Comment: Challenging times for hotel bookers

Trevor Elswood, BSI's group managing director, talks about hotel and meetings bookings in the immediate aftermath of the airspace lockdown.

"BSI has been working closely with clients, keeping in regular contact, to ensure their travellers' immediate needs are being met.

"BSI Traveller and Meetings Tracker has been fully utilised, tapping into advanced geo-coded database systems enabling client reservations to be plotted on a global map to locate and identify worldwide travellers potentially affected, and to assist wherever possible with extended stays.

"Over the course of the weekend BSI has worked around the clock to support over 19,600 travellers stranded in key hubs across Europe with accommodation services.

"We have witnessed an exceptional level of UK and worldwide bookings and amendments both online via BSIDirect^TM as well as through our 24-hour reservations centres.  Requests are coming from stranded client travellers as well as their travelling companions. 

"One of the first priorities has been to arrange credit facility support through BSI's effective bill back process, in an effort to aid clients with international travellers who have a lack of funds due to unavoidable extended stays.

"A high level of short term meetings cancellations in the UK and internationally have demonstrated the effectiveness of BSI's procurement teams, with extraordinary levels of negotiations taking place to mitigate any cancellation charges. BSI's leverage and robust supplier relationships are certainly working in our clients' favour while this situation runs its course.

"BSI's event management unit has excelled itself in such a unique situation. BSI Meetings and Event client, Indesit, cut short their conference and incentive event in Italy - 85 of the company's distributors, and retail representatives travelled to Milan last week, with the majority arriving on April 14. With an already badly affected transport system throughout Europe, BSI Meetings and Events sourced private car companies coaches and train seats within hours.

"In an effort to minimise stress and meet clients' duty of care, BSI has been providing 24 hour support and advice for stranded staff and our European office, based in Paris, has worked on the ground around the clock to assist clients with funds and practical logistical (ferry, coach and Eurostar) solutions to get people where they need to be with a minimum of fuss.

"It's been a rather unusual business week, but it is at times of adversity that you see all the technology, people talent and business rigor come together and pay off in delivering a first rate BSI client service during these unprecedented events"