MOVING FORWARD
THE BLOG FOR BUSINESS TRAVEL PROFESSIONALS
San Francisco: A Business Traveller’s Guide
Are you planning on travelling to San Francisco for work? In this comprehensive guide to San Francisco for business travellers, we delve into navigating the city’s unique corporate landscape, offer our top tips for getting around, and pick out our top 3 things to see or do to make your trip unforgettable.
The Power of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion in Business Travel
Is DEI the Cornerstone of Success in Business Travel?At Gray Dawes, we believe that an inclusive workforce in which everyone feels valued is not only a vital cog in the running of a thriving organisation but a good blueprint for providing our clients with better...
The Health Benefits of Business Travel
Beyond the obvious commercial advantages, business travel can offer significant health benefits, enhancing well-being through personal contact, cultural experience, and overall physical and mental health. This fascinating article explores why face-to-face always trumps screen-to-screen in the pursuit of traveller wellbeing.
Seoul: A Business Traveller’s Guide
Are you planning on travelling to Seoul (서울) for work? In this comprehensive guide to the city for business travellers, we delve deeper into navigating the city’s unique corporate landscape, offer our top tips for getting around, and pick out our top 3 things to see or do to make your trip unforgettable.
How to Conduct a Successful Travel RFP
Starting a full RFP (Request for Proposal) / tender process can be an overwhelming prospect. In this handy ‘how to’ guide, we take you through each element of the RFP process you’ll need to consider, enabling you to partner with a Travel Management Company (TMC) that’s ideal for your business.
A Day in the Life of a Product Manager
With a business travel career that has taken him from the frontlines as a travel agent to the innovation of product management, Matt Lambert has had the privilege of watching an industry change in real time. In this article, we chat with Matt about his day-to-day responsibilities as a Head of Product at Gray Dawes, his first experiences as a travel agent hand-writing tickets, and a memorable trip to Miami…
Travel Talks 14 – Expedia
How do Expedia’s hotel rates compare to those from a traditional GDS, and what benefits can be passed on to the business traveller? In this special guest edition of Travel Talks, we explore what savings Expedia can offer business travellers on negotiated rates, what they’ve been doing in the luxury hotel space, their roadmap for future innovations of the platform and much more.
How to Pick the Perfect Online Booking Tool
Quality travel technology is one of the key pillars of any travel management company worth its salt. But getting it right isn’t easy. There are dozens of OBTs on the market, each one with its own strengths, weaknesses, functionalities, and ways of working. With so many options, picking the right tool for you and your organisation can be a daunting prospect. In this handy guide to picking the perfect online booking tool, we take an in-depth look at all of the factors you need to consider so that you can rest easy knowing you’ve made the right choice.
Vilnius: A Business Traveller’s Guide
Are you planning on travelling to Vilnius for work? Once referred to as the Rome of the North for its reputation as a stronghold of Catholic values and its architectural beauty, the city is fast becoming a central business hub and a cradle for fledgling startups. Throw in competitive tax rates and a government actively supporting foreign investment, and you’ll see why Vilnius is the worst-kept secret for businesses of all sizes. In this comprehensive guide to Vilnius for business travellers, we delve deeper into navigating the city’s unique corporate landscape, offer our top tips for getting around, and pick out our top 3 things to see or do to make your trip unforgettable.
What is the True Value of a TMC?
A recent article from The Business Travel Magazine claims that Travel Management Companies (TMCs) like Gray Dawes are struggling to provide value for their clients. However, at Gray Dawes, we respectfully and heartily disagree… After all, not all TMCs are created equally. Tarring everyone with the same brush only serves to devalue the brilliant work and innovative thinking that organisations such as ours bring to the industry. In this article, we take a deeper look at the “Value Proposition” piece from the Business Travel Magazine and demonstrate how we are genuinely doing things differently.
How the Paris Olympics 2024 will Impact Business Travel (And What You Can Do About It)
The Olympic Games are heading to Paris in July. Over 10,000 athletes will be throwing, swimming, running, cycling, and more for the chance to grab a gold medal and write themselves into the annals of Olympic history. But with an estimated 15 million visitors planning to head to the event according to the Paris je t’aime tourist office, travelling to and within Europe for work will almost certainly be affected. In this article, we take a look at how the Paris Olympics 2024 might impact business travel and offer our expert tips and advice to help you keep your trip on course.
ITA Airways Insider
ITA Airways aim to create an efficient and innovative service that places its customers at the centre of everything it does. Their pledge to provide a personal, best-in-class experience through digital innovations, combined with their commitment to sustainability – including the use of new, greener aircraft -underpins their sky-high mission for 2024 and beyond. Plus, with new equality and inclusion strategies in place to foster gender-neutral workplaces, it’s an exciting time to be a part of the ITA Airways team.
A New Traveller’s Guide to Better Business Trips
As a new business traveller, going on a business trip can be a daunting prospect. You are expected to ingratiate yourself with people from different cultures and embrace new ways of working. But it is also a highly rewarding experience in which you might meet lifelong connections and find opportunities to advance your career. In this article, we give our top tips to making the most of a business trip both before you leave and during your visit.
