Procurement Professional is the official publication of CIPS Australasia

Finalists have been announced for the 2010 BTTB Travel Programme of the Year Award.

28 Apr 2010

Banking giant Suncorp, iconic manufacturer Pacific Brands and previous finalist the University of Southern Queensland have been named as the top travel programmes in Australasia in the first unified (non-size-specific) awards.

Business Travel Monthly editor Allan Leibowitz says the three top programmes were determined in a hotly contested nomination process which this year attracted a record number of entries – almost all from first-time nominees.

“The judging was based on a quantitative survey developed by BTTB and Butler Caroye,” Leibowitz explains. “It evaluated travel programmes on their policy, integration, technology usage, supplier relations and some of the new ‘hot buttons’ – duty of care and environmental responsibility.”

The evaluation also took innovation into account, with all nominees asked to identify their achievements.

Leibowitz says the awards organisers decided to consolidate the awards from the previous “small account” and “large account” categories into a single award. However, in recognition that there’s far more scope for excellence in large budgets, the scoring was weighted in favour of smaller accounts “to compensate for their lack of market power”.

Judges say the general standard of nominations was noticeably improved this year, with scores among the highest seen to date in the BTTB awards process.

“Generally, organisations have certainly got the basics in place and self-booking, expense integration and traveller tracking are all taken for granted,” Leibowitz says. “This year, many of the innovations cited in the questionnaires were indeed new and fresh – not just the type of things one would assume in any well-managed programme,” he explains.

The 2010 BTTB Travel Programme of the Year award will be announced at a gala dinner at the Sofitel Wentworth Sydney on 5th May, sponsored by Qantas.

The event will also see the presentation of five supplier awards:

• Travel Management Services – travel management companies or individual agency employees. 
• Expense Management Services – card providers, expense management system providers or payment services. 
• Technology Services – suppliers of any technology used in the end-to-end travel management process. 
• Traveller Services – providers of traveller safety and traveller information services which enhance the traveller experience.
• Consultancy Services – travel, technology or expense management consultants.

Here too, there were large numbers of nomination from clients, and Leibowitz says the winners were determined not by the number of votes, but by the citations from customers, many of whom went to great lengths to demonstrate the contributions of their suppliers.

Tickets to the awards dinner and/or the BTTB Australia 2010 Conferenceevent can be purchased online by clicking here.