De Nora is an Italian multinational specializing in electrochemistry and a leader in sustainable technologies for a green economy. De Nora has 24 operational sites in 10 countries and five research and development centers in Italy, the United States, and Japan. The company is headquartered in Milan, Italy, with an annual revenue of €856 million.

BCD Travel has been servicing De Nora in Italy for many years. De Nora’s offices in other countries worked with different local agencies. De Nora’s recent growth and expansion called for an efficient, consolidated travel program. BCD was asked to tackle this challenge and provide tailored solutions for De Nora worldwide.

Challenge

De Nora’s international expansion made managing business travel significantly more complex. Relying solely on local travel agencies was no longer sufficient. It became essential to engage a travel management company (TMC) capable of operating strategically to coordinate business travel across all De Nora locations worldwide. The primary goal was to ensure total control of expenditure globally through data aggregation, standardized booking processes, strengthening De Nora’s position in negotiations with travel service providers, and ensuring employee safety during their travels.

Approach

BCD took a strategic approach to address De Nora’s challenges. Multinational Program Manager Amanda Tassin conducted a detailed analysis of De Nora’s expenditure data and travel patterns worldwide to identify areas for improvement and develop a strategy to manage the company’s travel. The multinational program manager played a crucial role in facilitating monthly meetings between De Nora’s global travel coordinator, local travel contacts from various De Nora sites, and different BCD offices worldwide. These meetings fostered effective collaboration and a comprehensive understanding of needs and expectations globally and market by market. Understanding the importance of local support, BCD connected each of De Nora’s offices with corresponding BCD offices to offer travelers access to local agents.

Through consistent communication and true collaboration between BCD and De Nora, the teams identified and addressed why travelers were booking outside of the policy. They worked together to gain trust and increase compliance.

Results

Bookings through BCD increased by over 20% in a year, clearly demonstrating a significant reduction in travelers booking outside of the travel program through local agencies or online websites. This data underscores the success of BCD’s strategic approach in ensuring more controlled and efficient management of De Nora’s global business travel.

Today, all 24 De Nora locations, spanning 10 different countries worldwide, work with a local BCD business travel center coordinated by the multinational program manager to manage business travel bookings, while adhering to centralized standards and local requirements. BCD Italy is part of BCD Travel, a leading TMC servicing clients in over 170 countries, with operations in more than 100 markets worldwide. This allows for uniform tools and standards for business travel management and data centralization.

Next steps

After the initial success in consolidating business travel globally, BCD and De Nora are ready to tackle new challenges to further improve De Nora’s travel program:

• Online booking tool: In those countries with a need for a self-booking tool, BCD will implement a global online booking platform and customize it for each market’s requirements. This will provide employees with an efficient and user-friendly booking solution while helping De Nora drive policy compliance, savings, and traveler safety.
• TripSource hotel: BCD will integrate its TripSource hotel content, offering De Nora’s employees a wider choice of hotels with access to their preferred hotels, including third-party hotel booking aggregators like Booking.com, Expedia, and others. This will ensure flexibility and convenience for De Nora’s travelers. Travelers will save time, while De Nora will save money.
• Travel risk management: BCD will integrate BCD Marketplace partner International SOS which specializes in international health and security risk management. Its technology works seamlessly with BCD’s solutions and ensures a uniform level of security to protect De Nora’s employees across the world.

The trust and strong partnership with BCD provide a solid foundation for future achievements. Choosing a global TMC with a strong presence in Italy has proven to be our preferred solution for successfully managing our travel program.

Anna Cobianchi

Global Travel Coordinator at De Nora

This partnership demonstrates how efficient business travel management plays a vital role when companies expand internationally. Together, we’ve overcome challenges and laid the groundwork for future success through a collaborative, customer-oriented and results-driven approach.

Amanda Tassin

Multinational Program Manager at BCD Travel

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