As a result of its internationalization, it was a priority for Rimowa to adopt an intelligent software that could handle real-time expense reports from employees in multiple countries. Jasmin Merz, Rimowa’s Sales Coordinator, discusses the rolling out of Expensya expense reports management software in the company.

Download the full case study here.

Egencia announced a major recruitment drive to supercharge its existing technical capabilities in mobile, user experience and end-to-end development as well as artificial intelligence, machine learning to further expand the innovations and products released into market.

Egencia is recruiting for nearly 100 full-time positions across the US, Europe and India including software developers, data analysts, product managers, designers and data engineers. The expanded team will focus on developing new products for its customers that will provide better user experiences that are driven by automation and intelligent data-informed solutions.

The investment reflects the company’s belief that applying data-fuelled intelligence to its products and services will create powerful advantages for the corporate travel manager and their traveling employees. These benefits include enhanced personalization, simplified customer experience and greater cost efficiency.

Mark Hollyhead, President of Egencia, said: “Business travel lags behind other sectors, including retail, financial services, healthcare and e-commerce when it comes to the application of data science. We’re investing heavily in enhancing our capabilities in this area to ensure near-term value for our customers and long-term growth as we move towards an open platform that unlocks new opportunities for travel managers and business travelers alike.

Egencia has already established itself as a leader in this space – having won multiple industry awards for best product and more than $1 billion USD in new customers this year. The team has continued to lead in shaping the future of business travel, including being the first to have launched Travel Advisor, a duty of care solution that integrates alerts and advisories directly into the travel booking process. Egencia has also helped companies integrate with other SaaS products with the increased development of a modern extensible platform using APIs.

Francisca Zanoguera, Vice President of Data & Analytics at Egencia: “We know that applying data science to Egencia’s end-to-end travel management solutions, creates new and exciting possibilities to transform our sector. We are looking forward to bringing more AI and ML-powered products, services, experiences and intelligence to the market.”

For more information on Egencia’s open roles, please visit: https://www.egencia.com/en/careers

Automated spend management for all companies

Our new partner Expensya, automate your processes from payment to reimbursement, every stage of the business spend management process for all companies, regardless of their size or sector. 

Learn more about our partner watching this entertaining video.

To celebrate this new partnership, Expensya decided to share with our members few of theirs publications. 

Read the ebook - Digitalisierung: Wie können Sie Unternehmensausgaben effektiv kontrollieren und Prozesse im digitalen Zeitalter optimieren?

Read the press release - Bigdata Insider: Dieses Potenzial hat KI im Finanzwesen

Organisations worldwide are set to increase investment in employee health. That’s the findings of the International SOS Risk Outlook 2022. The report and updated global risk maps also signal that organisations are grappling with an increasingly complex risk landscape. The survey of nearly 1,000 risk professionals across 75 countries, coupled with insight from the Workforce Resilience Council and International SOS proprietary data, indicates that both mental and physical health support will see increased investment. In fact, over half (56%) of organisations intend to increase spending on both.

Read the full press release here.

Excellence in Car Rental Business in Switzerland but also in more than 100 other countries.

The entire Enterprise Switzerland Team sees itself as a flexible mobility provider for the very individual needs of its international customers. With our expertise and our passion - we support Individual travelers, SME`s and Multinational companies in their individual topics related to mobility.
We offer customized solutions that make their everyday life easier. We achieve this because we are experts in our field and have a large network at our disposal.
With the Swiss MSS Holding & Enterprise International we can rely on a huge number for supporting professionals who work all for you. Our customers receive from us the brand promise of a global brand paired with Swissness and 360° support from a team that is happy to be mobility solver every day.

WE are there for our customers! WE are convinced that satisfied employees & satisfied customers ensure the long-term success of the company.
This is what we work for every day!

More information on Enterprise Switzerland services click here or go to their website.

Your 2021 wanderlust is cured! citizenM is opening six fabulous, new hotels this year. Add them to your 'must visit' list – and get acquainted when the doors open.

Say hello to citizenM Los Angeles Downtown

citizenM has landed in La La Land! The very first Los Angeles hotel is a blockbuster with all the usual (citizenM) suspects: XL beds, an art-packed living room, 24/7 canteenM. Plus, 5 societyM meeting rooms for business nomads. Around the hotel: the financial, fashion, art and toy districts. And Hollywood is just a metro stop away. You can already book your stay from October 2021.

