Philips’ journey to travel policy compliance and savings through online booking tool adoption
Digital solutions and data-insights drive significant improvements
DOWNLOAD SUCCESS STORYChallenge
After selecting BCD Travel as its new global TMC, Philips wanted a swift roll out and high adoption of its new online booking tools (OBTs) in APAC to drive policy compliance and reduce travel spend in the region.
Approach
BCD engaged with Philips’ travel arrangers and travelers to communicate the company’s objectives, explain the benefits of enhanced efficiency and productivity, and provided adequate training.
Results
- Increased OBT adoption from under 20% in 2023 up to 70%-75% in 2024
- More than US$278K savings across the region in 2024
Philips at a glance
Industry: Healthcare equipment and services
Headquarters: The Netherlands
Presence: 100+ countries
Number of employees: 68,000+
Annual travel spend: US$18 billion
Philips, a global leader in health technology, aims to improve people’s health and well-being through meaningful innovation. The company has a proud heritage of ground-breaking innovation, that stretches back over 130 years. Innovation is at the heart of everything they do, with one consistent belief: there’s always a way to make life better. Coming out of the pandemic, Philips embarked on a mission to increase online booking tool (OBT) adoption at its APAC offices to enhance policy compliance and achieve significant savings.
Challenge
After a rigorous RFP process in 2022, BCD Travel was selected as Philips’ new TMC for its expertise and digital solutions. To drive policy compliance and reduce travel spend in the APAC markets, Philips needed a swift roll out and high usage of its new OBTs: Concur Travel for Australia, India, New Zealand, Philippines and Singapore, and TripSource® China, BCD’s proprietary booking and trip management solution developed exclusively for the domestic Chinese market. With travel rapidly returning, time was of essence, because a delay in online adoption would mean missing out on savings.
Approach
To address these challenges, Philips and BCD collaborated to implement a series of strategic actions:
- Engagement and training: BCD engaged all travel arrangers and travelers with corporate travel objectives and provided adequate training on both OBTs.
- Communication: Philips widely communicated the benefits of using the OBTs across the organization, emphasizing that these would increase travelers’ booking choices and save time when booking.
- Proactive guidance: When travelers contacted BCD to book offline, BCD’s travel consultants reminded them of their company’s goal to increase online adoption and encouraged them to use their regional OBT instead.
- Education: Philips’ travelers widely believed that booking international flights offline provided more control. They were educated on the benefits of using the OBT for international itineraries and learned how booking international point-to-point flights online is just as easy as booking domestic flights online.
Results
The OBT initiative led to significant improvements in travel policy compliance and savings across the Asia Pacific region. Key outcomes included:
- Online adoption: India, Australia, and China saw high OBT adoption rates, with online booking percentages increasing from below 20% in 2023 up to 70%-75% in 2024.
- Cost savings: Implementing the OBTs resulted in increased policy compliance and substantial savings, with a total of over US$278K saved across the region in 2024.
- Enhanced productivity: The OBTs allow travelers to quickly compare prices and availability and complete their booking, without needing to explain their preferences or requirements to a travel consultant.
The success of this initiative left a positive impression on Philips and its stakeholders. The savings and process efficiencies were well-received, reinforcing the importance of BCD’s robust service and technology for their corporate travel program. BCD’s program management team played a crucial role in this success, providing expert guidance and support throughout the process. Their clear communication and thorough cost-benefit analysis were instrumental in gaining support from finance leadership, solidifying the TMC’s reputation as trusted advisors.
“Through our collaboration with BCD Travel, we have learned that robust technology is a key enabler for our corporate travel program. As we look to the future, we foresee opportunities for expanding technology to other countries like Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand. We trust BCD’s expertise to help us navigate these opportunities and continue to drive efficiency and productivity in our travel management efforts.”
Fei Wang, Regional Category Manager for Travel, Meetings & Expense at Philips APAC
“Like Philips, we’re constantly developing innovative solutions to meet our customers’ needs. Our focus on leveraging digital solutions and data-driven insights has enabled Philips to achieve significant improvements in travel policy compliance and cost savings. We are committed to supporting Philips in their ongoing digitalization efforts and navigating future opportunities and challenges.”
R. Vinayakan Aiyer, Director, Spend Engagement at BCD Travel