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Volume of global business, and internal and external factors, will have a bearing on volume of travel in 2004. Here are some corporate views.
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General Motors (GM) Indonesia president director, Mr Harold Koh
Do you expect company travel to rise next year?
Generally for GM we expect more travel, because our business is growing in Indonesia. So travelling for business purposes will definitely increase, not only overseas, but within the country.
Why is business growing?
We have a very aggressive plan to grow our business in this country.
We expect we will do well. GM Indonesia has about 50 outlets of services and sales.
Since June’s GAIKINDO motor show, our sales have increased. We have introduced three new models this year (and gained market share for each segment), so the market penetration is strong.
This means that your T&E budget will be bigger next year?
For sure. It all goes with the business. If the business increases, travel will increase. There will be more interaction with dealers and with customers in different places.
I would think the increase will be about 33 per cent over this year.
Where will your executives be travelling to, mostly?
Big cities as well as the secondary destinations in Indonesia. We visit places such as Medan and Surabaya, Makassar and Palembang – all over Indonesia, I would say.
Overseas, we go to Singapore, Bangkok, Japan and the US (Detroit). These are the more frequent areas.
(GM regional headquarters are in Singapore and Bangkok.)
What is the best – and worst – thing that could happen in 2004?
The best thing that can happen is more direct investment in the country, which will create new jobs and give more people money to buy consumer goods.
Indonesia is facing a challenge from the neighbouring countries, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia, which are attracting more investments, but I believe the government here is working hard to encourage even local investments.
If the election goes very smooth, the economy will grow very quickly.
The worst thing that could happen is uncontrollable unrest and if the rupiah weakens significantly again.
What improvements would you like to see from suppliers such as hotels, airlines and your TMC?
Travelling in Indonesia is not much of a problem. Domestic connections are available between big cities. But for overseas trips, airlines have dropped frequencies and there are fewer direct flights since the 9-11 tragedy. This has added to time spent on travelling.
I have no complaints about hotels here. They have very good services and facilities, but what we need is to ensure safety. This is our company requirement worldwide.
The local TMCs must improve themselves to be able to compete with the global TMCs.
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Hyundai Indonesia head of corporate communications, Ms Ageyani Malano
Do you expect company travel to rise next year?
We have not seen changes in the training schedule overseas for next year, but looking at the success this year, it is very likely we will see more movements. This year was a record year in the eight years of our existence in Indonesia. We ranked second in the car sales during the GAIKINDO show (Indonesia’s biggest annual car show) this year. We introduced three new products and this means more training, more promotion and marketing activities and more travelling.
This means your T&E budget will be bigger?
Yes, it will increase about 20 per cent over this year.
Where will your executives be travelling to, mostly?
South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. We send staff for training in South Korea a few times a year. We get visits from the regional and head office once a week. Our sales and supervisor team travels to big cities around Indonesia on a regular basis.
What is the best – and worst – thing that could happen in 2004?
The best: the Indonesian political elections go smoothly, the economic situation gets better and we get better sales. Looking at the number of new car orders, the market is big.
The worst: the reverse, especially if rioting occurs.
What improvements would you like to see from suppliers such as hotels, airlines and your TMC?
Flexibility. With the fast-changing situation, hotels should be more flexible in giving deadlines for booking; they should be fairer in pricing. What I mean is there should not be hidden prices behind the seemingly low prices.
Agents should develop better relations with the airlines so they can give priorities to their loyal clients, especially when they urgently need to fly during high season.
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ADSALE Exhibition Services
Hong Kong managing director,
Mr Tong Kam-shing
Do you expect company travel to increase in 2004?
I do expect an increase in the next 12 months, compared to the first half of this year and to the similar period last year. This is because of the postponement to year-end of some of our major shows in China due to SARS. On one hand, we have to re-launch our visitor promotion campaign. For an example, I have just been to East China to hold a press briefing on our postponed shows. On the other hand, we have to send our staff to travel there and manage these postponed shows.