Say hello to citizenM Paris Champs-Elysees

Your next love story starts this autumn – prepare to fall head over stilettos with citizenM Paris Champs-Elysees hotel. It overlooks the world's most famous street, Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Ideal for coffee with croissants on the umbrella-lined terrace... or cocktails in the clouds at the sensational rooftop bar. Door opens September 2021. 

Say hello to citizenM San Francisco Union Square

California dreamin' starts with San Francisco. It’s home to rolling hills, architectural splendour, the best dim sum, and now citizenM San Francisco Union Square hotel! Come soak up magnetic sunsets on the open roof terrace, or catch a short cab ride to North Beach and Chinatown.

Say hello to citizenM Miami Brickell

Get ready to sip margaritas by the pool... That's right! citizenM Miami Brickell is the brand’s first hotel with a rooftop pool. Come for a swim or hydrate at the cloudM bar – either way, put Miami on your 'must visit' list. Doors open this autumn.

Say hello to citizenM Miami World Center

One Miami hotel isn’t enough for citizenM. So this autumn, the brand is opening a second location – and with a sensational rooftop pool! citizenM Miami World Center hotel may appear the business professional on the outside, but inside, it's still the fun all-are-welcome hotel like its sister. 

Say hello to citizenM Washington DC NoMa

NoMa is a 'work hard, play hard' kind of neighbourhood. Politics, nightlife and some of DC's most iconic sights congregate here. Joining them this winter is citizenM’s second DC hotel, citizenM Washington DC NoMa. Adorned with incredible art inside and out, you can't miss it!

Seit über einem Jahr nun beschäftigt uns die Pandemie und ein Ende ist nach wie vor schwer abzusehen. Was wird sich ändern?

Die letzten Monate waren fordernd und haben einmal mehr gezeigt, dass ein agiles Denken und Handeln von zentraler Bedeutung für die Bewältigung solcher komplexen Situationen ist. Dies betrifft nicht nur die Suche und die Umstellung nach neuen Zusammenarbeitsformen – Stichwort "Digitalisierung und Home-office" - sondern auch das Führen der Krisenlage – im globalen Kontext! In Beiden Bereichen durften wir über das vergangene Jahr diverse Kunden zielgerichtet, effizient und erfolgreich unterstützen.

Die (Geschäfts-) Reiseindustrie war sicherlich eine der am härtesten betroffene Zweige überhaupt. Wir haben in dieser Zeit unsere Mobility Risk Plattform X-Assist  rasch mit neuen Features im Kontext mit COVID-19 ausgestattet, um unseren Kunden einen umfassenden und zentralen Überblick über die Pandemielage zu verschaffen. 

Eine Rückkehr zu einer gewissen Normalität ist zwar nach heutigem Kenntnisstand in der zweiten Jahreshälfte 2021 absehbar, jedoch bleibt die Lage noch länger unberechenbarn. Dabei ist zu erwarten, dass insbesondere der Geschäftsreisebereich nicht mehr das Volumen des «Vorpandemiestandes» erreichen wird. Unabhängig davon, werden die Anforderungen an die Vorsorge-massnahmen für Geschäftsreisende bestehen bleiben, wenn nicht sogar noch steigen – Stichwort «Impfprävention». Auch die Einreisebestimmungen einzelner Länder werden sich wetierhin sehr rasch ändern können, was eine entsprechende Planung und Übersicht voraussetzt.

Um Ihnen einen Überblick über die Lage zu verschaffen, bestellen Sie heute noch die X-ASSIST Risk Map 2021, welche sich gut einem Mitarbeiterfrequentierten aufhängen lässt.

www.lexxton.com info@lexxton.com

Optimism is growing for a return to business travel.

79% of Travel Managers and GBTA members say they would be “very comfortable” or “comfortable” traveling after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. 55% of Travel Managers say business travelers are “willing” or “very willing” to travel for business, up from 49% at the start of 2021[1].

To help you lead the restart of business travel for your organization, here are 7 key steps to consider.

