Month: June 2017

Google and STR- Giving Hotels More Data

Post author By Christopherson Business Travel
Post date June 27, 2017

Here’s good news for hotels – preferred hotel properties are getting even smarter. STR, the leading travel industry data provider, recently partnered with Google to study the association between Google searches and hotel demand. This study found there is a strong correlation between Google search trends and hotel bookings.

The STAR report, STR’s leading product for hotels, allows hotels to study their individual property performance and benchmark against their competition. Specifically, the product allows individual hotel properties to follow trends in ADR (average daily rate) and RevPar (revenue per available room) to ensure they are performing well in contrast to their competition.

The study

Using London and New York City as their case study locations, they tried their theory. Both cities are global hubs with existing high traffic. They both also have achieved occupancy levels above 80% for at least the past seven years.

They were able to conclude that higher Google search volumes can be associated with higher STR demand levels. With the positive conclusion of this study, hotel executives can look to Google in combination with STR benchmarking data to make a more accurate prediction on hotel occupancy levels.

Whether you are a hotel executive, travel agent, or vender, this is a sign that if you aren’t promoting on Google, you may be missing out. With this high correlation of hotel rates and Google searches, other travel searches may have similar correlations. Staying relevant and easy to find online is becoming more and more important for businesses.

How to use Google to get more searches and bookings

Promote your website on Google or through a booking site.
Use all of Google’s available tools to help differentiate. Add your phone number, official website and any positive reviews to Google.
Try out Google’s new ‘Plan a Trip’ tab. It easily allows users to plan each step of their trip within Google.

For more information and access the entire study, click here.

Company News and Announcements

Travel Weekly’s 2017 Power List

Post author By redolive
Post date June 26, 2017

TRAVEL WEEKLY | JUN 26, 2017

Travel Weekly’s 2017 Power List

Travel Industry Travel Management

Enterprise/National as a Ground Transportation Supplier

Post author By Christopherson Business Travel
Post date June 22, 2017

To be effective, corporate travel programs require many moving parts. One critical area involves nurturing wonderful supplier relationships, including ground transportation. We’ve found that Enterprise/National offers customized benefits for many of our clients.

Customized benefits from Enterprise/National:

Dual Brand Agreement (National Car Rental and Enterprise Rent-A-Car). Programs are customized and negotiated based on the company’s specific travel patterns and traveler needs.
One loyalty number “Emerald Club” that is provided and works for both brands globally.
Global Billing options are available.
Local Account Management and support provided for any customized agreement.
100% location compliance with corporate pricing.
Supporting lines of business that can help with other areas of ground transportation: Enterprise RideShare, Enterprise CarShare, Enterprise Fleet Management, Enterprise Truck Rental, Exotics by Enterprise, Enterprise Car Sales.

Christopherson Business Travel maintains excellent communication with the many Enterprise/National Representatives throughout the country. If you need a referral to the right contact in your area, please allow us to be your resource for making an introduction.

We’ve spent the last 60 years dedicated to finding travel management solutions for busy companies. From customized travel programs to advanced technology, we provide peace of mind. Contact us to learn more about how Christopherson, along with our preferred partners, and assist you with your travel needs.

Add Wellness Travel to your Business Travel

Post author By Christopherson Business Travel
Post date June 12, 2017

I recently came across this article from our luxury travel consortium, Virtuoso, about new wellness travel trends. I hadn’t heard of many of them (although plenty of our Andavo Travel advisors specialize in wellness travel), and found them fascinating. Perhaps for a stressed-out business traveler, one of these wellness trends may be just the ticket for your next vacation.

Wellness Travel ideas for business travelers

Hygge

Pronounced “hoo-gah”, this Danish concept is catching popularity. Roughly meaning “the pursuit of coziness” – it’s an established time to curl up with a good book and hot mulled wine. In wellness travel, this could be stepping away from the chaos. Enroll in forest walks, classes in reading or writing haiku, watercolor classes, and alpine treks.

Conscious Eating

Sometimes the food is the highlight of a vacation. In our society of diets and fads, it’s easy to feel guilty about indulging, even when away. Conscious eating is less about sticking to a regime, and more about being mindful. The focus is instead on where food comes from, how it’s produced, how your body will respond to it, and if it’s the best choice for you.

Digital Detox

Staying connected is becoming more and more important these days. With emails, social media, news feeds etc, it can be impossible to get away. Hence, the latest in wellness trends, digital detox. Resorts offering a digital detox often ban technology in public areas, and some don’t offer Wi-Fi at all. Other places require guests to surrender their devices upon arrival, returning them only after the program or stay is complete. They’ve found that guests sleep better and are more present overall.