What is the best thing that can happen in 2004 to help you do a better job?
The continuous growth of China economically, the improvement of the business climate in Hong Kong and no repetition of SARS.
What improvements would you like to see from hotels, airlines and your TMC?
For us, there are two parts of travel businesses, one for ourselves as a show organiser and one for our exhibitors and/or visitors. During the SARS period, there have been very attractive offers from hotels and airlines and so our clients have built up some expectations of lower prices. Airlines and hotels, understandably, want to bring prices back to more normal levels, especially when they see a strong rebound after SARS. How a smoother transition can be made is not easy to answer.
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Oriental Capital Assurance Malaysia chief operating officer, Mr R Nesaretnam
Do you expect company travel to increase in 2004?
I expect company travel to remain the same as in 2003 because little has changed within the insurance industry that warrants us to travel more. We will continue to do what we did in 2003.
Will your T&E expenditure be higher or lower than in 2003?
Entertainment expenditure will definitely increase in 2004 because the government recently made a decision allowing companies to claim this expenditure against tax, from next year. When the government withdrew this facility several years ago, we pulled back on the amount we spent on entertainment. However, not all of the additional expenditure we incur on entertainment next year will be related to travel.
Where will your executives be travelling to, mostly?
Most of our travel will be to our branches throughout the country. We will also travel overseas to meet our reinsurers and attend conferences in the main global insurance centres such as Singapore, Hong Kong, London and Sydney. We also attend the annual East Asia Insurance Conference and next year’s meeting is scheduled to be held in Bangkok.
We will not engage in prospective travel. This is linked to the effect of 9-11 when nearly all companies engaged in cost-cutting processes. While we have come out of this, our policy on travel is still very much on a ‘need to’ basis.
What is the best – and worst – thing that could happen in 2004?
The best: a vibrant economy.
The worst: external factors. For instance, SARS forced us to cut back on travel. Similarly, the impact of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) and ASEAN Free Trade Agreement’s decisions on tariffs on cars, to be implemented in 2004, could lead to a lower value for cars. As this will lower insurance premiums and earnings while risk is maintained at the same level, it could negatively affect the insurance industry and its operations including travel.
What improvements would you like to see from hotels, airlines and your TMC?
If hotels in every state can come to us with a package deal that facilitates bulk billing, it would be useful. Our TMC could be more proactive. However, they do give us generous credit terms.
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National Australia Bank strategic procurement (customer service & operations) head, Mr Chris Jacob
Do you expect company travel to increase in 2004?
We don’t expect volumes to change significantly over the next 12 months. Australia and the UK are our key volume drivers, followed by New Zealand.
Will your T&E expenditure be higher or lower than in 2003?
It is very likely the budget set aside for National Australia Bank’s T&E expenditure for the financial year beginning October 1, 2003 will remain the same as the last financial year. Over the past 12 months, a number of major projects incurred significant travel and these projects are now trailing off.
Where will your executives be travelling to, mostly?
The UK and New Zealand and to a lesser extent the US and Asia.
What is the best thing that can happen in 2004 to help you do a better job at contracting corporate travel?
Our big wish for 2004 is to better understand the need and current behaviours of National staff, with regards to travel. We are currently involved in a major diagnostic that is likely to lead to a number of changes taking place.
Also, for an organisation of our size, a TMC is a real asset to assist in the management of the travel policy and the implementation of process change. The technology capabilities of travel managers are key drivers to effectively manage an account of our size (not disclosed) along with robust and well-managed service levels.
What improvements would you like to see from hotels, airlines and your TMC?
We would like to see a longer level of involvement and interaction between our partners and ourselves and in particular by our travel manager. By this I mean regular and substantive recommendations on ways to improve service and reduce costs.
This increased level of interaction will involve not just talk, but an in-depth understanding of our business and our partners.