1. Defining Permissible Travel

Some organizations have advised travelers that only “essential” travel can take place at this time. But what is essential travel? There isn’t a consistent answer, and that drives confusion.
Smart organizations have implemented a clearer definition of acceptable business travel. One way of doing this is to use Permissible Travel as defined by the experts at FESTIVE ROAD. Their Permissible Travel Framework has been used (and contributed to) by hundreds of Travel Managers and suggests that pandemic-era travel is:

Company Confidence x Traveler Confidence x Government Permission = Permissible Travel

Next Step: The first critical step in the restart of travel is to work with your colleagues and stakeholders (such as Legal, HR, IT, Risk, Security, Procurement, C-suite) to define what Permissible Travel looks like for your organization. Key questions to help with this are included in the free-to-access Permissible Travel Framework. Company Confidence is what travel is company permissible. This covers what type of travel is allowed, where to and how this is done to mitigate business risk. Traveler Confidence is what is the employee willing to do. Government Permission is what travel is allowed by the governments, including consideration of destinations through which any trip takes place.

2. Clarifying the Value of Business Travel

Has your company travel budget been slashed? Will “virtual-first” be the default for meetings in the foreseeable future? If this is you, what if you could highlight the value every dollar spent on travel creates in terms of business outcomes?

A study by Harvard Business Review[2] may help. 81% of surveyed business leaders said that business travel generates “greater empathy toward customers and coworkers”. This drives intangible benefits such as increased collaboration, stronger innovation and better customer relationships. The HBR study also found striking measurable benefits, where organizations that manage travel as a strategic enabler (versus a cost to be minimized) see:

• 2.4x stronger customer loyalty
• 2.2x better speed to market
• 2.0x higher market share
• 1.6x better profitability and new product/service introduction capabilities

Next Step: As you engage with your colleagues and travelers, ask what business outcomes different types of travel create for your organization. Try to define what types of travel need to be retained versus what can go “virtual-first”.

3. Travel Policy Update

It’s time to update the travel policy and make sure it clarifies:

• What types are travel are allowed, when, where and by who?
• Have travel approval and booking processes been implemented (or changed), if so, how?
• What resources are provided to help both travelers and approvers determine if a trip can proceed, for example using Egencia® Travel Advisor to check origin/destination specific travel restrictions?
• Are there company procedures to follow pre/on/post trip, for example, pre-trip negative PCR tests or mandatory self-quarantine upon return?

Next Step: Review and implement your travel policy updates with your Egencia account manager. We will help you to ensure your travelers are informed about your policy, whether they book online, offline or via mobile, with Egencia. Bear in mind that due to the dynamic nature of the pandemic, (for example, rapidly changing government permissions) it's important to consider your travel policy a living document and keep it regularly updated.

4. Travel Approval

Pre-trip approval is becoming the norm in pandemic-era travel with 55% of companies launching approval processes[3]. This allows the traveler and approver to make trip-specific risk/benefit assessments before anything is booked.

The approval process should mirror your travel policy and organization’s permissible travel framework.

Next Step: Work out the key criteria to be used within your approval process, for example origin/destination information, reason for travel, cost, business benefit of the trip, etc. Apply Egencia setting options to configure unique policies to meet the needs of your traveler groups or cost centers. This type of flexibility helps you ensure the right policy applies to the right traveler for each trip.

5. Traveler Communications

Even experienced “road-warriors” may be unsure how to travel in the pandemic-era. Do they need a pre-trip COVID test? What social distancing measures are in place along their journey? How has the airport and flight experience changed?

Travelers have a multitude of new questions about travel. The more information and support you can provide; the more willing travelers will be to get moving again.

Next Step: If you haven’t already carried out a traveler listening exercise, now is the time. Survey or interview a group of travelers to learn about their questions with travel in the context of your travel program. Example questions are below, and more are available in the Permissible Travel Framework.

• Would you be comfortable to travel again?
• What, if anything, would prevent you from traveling?
• Do you believe that travel is critical to your job? If so how?
• How has not being able to travel affected your work?
• Do you anticipate any additional needs or support required pre/on/post trip?
• If you have travelled since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, did you feel safe during your trip?
• How can the organization best communicate with you regarding travel?

Once you’ve identified “what” you need to communicate, think through “how” and “when”. For example, push notifications may be needed with dynamic information (such as last-minute flight schedule changes), or to manage emergency situations. It’s helpful to consider ways you can streamline communications when you and your travelers need them most. The company intranet can house guidance documents and checklists. You can use Egencia Traveler Tracker to send emails or emergency push notifications directly to travelers whose trips may be impacted by an unexpected event.

