WorleyParsons wins BTTB buyer award

11 May 2011

WorleyParsons, a leading provider of professional services to the energy, resource and complex process industries in Australia and New Zealand, won the prestigious Travel Programme of the Year award at the fifth annual BTTB Travel Management Awards in Sydney last week.

The award was presented by Qantas commercial manager Karen Tsolakis to Natalie Dillon, WorleyParsons’ global travel project manager.

In announcing the award, Business Travel Monthly editor Allan Leibowitz noted that the company moved from poor compliance and an outdated policy in 2009. “WorleyParsons now has increased visibility through monthly travel reporting and management dashboards, an online booking tool driving compliance, increased accountability among travel co-ordinators and a comprehensive risk management approach, which together generated savings of $1.1million last year.,” he said.

Nufarm Australia and Suncorp were also recognised as finalists for the award. For the former, it was recognition of its efforts to update its internal travel approval system, adopt a most logical fare of the day policy for both domestic and international flights, restructure its travel coordinators, run travel training and enhance the sharing of KPI information, with the emphasis now shifting to ensuring the improvement initiatives become the new norm.

Suncorp, meanwhile, was honoured for its travel programme which has been significantly enhanced during the past 12 months with the introduction of new reporting methods and roll-out of dedicated educational initiatives, which have boosted travel information sharing across the group and garnered increased business engagement and understanding of travel procurement from the top down.

A number of vendors were also recognised in buyer-nominated awards which were presented by BTTB managing director Nigel Wardropper.

Judging was not just on the number of votes, but also on the qualitative aspects – the evidence of exceptional service.
In the Traveller Services category which covers all the services which contribute to the travel experience, from traveller safety to mobile phone services and on-the-ground assistance, conTgo won the award for the second year in a row.
Spendvision was recognised in the Expense Management Services category, while New Zealand-based Serko picked up its third award in the Technology Services category. This win puts Serko into the Hall of Fame and excludes it from further nomination.

The most hotly contested category was Travel Management with around 250 nominations, and it was won for the second year in a row by Melbourne-based Voygaer travel.

Two runners-up were also named: FCm and CTM. Clients of both agencies stressed that they were getting personalised service – anytime they needed it – and sometimes when they didn’t even realise they needed it.

The buyer award, which is accompanied by a business-class Qantas flight to attend an educational event, was judged by a panel which included Damon Rapke, travel category manager at Pacific Brands and winner of the 2010 award; Bill Auckett, former travel manager of the University of Adelaide and now a procurement consultant; and Kurt Knackstedt, a former executive with Rosenbluth, American Express and Galileo, consultant and now temporary travel manager with a multinational based in Australia.