Emory
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December 5 , 2005
New
business travel program takes off
by katherine baust lukens
Emory travelers have another option in developing and
managing their itineraries, with a new program that introduces three
preferred travel agencies for University business travel: Carlson
Wagonlit, Travelocity Business and WorldTravel BTI.
Each preferred agency offers a variety of services,
including comprehensive reporting, Internet-based and agent-assisted
booking, 24-hour access,
and reduced transaction
fees. Also, each provides a crisis-notification system so that Emory will be
notified whenever a staff or faculty member travels in an area of the world where
a crisis occurs. The University cannot guarantee crisis notification for the
business travelers who do not purchase tickets through one of the preferred agencies.
The travel program was developed “to identify
ways to better manage business-related
travel at Emory,” according to Mike Mandl, executive vice president for
finance and administration. Currently available to University employees, plans
are under way to make it fully accessible to Emory Healthcare employees, as well.
According to David Thurston, associate vice president
for financial operations, the travel program is mutually beneficial
for the University
and its employees. “For
employees, it presents greater options and flexibility to accommodate travel
needs; for simple reservations, the online tools are fast and cost-effective,
while for complicated travel itineraries the agency can search for the best rates
to save the employee time,” Thurston said. “For Emory, the benefits
are that it helps to control travel costs, reduces risk to our faculty and staff,
and centralizes travel data for better negotiating leverage.”
A new Travel Information Center can be found on Emory’s
Finance page at www.finance.emory.edu. The site is intended to be
comprehensive for all travel
needs and information. For additional information, or to sign up for training
sessions, send e-mail to travel@emory.edu.
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