6. New Standards > New Suppliers?

Travel suppliers are adopting new standards in order to maintain support. Two key themes are developing:

• New health and hygiene protocols, for example, the need to wear face masks on-trip
• More flexible commercial polices, to handle booking changes, credits and refunds

Some of these standards may be government controlled, but most vary by supplier. Travel Managers are typically looking to focus their support to suppliers with stringent hygiene protocols and flexible commercial policies.

Next Step: Certain hygiene and commercial policy components can be filtered within the more progressive travel booking tools. For example, allowing booking only where the ticket can be changed or refunded. Egencia will support you to focus the choice of suppliers to those that make most sense for your organization.

7. Coming soon: Testing and Vaccine Data

Requirements for trip related COVID tests or vaccinations are changing rapidly.

It's important to chat with HR, IT and legal teams about the potential need to capture testing and vaccine data. Does the company support this? How will this data be stored and secured? Will the company require its travelers to have had a COVID-19 test or vaccine?

Technology is emerging to enable travelers to store test and vaccine information on their mobile device. Examples are IATA Travel Pass and CommonPass, both are already in trial with various airlines.

Next Step: Stay up-to-date on this topic. Testing and vaccines look to be the most likely catalyst to a return to travel at scale, but will vary by market and supplier. Use Egencia Travel Advisor for on-demand access to current information about COVID testing and other requirements for your travelers’ destinations. And, here’s our Q&A with the medical director of International SOS and founder of World Aware as we discussed how vaccines will play out for business travel management.

You can download the full whitepaper from Egencia's website. Click here.

Webinar: Tuesday 18 May, 1600 CET

Association of Swiss Travel Management/Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply jointly present:

5 Ways Covid-19 Has Transformed Travel Management – And What It Means For Your Job

Interaction management, mobility compliance, sustainability, duty of care, supply chain resilience … The way companies engage with travel suppliers and handle employee trips is going to look very different as corporate travel resumes post-pandemic. This webinar walks you through the policy, process, technology and communication changes you need to make. 

Learn too how those who manage travel can evolve and extend their roles in the new environment, and how procurement chiefs can make use of those skills.

 

Speakers:

• Nathalie Ansermoz, Indirect Procurement Country Manager/EMEA Travel Manager, Parker Hannifin
• Scott Gillespie, Managing Director, tClara
• Karen Hutchings, Travel Services, Meetings & Events  and Brand Marketing Communication Leader, EY
• Rosaria Torriani, Talent and Organization EMEA Manager, Parker Hannifin

Moderator:

Amon Cohen, Speciailst Business Travel Writer

 

Book your FREE place for this reservation now!

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_JnE7HFgaQ6yN1a34ANhsYw

Prepare to re-open quickly for business travel

Business trips domestically, across Europe and globally, as well as trade fairs and congresses are foundations for current and future wealth creation. Our member companies send their engineers out into the world to build plants, commission sales staff to complete new orders globally, and send scientists to institutes and to conferences to facilitate scientific exchange, just to mention a few examples.

In order to make sustainable, domestic and international business trips possible again during and after the corona pandemic we demand:

1. Implementation of Digital Sanitary Certificate 

With EU Digital Green Certificate as a standard, domestic health certificates in many European countries, CommonPass and/or IATA TravelPass, there are plenty initiatives for a digital sanitary certificate. Interoperability between various digital health certificates in Europe and globally is essential. We call for the introduction for such digital certificates as soon as possible, to allow business travelers to move again without restrictions in Europe, and possibly even globally. 

2. No quarantine for healthy travelers when crossing borders

Business travelers should be allowed to cross borders free of quarantine, if they have either recovered from Covid-19, are vaccinated or can present an up-to-date negative PCR test. 

3. Re-open Europe coherently

Restarting business travel in Europe is not only a matter of the European Union or EFTA. All European countries, of course including Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, should act aligned to open their borders for much needed business travel.

Please contact us to learn more how we support the restart of business travel across Europe:

 

ABTA Austria, abta.at                                     DBTA Denmark, dbta.dk

aegve Spain, aegve.org                                  FBTA Finland, fbta.net

AFTM France, aftm.fr                                    NATM Netherlands, natm.nl

AITMM Italy, aitmm.it                                   NBTA Norway, nbta.no

ASTM Switzerland, astm.online                     SBTA Sweden, sbta.se

BATM Belgium, batm.be                                VDR Germany, vdr-service.de

CORTAS Netherlands, cortas.nl