Data was the topic of the moment during a panel discussion at
the ITM’s virtual conference on Wednesday, with a buyer and representatives
from a TMC and a risk management firm agreeing it should play a key part in
developing an effective emergency response plan.
Talking about the disruption experienced at the onset of the
coronavirus pandemic, Pat McDonagh, CEO of travel management company Clarity,
said: “I think at the beginning most people thought this would last a couple of
weeks, but here we are months later. In a situation like this, the goal post is
constantly moving, so you have to keep up.”
Gemma King, director of corporate travel, EMEA APAC at
Omnicom Group, said communication was the most important element of her travel
team’s response to the changing situation. “It was crucial for me to keep my
TMC informed of my company’s emergency response plan so they could look after
my travellers, but at the same time I had to be flexible in order to respond to
our business needs. For me it was really important to get the right messaging
out to my travellers very quickly to tell them exactly what they would want to
know – what they needed to do and who they needed to talk to in order to do it.”
McDonagh agreed that relying on their TMC in situations like
a viral outbreak is essential. “You’ll need their support to keep track of your
data, any refunds that are due, unused tickets, traveller tracking and updating
your policies. We’ve done a lot of policy adjustments since the beginning of
the crisis to make sure our clients can adapt to a new reality.”
Anvil Group MD Matthew Judge added that travel managers need
to have an emergency response plan in place before a major incident rather than
trying to develop one as it happens. “It needs to be set up properly, and I
would suggest running drills with all of the right stakeholders throughout the
year. It needs to involve the entire supply chain – your TMC, your risk
management supplier, your suppliers, as well as internal people from travel
teams, HR, risk or insurance and legal departments.”
King backed this up by pointing out that “these situations
never give you much warning”. She said the coronavirus outbreak gave her some much-needed
insight into how her response plan performs, adding: “This has really given me
an opportunity to ensure that my TMC and my risk management supplier are
working together, because I think there’s room for improvement.”
King also said she was using the downtime presented by a
lack of travel to encourage her travellers to update their profiles with the correct
contact details. “We have some travellers who are so eager to get back on the
road and others who are very nervous about it, so we have to be able to make
sure they’re safe and help them feel comfortable when travel starts again.
Having the most robust data possible enables my TMC and security teams to
deliver the best service. I would plea to suppliers out there to keep us buyers
informed about when routes are restarting and what processes are going to be
implemented around health and safety. Having that data will help me turn it
into a story to make my travellers more comfortable and get them back through
the door of your hotel or back on your aircraft.”