JOHN Battley has spent 30 years growing Globetrotter Corporate Travel from a small suburban agency to one of the largest privately owned travel management companies in the country.
JOHN Battley has spent 30 years growing Globetrotter Corporate Travel from a small suburban agency to one of the largest privately owned travel management companies in the country.
With offices in Perth and Melbourne, the business plans to open in Sydney in 2010 and Brisbane within three years, with current turnover of $48 million expected to grow substantially.
Through Mr Battley, the company's managing director and a Sydney University graduate and qualified accountant, Globetrotter has embraced new technology and developed a value proposition focused on the full-bottom-line effect that corporate travel management can have.
According to Mr Battley, the average direct dollar cost of a corporate trip for Western Australian business is $4,400, consisting of $1,100 airfare, a similar amount in hotel, meals and transport, and a further $2,200 in gross salary costs.
The general company rule of return on dollar investment for travel is two to three times.
“In other words, the average successful company expects an average return of $9,000 to $13,000 on each corporate trip," Mr Battley said. "Clearly bringing home this bacon has a huge impact on the company's bottom line."
Mr Battley said the travel industry was incredibly competitive on price, with competitors and long-established industry partners, airline and hotels, competing for each booking.
Globetrotter, which currently employs 30 staff in its Nedlands head office and an additional five staff in a Melbourne office, must compete with a number of outside factors as well as local competition.
There have been many challenges over the years, with the 1987 stock market collapse, two Gulf wars, Sars, the Ansett collapse, bird flu, swine flu, the September 11 attacks in the US, and the current global financial crisis all having an impact on Globetrotter's bottom line.
“However, one of the biggest challenges is presented by the ever-increasing number of online booking sites, both airline and independent, which present, on the surface, as a cheaper option," Mr Battley said.
“A perceived online saving to our clients caused them and prospective clients, to question the value of Globetrotter managing their corporate travel expense. We were confronted with the task of having to really prove our value to our clients.
“Corporate travel margins are slim, so we need to perform at the very top of our game to avoid losing business to the dot.coms.
“Keeping abreast of all the offers can be a full-time job, so we make sure that our people are kept thoroughly up-to-date with weekly staff meetings, supplier updates and regular training.
“Our training philosophy not only deals with the technical aspects of the job, but also includes regular in-house training sessions with a qualified psychologist in areas such as embracing change and identifying and communicating with different personality types."
Mr Battley said training such as this gave his company a leading edge over competitors, with Globetrotter providing advice, accountability and efficiency aspects not available online.
He said it was imperative that in such a competitive market the company kept up-to-date with the increasing number of products on offer.
By asking employees for their input, advice, opinion and experiences, he said, the business was tapping into a wealth of knowledge not available on any online booking engine.
“Consultants have had to adapt the way they do their quotes and bookings. It is now second nature to cross-check everything we do against what is being offered on the net," Mr Battley said.
“In many cases, the pitfalls of booking online have served to highlight the benefits of great, personalised service. And by making ourselves available to our clients when their online bookings go wrong, this cements client relationships.
“We have had to work hard to better present to clients the value proposition we offer in driving a real bottom-line improvement. As a result we have even recorded improved turnover during the current downturn in spite of the fall in air fares."
