in a packet.

See more pictures of the 2016 expedition team’s photos here.
To view pictures from previous expeditions, visit our Facebook page.

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