For many, working in corporate travel pays the mortgage. But
anyone who meets Strachan quickly understands that the relentlessly creative
former Institute of Travel Management chair and Global Business Travel
Association Europe president plays this game because she burns to make a
difference. After 10 years in meetings and events and another 10 in travel
management, followed by a brief stint at American Express, Strachan finally
found the ideal vehicle for her energies in 2015, joining Paul Tilstone's
fledgling consultancy, Festive Road, as joint managing partner.
The pair's exceptional flair for marketing and generating
conversation in corporate travel has redefined and popularized travel
management consultancy, one independent consultant told BTN. "Festive Road
has created more demand for all of us because people get to hear stories of
what has been done," the consultant said.
Issues Strachan has pushed in 2018 include improving the
traveler experience, aligning travel programs with wider corporate goals and
offering an alternative TMC selection method to the widely reviled RFP process.
Strachan starts by facilitating informal meetings with travel management companies
to gauge cultural fit before establishing capability by posing 70
straightforward yes/no questions, then asking TMCs to differentiate themselves.
"Every client loves it, but we want this to be bigger than Festive Road,"
said Strachan. "We are talking about ways in which we can industrialize
it."
Another major interest in 2018 has been career
development for women. She mentors five women personally and is co-founder of
Level Women, a U.K. equivalent to WINiT. Level Women has attracted 500 women to
its events and, said Strachan, "ended up being a mass-mentoring exercise."
Festive Road also sponsored a master class for 50 female business travel
professionals at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London to provide the
confidence and skills to speak at industry events, thus boosting the number of
visible female authorities in the industry. Expect to see Strachan's protégées
on a stage near you in 2019.