For pharmaceutical company Astellas the pandemic has presented an opportunity to ¡°reset¡± its global travel programme. Not only is it on the brink of appointing a single global TMC, but it has also introduced a ¡®SMART¡¯ travel programme ¨C supported at CFO level ¨C to help employees determine whether to hit the road or to keep it virtual.

¡°SMART stands for sustainable, mindful, agile, reportable and targeted,¡± explains global travel and expense manager Sammit Khanndeparkar. ¡°It¡¯s there to make employees consider their work-life balance and clearly states ¡®please travel only if required¡¯.¡±

In the long-term Khanndeparkar expects the company¡¯s business travel volumes to reduce compared to 2019. Recovery so far is nascent, with business travel dampened by ongoing travel restrictions.

¡°Asia is still relatively closed and we don¡¯t want people travelling and encountering problems,¡± says Khanndeparkar. ¡°Elsewhere, we have a big presence in the US, Latam, EMEA and even Africa, and we have colleagues travelling to countries where there aren¡¯t restrictions ¨C where there¡¯s no quarantine or travel advisories.¡±

There is no lack of appetite for business travel but stringent approvals processes remain in place and travellers are expected to do their due diligence on travel restrictions.

¡°We ask travellers to download the International SOS app and to check requirements before even booking travel, but it can still change between the time of booking and travelling. That¡¯s why we¡¯re in regular communication with them,¡± explains Khanndeparkar.

Despite the complexity of travel currently, the company is keen to drive up online booking adoption and sees the appointment of a single TMC and of Concur as its booking tool globally as key to achieving that.

¡°We had to globalise our travel programme and that was regardless of Covid ¨C it was too regionalised previously. Everything was managed locally and we had different policies and processes in place,¡± says Khanndeparkar. ¡°We want to get everyone except top management booking online.¡±

The goal is 91 per cent adoption, achievable thanks to what he describes as the ¡°cleansing and total reset of our travel programme¡±. He has experience on his side too, having pushed online adoption up to 95 per cent at another company.

¡°Rolling out the new TMC will be a big challenge as well as getting people familiar with booking online,¡± says Khanndeparkar. ¡°Many of our people have not travelled for a long time so it¡¯s a re-learning experience for them. There¡¯s going to be a lot of training sessions!¡±

CONTRACT RENEWALS
Astellas has addressed its accommodation programme by introducing a single revised rate cap globally but is in a similar position to most corporates right now, with its minimal data from the last two years preventing it from drawing reliable conclusions. ¡°Our airline spend is [historically] pretty huge but we¡¯re just renewing existing contracts as I don¡¯t know what my baseline is going to be,¡± says Khanndeparkar. ¡°I¡¯ve been very transparent with them and said maybe next year is the right time for me to say ¡®right, travel is going to be 30 per cent less¡¯ or whatever, and to look at new deals then.¡±