Summary of the conference on synergies between business travel and meetings_Barcelona

Forum Business Travel held on June 18 at the Tryp Apolo hotel in Barcelona the second of its sessions under the title "Together, but not mixed up: Synergies between business travel and meetings", which on this occasion counted as main speaker with Rafael Grande, president of Event Managers Association (EMA) and head of Global Events at Almirall.

Rafael Grande 

Rafael Grande began his speech by asking those present the central question of the day: “?"How far does the work of the travel manager go and at what point does the work of the meeting planner begin?After analyzing the possibilities of collaboration between both parties, the expert points out the need to diversify the contracting with the agency. In his opinion, the big business travel intermediaries are very efficient in business travel, but when it comes to meetings and events, their role can become merely logistical.

Although the processes in MICE planning are still very manual, the existence of tools related to customer management (CRM), which are sometimes connected to self-booking solutions, is greatly improving the management of this department.

Another issue Grande addressed was the measurement of return on investment (ROI). In his experience, there are no completely reliable methods. “If no one has a definitive solution in business travel, even less so in the MICE sector”, he stresses. Almirall's global events manager urges companies to clearly define what they are interested in measuring, in line with their objectives when organizing an event.

AGENCY VIEW

The view from the agency came from Alberto Mestre, director of Meetings & Events at American Express Global Business Travel, who pointed out that there is an increase in the number of companies that are taking part in the event; that there is an evolution of the travel managers towards a greater participation in the organization of events, due to the synergies that occur in both areas.

In his opinion, it is necessary to look for meeting points, but be careful with purchasing policies: the same suppliers are not always the most efficient for each purpose. Mestre also warned of the complexity of applying the transaction fee model to events, given the variety of products and services involved.

Another aspect of MICE management is the levels of quality of service. According to the American Express GBT executive, each company must set its own indicators according to its needs and interests. Business travel is more evolved in reporting processes, while in the meetings and events area, technology is just starting to arrive now. Mestre linked this issue with return on investment to admit that measurement tools must also take into account aspects other than savings.

TRAVEL FRICTION

Forum Business Travel ended the day with a presentation by its co-founding partner Óscar García entitled "The concept of Traveler Friction and Traveler Experience". The speech started with a strong conclusion: “Travel conditions have a financial impact on companies”.

Garcóa argued this by pointing out that comfort and positive experiences while on the road are important to travelers' productivity, and that companies that neglect this aspect may miss out on business opportunities and expansion. In relation to human resources policy, care must also be taken because talented employees may leave if conditions are not good. Salary is not everything”.

It is the concept of travel friction: “Traveling generates stress, there is lack of oxygen in airplanes, you eat worse and at the wrong time, business travelers do not usually go to the hotel gym, nor relax visiting the city after the meeting.... It is a matter of quality of life and this is also part of the total cost of the trip, the human cost, not just the cost of transportation, hotel or extra expenses. In my opinion, it is necessary to look for a balance between the two.