Experts of ABT-ACTE Russia Council discussed topics of the future sessions: “We have dashed off to online booking, but forgotten about the basics”

The meeting of ABT-ACTE Russia Council members was held in Mercure Arbat Moscow on January 25. Irina Kostyukova (Kaspersky Lab), Vera Tchelenk (BNP Paribas), Julia Evlakhova (BNS Group), Maria Sergeeva (Luxoft), Aleksandra Perekalskaya (Leroy Merlin), Marina Krechetnikova (JTI), Evgeny Evlannikov (EY) and Elza Abadovskaya (Medtronic) shared their opinions on the topics that may be on the agenda of the forthcoming March ACTE Forum and the future educational events.

The experts were unanimous that the vast majority of visitors of such professional events did not know the “Martian language” the experts usually used. “There should be the basic theory part in the program”, Marina Krechetnikova is convinced. “I often hear from conference and forum participants that they do not understand what is being talked about”.

Maria Sergeeva agreed with her colleague: “We have dashed off to online booking, but forgotten about the basics. Fundamental education is necessary. And this introduction into business travel should be elementary, simple. Otherwise, one of five-six persons will actually understand what is discussed”.

The expert also pointed out that the issue of the big data and the way of its collection should be raised at ACTE Forum. Special attention should be paid to Executive Dashboard. “It goes about the methods of savings calculation, and I know four of them”, Maria said. “Which one to choose? Moreover, this topic would be the best one for interactive discussion with the participants: what way do they use?”

Another problem that should be discussed nowadays and that is important not only for Russia, but for the whole world, is hotel rates upload. “It has been very hard to upload a corporate program to all the GDS for the past few years. I have an impression that hotels just do not need the corporate business, they are not interested in it. They go to aggregators. We are told that it is a technical problem. Let`s invite the representatives of all the parties and discuss the situation!” was the suggestion of discussion participants.

Vera Tchelenk spoke about the lack of information on apart hotels of the capital. “Our auditors often come to Moscow for more than five days”, Vera said. “Usually we agree on a long stay rate with a hotel, but our global program requires an apart hotel in this case. I personally do not have a clear idea of apart hotel offers. It would be interesting to see the statistics for Moscow”.

And here we could talk about the serviced apartment segment. “The demand for them on the part of corporate buyers is huge”, is the opinion of Aleksandra Perekalskaya. “But apartment lease in Russia has its special features”.

Irina Kostyukova added that reports were on many procurement experts` working agenda: “Top managers often do not understand what reports may be interesting for them, it is the travel manager who should be in the know of the best practices. Why not speak about what they should include? What indices show the efficiency of the coordinator`s work, his value?”

Another burning issue is the shift of former b2c services to the b2b segment. Do any travel purchase experts manage to use these tools without infringing the right program course?

The experts also mentioned the topic of steady business travel growth. For example, do business travel organizers often pay attention to environmental aspects? “We all know that an economy class seat implies a smaller carbon dioxide exhaust into the atmosphere compared to business class, this is why business class bookings have almost been cancelled in our company”, Vera Tchelenk said. “It is a world trend to give preference to the providers with the right, environmentally friendly attitude. The society tends to humane consumption, and we should bear it in mind”.

A more detailed ACTE Forum program will be available on ABT-ACTE Russia website closer to the date of the forum (the last working day of March). If you have any questions regarding participation, you may contact us by email: events@abt-acte.ru or by phone: +7 (495) 660-77-83.