Denis Simond

The changes over the past decade have been significant across the travel industry and an area, long-time travel stalwart, Denis Simond, president of the Sydney SKAL Club, says he’s watching with keen interest and enthusiasm is the development of the personal travel manager market.

 “I do believe personal travel managers have a significant role to play in the travel industry and in a short space of time in Australia they are definitely making their presence felt. We are now seeing them grow in numbers and options of companies to align to, winning awards, being quoted as industry experts and most significantly gaining market share.”

Denis Simond retired in December 2011 after 46 years in the travel industry. His last role, since 1995, was as the Executive Director and CEO of Odyssey Travel but Simond is well known throughout the industry for his career at Qantas, his role in the start-up training of Malaysia Singapore Airlines executives (the forerunner to Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines) and the introduction of UK giant Saga Travel to the Australian market.

Simond says given there is now a wide choice of specialist competitors in the personal travel manager category and that individuals need to be careful and do their homework before making a commitment to one company.

“Let’s face it all of them claim to offer the best solutions which makes it very confusing for what may be one of the most important decisions of an individual’s working life. You want to be confident as to whose claims are accurate and if you don’t meet with each company and ask them the right questions, how can you compare them with confidence? Having them substantiate their claims is an essential element in an individual establishing what is best from their personal perspective?”

Simond believes for credibility purposes you can’t afford to make a mistake.

“One of the greatest advantages a personal travel manager has with its clients is credibility and if you change companies within six months it will certainly affect it.”

Many people enter the personal travel manager market as it provides greater flexibility around working hours. Simond says if this is a driver for you then back office systems and support outside of traditional working hours are vital and what they say and what you will actually get needs to be verified.

“I cannot emphasize enough the importance in having clarity around the differences in what appear to be a host of identical claims before you make a decision as opposed to discovering these after the event.”

Simond warns that the temptation is to be influenced by a friend who is already contracted as a personal travel manager.

“You need to find the business model that is going to work best for you and your aspirations for your life as a personal travel manager. Start by writing a prioritised list of why you want to be a personal travel manager.  Then use these questions below as a basis for the information, I believe you need, from each of the companies you wish to evaluate.”

Denis Simond’s list of questions potential personal travel managers should ask includes:

• Outline all of the technology your company uses from accounts and system interfaces through to customer relationship management and help desk support.
• Will I have 24/7 access to work on full client files at any time I choose?
• What human resource support is provided in the following areas:
• • Operations
  • Product
  • Marketing
  • Business development
  • Sales and cold calling
  • Finance
• How does your company share product information, exchange of ideas and famil/independent travel experiences amongst your personal travel mangers?
• Please explain your company’s ticketing options for example:
• • Can you self-ticket?
  • Is there central ticketing?
  • What happens if you need ticketing assistance after-hours for an urgent request that can’t wait?
• Please outline your remuneration offering.
• I am interested to learn more about your famil programme:
• • How many famil trips are possible each year?
  • How do you decide who attends?
  • How many exclusive famil trips is your company offered? Please give an example.
• Meeting your colleagues and sharing information is an incredible learning experience, what does your company do in this area, for example:
• • Does your company get everyone together across Australia?
  • What is the format for this occasion?
  • Do you conduct regional meetings?
  • How often are these?
  • What is the format for these occasions?
• What do you offer specifically around product training?
• What marketing materials are available to be as a personal travel manager if I was to join your company?

Simond emphasizes one last point to potential recruits to the mobile consultancy sector.