Corporate Traveller’s goal is all about making business travel faster, simpler and easier by providing access to a global network of rates and fares, travel technology. Our readers think they’re hitting that goal, voting Corporate Traveller as the Best Corporate Travel Brand in the recent KARRYON Awards.
We spoke with Corporate Traveller’s General Manager Jess Anscombe to learn more about what drives Corporate Traveller’s success.
What does winning a KARRYON Industry Award mean to you and your team?
Corporate Traveller Team
It means everything. It’s wonderful to be recognised for the difference we make and our contribution to the travel industry.
We’ve spent the past year re-positioning ourselves as the SME experts in Australia and re-shaping our customer strategy. To achieve great customer results and then get the recognition is very satisfying. It means a lot to our entire team.
How do you and your team make an impression to agents and consumers?
We make an impression through our personal service – we really get to know our customers, what is important to them and their companies, so that we understand their business and travel goals. We work closely with them and their stakeholders to ensure their travel program runs smoothly and that their travellers are looked after.
It’s the personal service combined with the ease of use of our travel technology which really connects and resonates with our customers.
How important is your organisation to the industry?
Our business is very important to the industry. We’ve been able to build up a significant share in the market as a corporate travel manager that responds to our customers’ needs and brings efficiencies to their travel programs.
We facilitate companies being able to do their business nationally and globally and also enable our partners within the industry such as hotels and airlines to reach a broader audience and provide specialised travel services.
What do you love most about the travel industry?
It’s a great industry to be a part of. I’m very passionate about travel and the ability to open up experiences for our customers and people within Flight Centre Travel Group.
The industry itself is very energetic. It’s progressive, fun and the people that work in it generally have a common attitude to life and work and are very passionate.
What is your most memorable travel experience?
There are so many!
I’ve slept out in a hammock in the Amazon surrounded by fireflies and listening out for Jaguars. I’ve had road trips across Cuba including driving down roads that finish at the end of nowhere. Madagascar as a destination provided an incredible experience trekking through the jungles.
I’ve been very lucky, I never want to stop travelling. I fell in love with it at a young age and spent over two years before and after university backpacking around the world. For work, travel has taken me from the UK to places like South Africa and Australia.
Probably my favourite country I like going back to is Mexico. A great experience is driving from Mexico City to Tulum on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. It’s known for its beaches and well-preserved ruins of an ancient Mayan port city. I love the people, the culture, the beaches and mountains. Mexico City is amazing and chaotic. Mexico is my ‘go to’ place, though my favourite city is New York.
What do you think the future holds for the travel industry?
The future of the industry is very exciting. Leisure travel is becoming more affordable and accessible than ever before whether by boat or plane and then there are new routes opening up like the Perth to London non-stop service. The world is becoming so much smaller which is very exciting. Advances in technology and engineering mean we are going to more places than ever before.
Sustainable tourism is going to be so incredibly important. We desperately need to preserve the environment and ecosystems of places we travel to.
In terms of business travel, there is going to be a lot more traveller specific personalisation in the experience. More artificial intelligence is coming and will be important in predicting some of the things that we do and providing contextual services. Whilst there will be far more personalisation being implemented in terms of technology, a professional and knowledgeable travel consultant will still be just as important.
Any advice to an individual thinking of joining the industry?
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I’d say just go for it! Talk to people who work in the industry. If you’re passionate about travel you will want to learn as much as you can about the industry.
It’s a fantastic industry to work in with many career options available. I started out as a consultant at a Flight Centre shop in Brighton in the UK and now I’m running a major corporate business, so there are opportunities to progress and travel and to meet some amazing people.
Thanks to our sponsor nib travel insurance.
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