BCD Travel expands its global Energy, Resources and Marine practice, wins one of world’s largest oilfield services companies

Utrecht, the Netherlands, March 14, 2019 – Those commuting to offices in the most congested cities in the world such as Los Angeles, Moscow and Sao Paulo have it easy compared to the typical worker in the Energy, Resources and Marine sectors. Getting to his “office,” a typical ERM worker might hop two planes before catching a helicopter to an offshore rig in the North Sea miles from the coast of Norway. It can take a full day to get to work.

For the tens of millions working in every region of the world as crew members, the regular commute requires travel and logistics services. Managing their travel is unlike that in any other industry and requires very specialized skills and technology. It’s an essential service to keep business operations going 24 hours per day, seven days per week, 365 days per year.

Stewart Harvey

Global travel management company BCD Travel aims to streamline tasks associated with travel and logistics for crew and corporate travelers and provide solutions that flex with the market. The global travel management company today announced the expansion of its highly specialized, global travel management service aimed at companies operating in the ERM sectors.

With the expansion of its ERM services, BCD won the business of a major energy services company, the TMC announced. While respecting its client’s privacy, BCD confirmed that the new client is one of the  largest oilfield services providers in the world.

“Supported by our leading proprietary technology, global network and dedicated ‘always on’ service centers, the expanded ERM service will bring a highly competitive offering to the ERM space,” said Stewart Harvey, BCD Travel President–EMEA. “In particular to companies looking to drive efficiencies in their crew rotations, provide enhanced traveler safety across inherently risky destinations, and meet the specialized needs of their crew and corporate travelers with one partner.”

BCD’s ERM practice offers:

  • A global service platform designed to meet the challenging needs of ERM companies.
  • BCD’s TripSource® traveler engagement platform, built for every traveler type, to keep travelers engaged and organized through itinerary management, messages to travelers with relevant supplier and safety information, and hotel booking functionality when applicable by policy
  • Program data feeds to third-party emergency-response suppliers to make it easier to get to travelers in need, no matter where they are
  • BCD’s DecisionSource® data and intelligence platform, enabling ERM operations to gain insights and drive better decisions across both crew and corporate travel spend

In addition to the challenges typically faced by travel management in traditional “transient” corporate travel, ERM travel managers face the need to adapt to regular last-minute travel changes, access content that isn’t typically available in the GDS, adhere to billing requirements unique to their individual projects, arrange complex logistics that go beyond traditional agency booked travel (e.g. chartered flights, buses, helicopters) and provide duty of care to a workforce scattered farther and wider than those in other industries.

Amy Dalton

BCD’s ERM practice addresses these unique needs with:

  • 24/7 agent availability to assist travelers all over the world with trip arrangements and changes
  • Dedicated, specialized ERM travel counselors using a single agent platform with customized workflows by traveler type
  • Access beyond traditional GDS content including specialized marine and offshore content, regional content, low-cost providers and non-traditional housing
  • Traveler tracking and asset mapping for duty of care, with consultation for ERM nuances
  • Incident and country risk mapping, impact alerts and access to a global crisis management team

“Because of the unique service requirements of energy, resources and marine operations, businesses in these sectors generally rely on highly specialized travel agents, that often work in manual processes, and are set up separately from their corporate travel service,” said Amy Dalton, BCD Travel senior vice president overseeing the ERM practice. “BCD Travel is investing in global technologies that offer automation and connectivity between traditional travel requirements and the logistics components associated with crew change. And we can bring together both crew and corporate services into a single program to simplify our clients’ workload and drive savings through efficient operations.”

Those interested in learning more about BCD Travel’s ERM offerings may visit www.bcdtravel.com/erm.

About BCD Travel

BCD Travel helps companies travel smart and achieve more. We drive program adoption, cost savings and talent retention through digital experiences that simplify business travel. Our 13,000 dedicated team members service clients in 170+ countries as we shape a sustainable future for business travel. For more information, visit www.bcdtravel.com.