About

Our client, a global leader in the luxury sector, oversees an iconic portfolio of high-end brands. With a $130 million travel program managed through a decentralized structure and a global travel management overseeing practices differing widely across entities, our client had not conducted a formal TMC RFP in over a decade.

There is currently one global TMC in place, complemented by regional TMCs and concierge services to meet specific needs. Traveler satisfaction varies across brands, with some entities reporting high satisfaction and others experiencing ongoing service and technology frustrations.

Our client engaged Areka to evaluate its current program and provide guidance on the most appropriate strategy, whether renegotiation or RFP, based on TMC performance assessment as well as internal readiness, governance maturity, and brand-specific expectations.

Ambition

Our client aimed to achieve five key outcomes:

1. Understand traveler satisfaction and experience across brands, geographies, and traveler profiles.
2. Analyze internal travel management practices across brands to identify gaps in governance, tools, and data.
3. Unify stakeholder perspectives, balancing the ambitions of those calling for immediate change with the concerns of those highlighting internal weaknesses.
4. Define the optimal sourcing strategy and TMC partnerships, considering service quality, digital expectations, brand-specific needs, and operational feasibility.
5. Assess Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) to benchmark competitiveness and highlight opportunities for optimization.

The overarching goal was to develop a roadmap that balances brand autonomy with global consistency, delivering better service, more actionable data, and optimized cost.

Approach

Areka adopted a 360° methodology encompassing qualitative and quantitative insights:

• Stakeholder & Traveler surveys: Over 1,600 responses from users across key brands and countries.
• Executive interviews: 26 stakeholders interviewed, spanning procurement, operations, finance, and travel roles.
• TMCs Performance mapping: Benchmarked TMCs on service quality, program management, digital maturity, contract robustness, and cost.
• Contract Review & fee benchmarking: In-depth assessment of over five TMC contracts, SLAs, pricing models, and service configurations.
• TCO analysis & market comparison: Evaluated cost of ownership across countries and TMCs.
• Scenario design: Modeled three strategic options—full RFP, partial renegotiation with local tendering, and renegotiation with current providers.

This was done at a global and regional level.

Strategic Diagnosis

The audit surfaced critical themes:

• Inconsistent experience: Satisfaction ratings varied significantly by country, brand, and profile, ranging from 2.7 to 3.7 out of 5. High expectations from specific brands highlighted the need for VIP-ready service and better digital tools.
• Governance gaps: Despite a group-level policy, governance was fragmented with over 200 different travel policies and limited regional coordination. No centralized KPIs, inconsistent data, and minimal cross-Maison synergies weakened strategic management.
• Mixed TMC performance: While TCO was aligned with the level of customized service offered, service quality and contract structures lacked clarity, flexibility, and accountability. Some brands had started seeking alternatives.
• Divergent stakeholder views: Some leaders demanded an RFP to drive change, while others, recognizing internal weaknesses (lack of readiness, data gaps, siloed tools), feared disruption and inefficiency.

Achievement

With Areka’s guidance, our client:

• Aligned internal stakeholders around a shared vision and realistic next steps, acknowledging that a full RFP was premature without internal transformation.
• Chose a staged approach, prioritizing a renegotiation with current TMCs backed by clear KPIs, service scope adjustments, and cost targets.
• Secured financial clarity, with Areka identifying a potential savings opportunity of up to €9.4M over five years through optimized TMC fees and service credits.
• Defined a future-proof roadmap, including: improved internal governance and a structured travel council, standardized KPIs and reporting dashboards, a renegotiation workshop series with incumbent TMCs, preparation for selective local RFPs (in high-spend countries) if readiness improves.

Learnings & next steps

Our client’s case shows that:

• It brings a lot of value to address  internal readiness before running into an RFP
• Strategic audits can align fragmented stakeholders, offering a common language for change.
• Phased transformation, starting with renegotiation, can optimize value with minimal disruption especially in decentralized environments.

Areka’s value: A blend of senior expertise, hard data, strategic facilitation, and actionable transformation models—driving alignment where divergence once prevailed.