1. Julie Murphy achieves Global Travel Professional (GTP) certification
Well done to Julie Murphy, senior director of Sales for Asia Pacific, for achieving the
GTP certification. This certification is designed to raise industry standards, enhance
work performance and recognise individuals who demonstrate core competencies
essential to the business travel management discipline. The GPT certification is
beneficial for both individual professional growth and the business travel industry.
Discussing lowest logical fares at Corporate Travel World (CTW)
Julie Murphy, senior director of Sales for Asia Pacific, was on a panel discussion at the recent CTW,
30 September to 2 October in Bangkok. Also on the panel to discuss defining the ‘lowest logical fare’
and what it means to travel managers were representatives from India Travel for Accenture,
Emerson Network Power and Ford Motor Company.
Julie advised: “Give travellers some context to the air fare or hotel rate they are considering booking
so they can understand whether the price is an acceptable one. When providing an online booking
tool solution, it is important to configure the tool so that traveller can simultaneously see some
benchmark comparisons.” This includes:
Julie also added, “Travel managers can also institute a
requirement for travellers to indicate the reason for not
accepting the lowest logical or negotiate fare.”
When the discussion progressed to whether low cost
carriers (LCCs) should be factored into the travel
programme, Julie advised caution: “LCCs may result in
higher costs while inconveniencing travellers and
reducing trip flexibility, including mid-trip itinerary
changes. Simply assuming side-by-side fare comparisons
doesn’t tell the whole story. You need to calculate the
total cost of trip against set parameters or key
performance indicators to identify effective savings.”
The traveller’s
chosen price
The average price
paid by the company
on that route
The travel manager’s
preferred price, e.g.
the negotiated fare
The lowest logical
fare