UNIGLOBE Travel - The Canadian Business Journal

UNIGLOBE Travel
www.uniglobetrips.com
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UNIGLOB
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CB
BE Travel
PRODUCTS & SERVICES
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PRODUCTS & SERVICES • UNIGLOBE Travel
Air travel can be taxing, inconvenient, and
stressful. Luckily, UNIGLOBE Travel works
to defeat that thinking, providing more
value for the travel dollar and improving the
entire travel process and experience.
Travel’s year-over-year growth. “In the last few
years, there has been a resurgence to traditional
travel management. In 2011, travel management companies grew at a faster rate than online
travel companies.”
Quite simply, UNIGLOBE Travel has knowledge
Joel Kopstick, Regional Vice-President of
UNIGLOBE Travel (Eastern Canada), and Mark
of the industry that is not available online.
“Unfortunately when you work online, the
Crone, President of UNIGLOBE Normark Travel
computer is only smart enough to know what you
Inc. and a UNIGLOBE agency owner, spoke with
ask it. When you have an agent who has many
The Canadian Business Journal this month about
years of experience helping business travel-
the importance of business travel management.
lers get around the world, they ask questions
that lead to lower fares and they look at many
Traditional roots
alternatives that the consumer never asks for —
UNIGLOBE Travel has been in operation for 30
alternate dates, times, airlines, airports — plus
years and is truly a Canadian success story. With
many fares are not displayed online that we have
global headquarters in Vancouver, UNIGLOBE
access to,” Kopstick continued.
Travel has expanded to 60 countries worldwide
UNIGLOBE does have corporate self-booking
with nearly 800 locations. Specializing in busi-
systems for those who prefer that reservation
ness travel management, UNIGLOBE Travel
option. The competitive difference of UNIGLOBE
assists organizations in managing the diverse
Travel is that its online product is managed. A
expense of business travel.
unique company booking site is created with
Years ago, many predicted travel agencies
company specific travel information (travel policy,
would become obsolete, particularly because of
individual travel preferences, etc.) to control and
the growing online presence and accessibility
manage travel, all supported by UNIGLOBE per-
of travel booking over the web. But according to
sonnel and its 24-hour agency assistance.
Kopstick, this trend simply hasn’t occurred.
UNIGLOBE Travel believes that it offers the
“In fact, that has not been the case at all,”
best of both worlds — a combination of its unique
explained Kopstick, acknowledging UNIGLOBE
corporate online booking tool and experienced
APRIL 2012 • The Canadian Business Journal
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PRODUCTS & SERVICES • UNIGLOBE Travel
Ease of service is a big part of the success
of UNIGLOBE Travel. Booking through UNIGLOBE
Travel is a seamless process. The company has
also furthered its level of customer service by incorporating technology to aid travel. One example is
the development of its check-in notification valueadd service, as this enables clients to get the first
choice of seats.
“I think about how UNIGLOBE has evolved
over time and how it has changed with the times.
15 years ago, there was no such thing as online
booking systems. We jumped into it with both feet
and figured out how to incorporate that into our
businesses, same with flight notification, check-in
agent service. Its great value-add only furthers
emails, and quality control,” Crone summarized.
the UNIGLOBE Travel product.
“Moving forward, we’re evaluating new services and
“Our intent is to help with the entire travel
new technologies and seeing how we might benefit
portfolio of a company,” Crone said. “We try to add
from them and ultimately how our customers would
value wherever we can to the whole travel process,
benefit as well.”
like helping clients plan meetings and incentives.”
Kopstick added, “Since the industry moved to
electronic tickets, a big issue these days is keeping
Customer service
track of unused or partially unused airline tickets.
Across all of its operations, UNIGLOBE Travel
We manage unused credits on behalf of our cli-
uses personalized customer service to its advan-
ents ensuring they are utilized and no money goes
tage. Unique from the industry norm of a “call
wasted.”
centre experience,” UNIGLOBE accounts are pro-
Perhaps best described as “taking away the
vided a dedicated senior Travel Consultant who
surprises” of air travel, UNIGLOBE Travel consults
truly understands client company culture and
with business travellers, as well as leisure travel-
incorporate this into their offering.
lers, to best understand the their priorities and how
4585.01 - Uniglobe Cdn Business Journal AD_Avis Account Referral PDF - 2008 31/0
APRIL 2012 • The Canadian Business Journal
Open
to your needs.
Ready
with solutions.
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the company can work to make life easier for them.
Air travel is always changing and, looking toward the future, UNIGLOBE Travel is highly committed to continue changing and evolving with it. The
plan is for further growth in Canada, in addition to
expanding to more and more countries. Interestingly enough, UNIGLOBE Travel even grew through
the recent economic downturn, and was able to
use this period to its advantage.
Kopstick explained, “With companies looking
to reduce costs, we were very aggressive in seeking new corporate clients. We have a range of ideas
to help companies reduce costs and gain greater
control.”
At Avis Budget Group, we’re committed
to providing the level of service and value
that you and your travellers expect, with:
• Customized corporate account programs
• Complimentary expedited rental services
with Avis® Preferred® and Budget® Fastbreak ®
• Loyalty programs including Aeroplan® at Avis
and AIR MILES®† Reward Program at Budget
• Detailed reporting that will help control
expenses and make your job easy
For a customized program, contact
Avis Budget Group at 416 213-4286 or
UNIGLOBE Travel at 905 671-4497 ext. 229.
Crone concluded, “During the recession, there
is no question that companies reduced their travel.
The levels we’re at now are better than pre-recession levels. Business travel has come back quite
strong in the past year. People realize that you can’t
do business by telephone and email to service
clients properly, or to get new clients you need to be
face-to-face.
“Air travel is tough enough and no question it
is a hassle for the person doing it. It is an upset to
your normal life, but at least if travel is taken care
of easily up front, you’ve got a little stress out of the
Proud Partners
© 2012 Aviscar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ®Avis is a registered trademark licensed to Aviscar, Inc. for use in
Canada. © 2012 Budgetcar Inc. All Rights Reserved. ®Budget is a registered trademark licensed to
Budgetcar Inc. for use in Canada. ®Aeroplan is a registered trademark of Aeroplan Canada Inc. ®† Trademarks
of AIR MILES International Trading B.V. Used under license by LoyaltyOne, Inc. and Budgetcar Inc.
process.” CB
www.uniglobetrips.com
AS SEEN IN THE APRIL 2012 ISSUE
OF THE CANADIAN BUSINESS JOURNAL