Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), a global leader specializing in business travel management, has enhanced two proprietary products companies use to create or optimize travel policies, drive compliance and more effectively communicate with travelers. CWT Policy Builder now features predictive modeling that uncovers potential savings and other benefits that may result from changing an existing travel policy and/or increasing compliance. The award-winning CWT Policy Messenger was enhanced with a multilingual user interface for greater ease of use worldwide and to respond to client requests. CWT will demonstrate both of these global products at the ACTE Global Education Conference in Prague, Oct. 25-27.

CWT Policy Builder

A well-designed travel policy helps increase traveler compliance, savings and security. CWT Policy Builder enables organizations of any size to create a travel policy from scratch or benchmark, assess and strategically optimize their existing policy.

Fully automated and available in seven languages (1) , CWT Policy Builder has 10 sections that cover all aspects of a travel policy such as reservation processes; air, hotel, rail and ground transportation bookings; expense management and monitoring; security; and policy enforcement. More than 130 of the most frequently used rules are presented. In addition, more than 500 criteria associated with the rules enable companies to design the policy that best reflects their objectives and corporate culture. Customized parameters can be added for even greater effectiveness and personalization.

CWT Policy Builder takes a three-tiered approach to policy analysis:







Policy Culture: a high-level assessment of the overall policy and approach includes benchmarking against similarly sized industry peers.

Policy in Focus: a detailed analysis of each section of the policy takes into account six key metrics that determine the scope and level of detail covered; how current the policy is; and whether or not the right balance of control/mandates, permissiveness, and flexibility has been achieved.

Policy Opportunity: predictive modeling provides “what if” scenarios to assess the potential impact of rule changes and/or increased compliance. Company-specific information regarding policy parameters, transaction spend, traveler compliance, and preferred suppliers is coupled with an assessment of the business travel market to demonstrate possible savings and benefits. This exercise helps travel managers and buyers effectively promote and manage policy changes within their organization.

Be it a brand new travel policy or one that has been optimized and updated, CWT Policy Builder generates an easy-to-read document that can be quickly posted on a company intranet or travel portal and/or conveniently distributed to travelers. Furthermore, a “ live edit” feature means the loaded policy can be easily changed and/or updated for ongoing improvement and freshness. Effortless duplication of a central policy allows for cascading to multiple business units and locations within a company.

Gerry Flanagan, vice president Global Travel for Shell, said that the energy and petrochemicals group had successfully used the product to optimize its travel policy: “We used CWT Policy Builder to benchmark the effectiveness of our global travel policy and implement the recommended improvements. It was especially valuable in optimizing policy depth, detail and levels of control. Shell has now committed to regularly reviewing our global travel policy to ensure it is fresh and relevant in a challenging environment.”

CWT Policy Messenger

Originally designed to signal non-compliant behavior, CWT Policy Messenger has evolved into a multifunctional communications tool that automatically delivers targeted, customizable emails on a variety of subjects to travelers, travel arrangers and/or supervisors.

Recently enhanced with a multilingual user interface , CWT Policy Messenger generates emails based on air, hotel and rental car transactions made through CWT. In addition to policy and compliance issues, messages cover preferred suppliers, safety and security, and traveler services among other topics.

By improving communications, CWT Policy Messenger brings benefits to the organization and its travelers in terms of greater awareness of the travel program, higher savings through increased compliance, and enhanced traveler safety and satisfaction. In February, CWT Policy Messenger won a 2009 Business Travel Innovation Award at the London Business Travel Show.

Acknowledging the global recession had driven policy and compliance center stage this year, Leisha Lindsay, CWT senior director, Global Program Optimization & Security Products, said that companies could significantly reduce their costs without eliminating travel: “CWT conducted in-depth research that showed companies can save on average 20 percent of their total travel budget by creating a well-defined travel policy and driving compliance. Now more than ever, providing travelers with clear, comprehensive mandates and promoting compliance through communications and training are essential for return on travel investment. CWT Policy Builder and CWT Policy Messenger enable us to do just that and more.”

About Carlson Wagonlit Travel

Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) is a global leader specializing in business travel management. Present in more than 150 countries, CWT serves companies of all sizes, as well as government institutions and non-governmental organizations. By leveraging both the expertise of its people and leading-edge technology, CWT helps clients derive the greatest value from their travel program in terms of savings, service, security and sustainability. The company is also committed to providing best-in-class service and assistance to travelers. CWT services and solutions comprise four lines of business: Traveler & Transaction Services, Program Optimization, Safety & Security, and Meetings & Events. In 2008, sales volume for wholly owned operations and joint ventures totaled US$27.8 billion. For more information, please visit www.carlsonwagonlit.com.