Business Travel Executive, November 2019

SR SPECIAL REPORT And he notes ridesharing services allow a travel group more flexibility at a lower cost with less wasted transfers But there are always a few wild cards in the deck Local vehicle availability can be a problem Conway says Sometimes a destination only has a very limited supply of certain types of vehicle for hire through a DMC or transportation company Ridesharing services have become a fairly global phenomenon but Conway warns its always worth investigating if your events destination has a robust ridesharing presence or if its smaller or even non existent However when ridesharing is available travel buyers can use booking data to engage the companies to provide convenient transportation options for specific meetings or events according to Jennifer Steinke global head of travel for PPD Buyers can procure event codes specific to the dates and locations from ridesharing companies and provide this information to their travelers Even if a buyer opts to not to provide an actual event code she says giving the ridesharing companies anonymized information about the dates and arrival times would allow the provider to have enough drivers at or near the airport Weve done large buses mini buses and have now even used an event code with our ride sourcing partner Lyft says Rosemary E Maloney senior manager global travel at Tapestry and a BTE Think Tank contributor She says it gave attendees a wider range of choices While this method wouldnt work for all companies or even all meetings at my company using a ridesharing company for an event is another alternative she adds Innovations in technology have made it easier to book black car services and save money too CEO Liz Carizone of Groundlink says the companys travel management software BRIO was built with travel planners in mind BRIO links travelers with their travel arrangers saves histories and preferences and allows for multiple booking options including point to point hourly and as directed rides as well as rides with stops Carizone notes their new Events and Reporting Dashboards have made BRIO an even more powerful tool The Events dashboard is an on the go solution that allows users to monitor and change rides share manifests and generate custom manifests and invoices from mobile devices The Reporting Dashboard lets travel arrangers track spend by top five markers booking trends cancellations wait time and aggregate spend The functionality also lets users generate reports and data Paths of Least Resistance Still for the more frugal event planners working on a limited budget and little travel data to share cost savings can be realized using some old standbys hotel provided shuttles If your group happens to staying at an associated hotel for a convention Conway suggests then its likely that there will be pre existing shuttle transfers between the association hotel and other convention venues If those transfers fall into your group needs then they can be taken advantage of to reduce expenditure and wasted transfers However Conway warns Regardless of your events size any requests for organized arrival and departure transfers should be checked against the groups flight itineraries and their hotel arrival and departure dates This will help you catch any incongruities and allow you to ask the attendees questions that inevitably save the client money and everyone from frustration onsite When it comes to ground transportation decisions the traditional baseline criterion for travel buyers of yesteryear was which mode of travel was the most cost effective But today with so much travel data available its possible to obtain real time ground transportations cost savings and simultaneously steer traveler behaviors toward preferred travel policy goals Travelers who are better informed have better experiences So it may be rideshare in Chicago black car in LA or motorcoach in Vegas Or it may be a mix according to the specific needs of your event attendees VIP guests and employees But whichever mode you choose sooner is better than later n Ridesharing services allow a travel group more flexibility at a lower cost with less wasted transfers 20 Business Travel Executive askBTE com November 2019