Freshly rebranded Meon Travel Management exhibited at the PA Show at ExCeL London for the first time this year. Our head of corporate sales, Richard Ware, explains why we felt it was important for us to be there.
When it comes to booking or managing travel, EAs, PAs and office administrators are often a vital part of the buying process for their organisation. We are aligned with corporate travel so we can help them manage this part of their job, and we decided to exhibit at the PA Show on the recommendation of several clients.
I am almost embarrassed to admit that this was my first time at the event in my 30-year career in business travel. I wish I had attended before, because the show was so well supported with PAs and key influencers in the business travel decision making process.
The timing worked perfectly; having just rebranded, it was a great opportunity to get our new name out there.
It was surprising how many of the people we spoke with had not used a travel management company (TMC) before, so we were able to explain the benefits of using a travel partner for the first time.
This is particularly salient now, with so many self-booking systems available there is an attitude of ‘oh, we can do this ourselves’. But with duty of care and full servicing being so important to customers, that’s where we come in. There are also other benefits to choosing our services that you won’t get online, like our exclusive Meon Fares with key global carriers.
Our self booking platform landed especially well (pun intended!) with its unique integration directly into the chat function of Microsoft Teams. That’s a powerful asset and many of those we spoke to liked the fact that access to a travel booking platform is truly integrated. It means that the organisers or travellers don’t have to go outside of Teams to book or manage their travel plans and itineraries. We believe this is a sign of things to come.
Of all the feedback we received from the 30-plus meetings we hosted on our stand over the two-day event, one common theme was the frustration many had with their existing travel provider and how long it takes them to get the basics right and respond to booking requests or queries.
Many said it took hours, sometimes even days, for them to get an answer. That’s crazy in such a fast moving industry and this is one of the consequences attributable to the large number of new tech entrants in travel. Unfortunately, in their bid to lower transaction fees, too many fail their clients on the core fundamentals – namely customer service, feedback, timely support and advice 24/7.
Many of the people we spoke to were previously unaware of Meon – most of our UK clients are in the South or the Midlands – so it was good to reach those dedicated London PAs together with a wider national audience. We’ll definitely be back at ExCeL next year, and if you’re a PA or Exec Assistant and you haven’t considered attending the PA show yourself, travel is just one compelling reason to attend and I would highly recommend you take a look.
Meanwhile, I’m following up those leads to lock in the last few meetings!
Get in touch to discuss your business travel requirements today.