Hong Kong: A Business Traveller’s Guide
Strategically located in South China, Hong Kong offers unparalleled access to the burgeoning Asian market and is often defined as the city where East meets West. Colonial-era architecture stands proudly beside soaring modern structures, while ancient temples co-exist with bustling financial districts. This harmonious blend reflects Hong Kong’s fascinating history as a British colony that later transitioned to a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. In this comprehensive guide to Hong Kong for business travellers, we delve deeper into navigating the city’s unique corporate landscape, offer our top tips for getting around, and pick out our top 3 things to see or do to make your trip unforgettable.
Top 6 Places to Visit as an LGBTQ+ Traveller
As an LGBTQ+ professional, travel comes with an extra layer of uncertainty. Though the world is becoming an altogether friendlier and more tolerant place, there are still challenges to overcome and hoops to jump through. So, to celebrate Pride Month 2024, we spoke to our very own Diversity & Inclusion Manager Brit Clayton who gives her top 6 destinations for LGBTQ+ business travellers as told through the prism of her own experiences abroad.
Flight100: Testing The Limits of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
The use and effectiveness of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) remains one of the hottest topics in business travel. Back in 28 November 2023, Virgin Atlantic successfully operated Flight100 – the world’s first commercial SAF flight from London to New York. In this article we extract the key findings of the ground-breaking feat as outlined in the Executive Summary produced by the team behind it all.
Chicago: A Business Traveller’s Guide
Whether its digging into a traditional deep-dish pizza or making deals in the boardrooms of the The Loop business district, get to know the Windy City better in this comprehensive guide for business travellers.
An Expert’s Guide to Ancillaries
Arriving at your destination is just one step of the journey. In this article, we sit down with Matthew Bond, Enterprise Account Manager, to talk about ancillaries and how by booking “added extras” as part of a complete, door-to-door trip with Gray Dawes you can streamline your business trips.
I Can Find It Cheaper On The Internet
American Airlines announced in February 2024 that it would require travel agencies and online booking tools to connect directly to their NDC channel or lose access to up to 50% of fares, with travellers no longer receiving Advantage points on bookings. Here’s what happened next…
New MD Role for Dave Bishop
Following our acquisition of VCK Travel at the start of this year, we are delighted to announce the appointment of Gray Dawes Group COO, Dave Bishop, as Managing Director of our Netherlands-based operation.
Travel Talks 13: MARINE & ENERGY Travel
In this special Marine & Energy episode of Travel Talks, Bruce Ratcliff, VP of Marine & Energy, and Lisa Titmas, our specialist Marine & Energy Travel Team Supervisor, explore the very real benefits of working with a corporate travel partner to help manage the complex challenges of crewing logistics.
6 Recommendations For a UK Rail Revolution
The UK rail industry has been under serious scrutiny over the past few years, with rising ticket prices, driver shortages, and service-paralyzing strikes placing the plight of train travel at the front and centre of the national consciousness. In this article we take a deeper look at the recent BTA whitepaper: “Getting Our Trains Back on Track! Putting Passengers First” which outlines their recommendations for a positive, passenger-led revolution for train travel.
Creating an Inclusive Travel Programme
If you’re just starting out on incorporating inclusivity in your corporate travel policy, then this blog is for you! Let’s get you started with our six super quick tips on what to consider when building an inclusive travel programme.
Global Mergers and Acquisitions
In this guest article by David Jonas from The Company Dime, the recent acquisition of CWT by AMEX Global Business Travel is studied and analysed, focussing on what it could mean for customers and the wider travel management industry.
Airline Theft
Airlines don’t divulge their statistics on in-flight theft. However, several high-profile cases recently have bought the issue into the headlines. So what can you do to avoid having your valuables pilfered mid-flight, and what should you do if you get robbed on a plane?
Tips For Tipping On Your Business Travels
When you’re travelling the world on business, nothing creates a flutter of anxiety quite like the question ‘how much are you supposed to tip? It’s even more confusing when you’re outside of your home country and the customs are different. When should you tip, how much, and who do you give it to? Relax… here’s our definitive guide to tipping around the world.
4 Strategies to Score Savings on Sports Travel
Getting athletes to an international tournament or a board member to a sports conference at the opposite end of the country involves an almost dizzying array of moving parts. In this article, we look deeper at 4 of the best tactics for cutting sports travel costs. You might be surprised at some of the ways you can save money.
Sydney: A Business Traveller’s Guide
Travelling to Sydney for work? Renowned for its colourful cultural scene and nightlife set against the glittering backdrop of the South Pacific Ocean, Sydney is a city that offers everything a modern business traveller could hope for with a dash of Down Under charm. We take a deeper look at the local business culture and top things to see and do in this comprehensive guide to the city.
International Women’s Day 2024
Women are integral to the success of Gray Dawes. You only need to look as far as our CEO, Suzanne Horner, as proof of that fact. So we asked some of our amazing female staff what International Women’s Day means to them and what it is like as a woman in business travel. Check out what they had to say…
A Day in the Life of an Operations Manager
With over 40-years of experience, Tony is one of the longest-serving members at Gray Dawes. In this article, we chat to Tony about his day-to-day responsibilities as an Operations Manager, his first experiences as a travel agent stamping brochures in the 1980s, and a lung-busting mountain climbing experience.
TRAVELLER TOOLKIT
Your first stop in navigating travel in a post-Brexit, Covid world.
GREATER THAN THE
SUM OF OUR PARTS
We don't just specialise in business travel you know.
We're a part of the Gray Dawes Group, an organisation with specialisms and expertise in many sectors. If you need help planning the holiday of your dreams, or showcasing an event that'll never be forgotten, then we've got you covered.
