BTI UAE, the corporate travel division of Dubai-based Dnata, offers advanced travel solutions to companies, providing opportunities for savings.
"In today's highly competitive environment, technology is a vital and decisive factor. It is universally accepted that corporate travel cannot be handled without adequate information technology; be it in the handling of complicated itineraries, management information reports or the global consolidation of travel across international political boundaries," says the company. "Each year corporates spend vast sums of money on travel. As business becomes more and more international, and with a large number of expatriate employees travelling either on business trips or on company paid leave, management of travel and entertainment (T&E) expenses is increasingly a major corporate challenge; both in direct financial terms and in administrative time and effort." BTI UAE said it has invested heavily in IT systems and its advanced solutions help reduce costs in the T & E area. The company currently employs over 80 business travel specialists and operates out of 16 outlets in Dubai, nine of which are dedicated implants within large companies including multinationals. The others are business travel centres, strategically located in areas like the Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai Internet City, Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai Airport Free Zone etc, to handle corporate travel in these nerve centres of business, says BTI UAE. The company said it is the only corporate travel agency in the region that takes account management so seriously. A team of eight well trained staff go into regular consultation with decision-makers in client organisations to assist them in charting the course of their travel spend to their greatest advantage. BTI UAE is also the only travel agency in the region that operates a VAT Reclaim service through Cash Back. "It makes it possible for companies to save up to 25 per cent of their business expenses in Europe. Cash Back cuts through the complexities of reclaiming VAT from 12 different European legislations, saving time and money for clients. These may include VAT incurred on business expenditure in hotels, restaurants, car hire, fuel, telephone, training conferences and exhibitions," it said. Another major facility available through BTI UAE is the Diners Travel Account - a lodged card programme. Through this programme all travel expenses can be charged to cards lodged with BTI and billed to the company through Diners Club UAE, the company said. Individual divisions and departments can be assigned separate cost centres facilitating detailed analysis and reporting. Management information reports make useful tools in developing and improving corporate travel policy. In addition to extended credit, the programme also offers free insurance on all tickets purchased through the same. Globally, BTI is an alliance of over 80 strong partners, operating with over 30,000 staff, from out of nearly 3,000 offices. The estimated annual billing is in excess of $20 billion. The list of partners includes BTI Hogg Robinson Travel (UK), BTI World Travel Partners (USA), BTI Kuoni (Switzerland), BTI Russia and BTI Australia among others. The Middle East-West Asia regional network is managed from Dubai. BTI UAE said no other corporate travel network is able to boast of such a strong presence in the region. This gives BTI the ability to consolidate the travel spend of clients, over several countries effectively. The process is done through a software called GEMS. "It is this particular ability that gives BTI the edge over its competition and enables its clients to create significant savings through collective buying," says BTI UAE manager Mano Chandra Dhas. BTI can also assist its clients through 24-hour Global Assistance Centres located in Dubai, London and Chicago. Regardless of where in the network the booking was made, staff in the Global Assistance Centres are able to retrieve passenger reservations and modify them according to the travellers requirement, any time of the day or night. BTI UAE said it is well equipped to handle changes anticipated in the travel industry to deliver a complete product to its clients. "It is our ability to give a client every thing he budgeted for, at less than what he budgeted for, that makes us unique." says Chandra Dhas.