How an Italian tech firm grew its business and still saved big on travel

A rapidly growing tech company in Pesaro, Italy, was having the best kind of problem. The business was expanding, new clients were coming on board, and the company was hiring new employees to manage it all. As they grew, they realized they needed new travel processes to manage demands from their expansion. They knew that any new solutions they adopted would need to:

• Make travel bookings accessible to all employees
• Help maintain control over corporate travel spend, including those of newly acquired companies
• Align traveler profiles between booking systems and HR systems to streamline travel expense reporting from all entities

BCD investigates tech company’s hotel spend

BCD’s experts started by conducting a detailed analysis of the company’s hotel spend. They found traveling employees made a significant number of last-minute hotel bookings at popular tourist destinations. The limited room availability in these cities meant the company paid increased rates when their people stayed. BCD identified key properties to negotiate better hotel rates and room availability — even at peak travel times. The strategy worked. BCD helped the tech company save €46,000 (USD $49,785.10) on hotels while also improving traveler satisfaction.

“It’s crucial to understand our client’s needs and listen to where they want to be,” said Federica Ballone, Program Manager at BCD Travel Italy. “BCD’s Program Management and leadership did just that and worked in partnership with the client to create the results they wanted. We’re excited to take the next steps together and support them in reaching their overall company goals.”

With Cytric, OBT adoption rates grew from 21% to 43%

BCD implemented Cytric, a robust online booking platform allowing travelers to make bookings themselves while complying with their company’s travel policy. Cytric not only gave them access to the same preferred hotels they used to book before but at better rates. It also saved them time when booking hotels, reduced hotel costs for the company, and increased their safety by making it possible for the company to locate them in case of emergency. OBT adoption increased from 21% to 43% in 2023.

40% savings on rail tickets

BCD also integrated Trenitalia carnet tickets into the OBT, accompanied by detailed reporting features. The integration allowed travelers to access discounted train fares, resulting in 40% savings on railway tickets and improved efficiency.

Traveler profiles

An HR feed now ensures traveler profiles remain up-to-date and are aligned with expanding corporate systems. This facilitated automatic connection between BCD’s system for traveler profile management and the customer’s platform for people management.