Mindful Meditation

Meditation is practiced around the world, but it has recently reached critical mass stateside, with apps zooming to the top of the Apple App Store best-seller list and pop-up, pop-in studios sprouting across the country to help busy people calm their minds.

Whatever the individual practice, the benefits of meditation are grounded in scientific fact: A recent study reported that mindfulness meditation provided a cure for pain relief, while devotees report reduced stress, clearer thinking, and diminished anxiety.

High-Tech Wellness

These spas blow the traditional spa out of the water. Focused on identifying and addressing chronic health concerns,they use advanced technology to do it. Some use stem-cell biotechnology to help treat autoimmune diseases. Or full-day medical intakes that incorporate a body composition analysis, blood draw, and metabolic rate test. Vitamin deficiencies, allergies, and food intolerances can be spotted and treated, while more pervasive conditions have a chance to be identified and addressed through a combination of traditional and holistic treatments.

For guests suffering from persistent but vague ailments that have eluded diagnosis or treatment, high-tech wellness facilities are the perfect place to drill down and get to the root of what ails you.

Equine Therapy

Horses have long been recognized as therapeutic for those working through trauma or emotional issues. Many luxury resorts have started incorporating equine therapy programs as a source of creativity and connection. Some programs focus more on communication rather than riding. Popular as team-building exercises, they facilitate better listening and communication, while also reflecting human behavior. Other popular options include painting classes on the live canvas of the horse, to express emotions and center energy.

No matter how you de-stress, there is a wellness option out there for you. If interested if finding your own relaxing vacation away, please contact our Andavo Travel advisers.

Tags leisure travel, Vacation Travel

Business Travel Travel Management

How Do TMCs Assist Travelers?

Post author By Christopherson Business Travel
Post date June 7, 2017

On our blog, we often talk about the benefits of a managed travel program for corporations. But what about the traveler? Whether traveling every single week or only once a year, a company’s managed travel program should assist travelers as well.
Traveling itself is taxing. And that’s not even counting in the stress from meetings, staying on top of emails and time management. We support companies, but more importantly their employees, with the eccentricities of travel. Christopherson provides a wealth of essential resources, just for travelers.

How Christopherson assists travelers:

One-stop Shopping. Book your air, hotel and car from one source. All discounts and negotiated rates are at your fingertips.
Guaranteed Lowest Fare. The traveler will receive a refund if a lower fare is found that meets the same qualifications as the original fare.
After–hours. Christopherson is available 24/7 You will receive experienced, efficient, and courteous support round the clock, no matter where they are in the world.
Unused Ticket Tracking. Unused tickets are tracked and made available to you immediately upon cancellation of the original ticket.
Traveler Profile. Avoid wasted time and hassle of having to communicate or re-entering your unique travel preferences every time you book your travel.

You have enough on your plate. We cover the tiny details of travel so you can focus on the more important items.

Federal Employees Can Now Expense Sharing Economy Purchases

Post author By Christopherson Business Travel
Post date June 1, 2017

Earlier this month, President Trump signed a law expanding the acceptance of sharing economy purchases. Called the Modernizing Government Travel Act, it allows federal employees to use sharing economy transportation while traveling on business. These are services like Uber, Lyft and other transportation network operators.

About the Modernizing Government Travel Act

Originally proposed by Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, it passed the House in January. This month it passed the Senate.

Currently, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), which oversees civilian travel programs, has already given the go-ahead to reimburse travel network companies.
According to the April Senate report, this new act “codifies and reinforces the GSA’s existing policy to give certainty to agency officials regarding what types of travel can be reimbursed.”

The GSA in known for reimbursing federal employees for the more traditional forms of transportation costs. Things like train, bus or taxi cab. This act simply updates to include the additional transportation types.

Addressing uncertainty in travel policies

Because of the gradual use of services like Uber or Lyft, business travel compliance has had quite a few gray areas. Both travel managers and travelers have at one time or another been unsure if these transportation services would be covered by their company travel policy. Essentially, this law eliminates that uncertainty of compliance when using sharing economy transportation, at least for federal employees.
Their decision seems to be in line with that of the private sector as well. A Global Business Travel Association survey recently found that reimbursement for sharing economy expenses has increased nearly 15% since June 2016. It is increasingly looking like the sharing economy is here to stay.