client
‘Maximising your Investment’
The agenda for our annual client conference which was held in September is below
The Co-operative Travel Management Client Conference 2010
The Aim
The current climate has forced all organisations to review their travel budgets and indeed question the need to travel at all. Our role as a travel management company is to assist you in this review and ensure you receive the maximum return on your investment.
Business travel is an investment, it is essential to the growth and success of your organisation and therefore you need to be aware of how best manage and control this spend whilst providing a Duty of Care to your travelling population. The aim of our conference is to provide an opportunity for you to meet with other business travel buyers and share best business practise.
The recovery of the economic climate is still in question, while companies are making some investments, they tend to be moderate in scale and backed by solid financial rationales, with projects either enhancing control and compliance or boosting operational efficiencies.
Overall, organisations increasingly recognise that a “we’ve always done it that way” mentality no longer works, not that they’re interested in radical changes just for the sake of trying the latest and greatest. Instead, they’re trying to maximise on investment and streamline day-to-day processes so that they (and their employees) can take a more strategic approach.
As painful as this downturn has been for many organisations and individuals, if even some of these newly acquired habits can stick as the economy recovers, that won’t be all bad and it may even help to prolong the good times.
The Conference Format
Our Annual Client Conference brings together expert industry speakers, a selection of leading business travel suppliers and you, our valued clients. We ensure delegates have the chance to meet and mix with their own peers, as well as a raft of industry experts with whom they can personally discuss their travel needs and strike up lasting business relationships.
Now in its second year, we hope our Conference is establishing an informative and educational programme that no buyer of business travel should miss. A series of seminar sessions are detailed below and these take place alongside our private Exhibition Zone.
Thursday 23rd September
11.30am-12.00pm
Delegate registration and coffee.
12.00pm–1.00pm
Supplier ‘Speed-dating’ – an opportunity to meet a number of leading industry suppliers that may add value to your travel programme.
1.00pm–1.30pm
Networking and refreshments in the Exhibition Zone.
1.30pm-1.45pm
Introduction to our moderator, Peter Dennis
1.45pm-2.45pm
Conference Session 1: The Price is Right
As a buyer how do I get the best price? We will have key industry figures from the air, hotel, rail & car hire sectors to discuss how yield management and pricing works, the importance of distribution and we talk through the minefield of unbundling, the latest hot industry topic.
At a time when capacity and availability is a huge issue, we debate how to successfully negotiate and access the best deals with a panel of speakers including Easyjet, IHG and Virgin Trains. We also hear their views on fare and rate increases for 2011, an invaluable insight to prepare your organisation for travel budgeting.
2.45pm–3.45pm
Conference Session 2: Let the Good Times Roll
If the economy dictated policy changes downwards, will the reverse be true once the good times come back? Are savings still the main driver, and if so, where will and can additional savings be made? What impact has recession had on your business and travel spend and policy? This will be a buyer driven debate with thoughts and views from some CTM clients.
Find out how other organisations are reacting to recession by changing policy, reining in maverick travellers and making use of new technology. This session will include candid views from three travel buyers from both the private and public sector. Also we will hear from Airplus with their picture of the market, an opportunity for you to benchmark your organisation against an industry-wide view.
3.45pm-4.45pm
Conference Session 3: Communication, Communication, Communication
The new trends of social media and next generation Y methods of communication are here to stay. Will these trends translate into changed business practices, how can the travel manager best utilise them to benefit their travellers, we have some interested parties who will discuss how we embrace new media into today’s travel programme.
The key to the success of any travel programme is engaging the travellers and bookers and ensuring they feel that their welfare and opinion counts. We talk with a number of our partners about new and innovative web and mobile based products that are entering the market that will be a valuable way of communicating with your organisation, making it easy for them to ‘do the right thing’.
4.45pm–5.15pm Wrap up and close.
5.15pm Transfers provided to the Crowne Plaza, Blackfriars.
5.30pm-7.30pm Drinks & Canapés, Nineteen Below, Crowne Plaza, Blackfriars