We sit down with Guy Snelgar, the new Global Business Travel Director at The Advantage Travel Partnership.
Are you building a giant-killing USP at Advantage?
I think the USP is probably already there. It’s our scale but also our scope; the scale in terms of the fact that we’re the second-largest TMC network in Europe, but also the scope in the range of the membership, from very large, billion turnover operators right down to small owner-operators. Unlike similar organisations, we’re also in leisure travel; the black and white thing where you were either business or leisure is gone – the smart things happening in leisure travel are seeping into business travel and vice versa. We have 70% of the UK’s top TMCs, we have the buying power – to have it across such a broad, diverse range is probably our USP.
What’s the corporate travel world’s most under-utilised benefit?
It sounds like a plug, but it’s probably the TMC and the management part of the Travel Management Company. It’s the engagement between corporate and TMC around how to manage a programme, the guidance, the expertise, the consultancy. There are still a lot that use TMCs as just a travel booking service; they are missing out on a huge amount of expertise, financial savings and benefits for staff because it is too much of a transactional relationship and they are not getting the guidance they should.
So you’re saying corporates don’t utilise TMCs’ expertise enough?
I think there’s a big opportunity after Covid because organisations that previously wanted to transact travel at the lowest possible cost are now looking at what travel is like around the world and saying this is not as simple as I thought. There is potential risk, the impact on traveller wellbeing, sustainability and questions of whether corporates want staff to travel as they did before. It’s a much bigger conversation now. TMCs tell me a lot of new business isn’t coming from other TMCs, it’s companies that were unmanaged that don’t feel comfortable about looking after their own travel programme anymore. The other thing is data – how often is that being used to drive changes to an organisation’s travel programme? There’s a lot of data but sometimes not enough business intelligence; it’s not being used powerfully enough across the industry.
What other changes has the pandemic prompted?
I was working for a corporate booking tool during the 2008 crisis that had introduced a sustainability module. Everyone was very into it and then we had the credit crunch and nobody cared anymore from a corporate buying point of view. It’s a different conversation now. It was happening pre-pandemic, but that reset, that time to think, has absolutely accelerated it. It’s not everywhere, but sustainability and traveller wellbeing are core pillars. Before it was an aspiration, now there are measurable targets. It’s not just a travel programme thing, the company has a strategy; the travel programme has had to step up to meet it. I think it’s been a steady evolution over several years, it’s not going away, but it’s not a sea change moment, there will be companies slow to adopt.
What’s the next big thing then?
I think it’s around traveller wellbeing and duty of care. The big thing is that there’s going to be a standard, ISO 31030. Duty of care has been ‘I think we’re doing the right thing’, we’re now going to see standards around duty of care with things that can be measured and achieved. I think it may drive a big change in behaviour.
Will NDC and ‘one order’ help with this?
I think the intent of having the one-stop shop will be driven more and more. That’s been a TMC mantra for a while – you want me to help with duty of care, well mandate it. I think standards will be put in place with organisations having an actual documented strategy; that will drive more bookings through a single source. ‘One order’ is a solution down the line that may contribute to that, but look where we are with NDC, the product is still not where it should be. I would say we’re still at the beginning of the journey with NDC. Whether it’s the technical solution to total trip and cost management is still open to debate.
Any travel hacks you can recommend for us?
I’ve changed the way I think about travel; I used to travel and go to a meeting. I’m now thinking how I can make the trip valuable. What else can I do that would be useful while I’m there? I’ll make it an overnight or turn a two-day trip into three and not have to go again three weeks later. Travel less but travel better.
Do you have a favourite after-dinner story you can share?
It’s nothing to do with travel but shows you should always seize an opportunity. For a large part of my career, travel has been my day job and I’ve tried to be a musician. I was in a band with lead singer Tim Howard, a musical theatre legend. He had been starring in Tonight’s The Night, the Rod Stewart Musical and got to meet him and Ben Elton, the writer. Tim told Rod he was playing at The King’s Head in Fulham – it’s no longer there. Rod became very excited and told us he used to play there with The Faces. He then said: “We’ll come down.” Tim showed up at rehearsal and told us this – we were a little sceptical. The pub was a bit spit and sawdust, it was very busy, and we were sound checking when there was a kerfuffle at the back of the room. Rod had walked in, shirt undone with medallion, Penny Lancaster on one arm, Ben Elton on the other. We did the show; all my friends were at the bar having a drink with him, but when we finished, he had gone. We were disappointed; next day I switched on my phone and there’s a message from Ben saying it had got a bit much for Rod in the pub, we’re down the road at his private club, he’d love to buy the band a drink and have a chat. We didn’t get the message till next morning. The moral is, always leave yourself open to opportunity!
