Objective

A leading global pharmaceutical company experiencing double-digit growth year over year and welcoming over 10,000 new employees sought to consolidate its fragmented travel program across 39 markets.

Rapid expansion had amplified the need for better forecasting, consistency, and transparency. While benchmarking revealed that certain markets were achieving savings through hotel and airline agreements, these wins weren’t being maximised globally due to the absence of a consolidated program and unified data. The lack of a global mandate made it difficult to leverage supplier agreements at scale or gain meaningful insights across regions.

To address these complexities, the company set out to partner with a travel management company (TMC) capable of supporting global standardisation, while also empowering local affiliates to contribute to and benefit from the solution.

Solutions

CTM’s solution focused on phased implementation, transparency, policy adoption, and consistent service delivery:

Phased implementation
CTM collaborated closely with the client and engaged local stakeholders from the outset to ensure key influencers were aligned with the program’s objectives. By providing tailored communication plans and clearly articulating the rationale behind the global mandate, CTM ensured strong local buy-in. The phased rollout allowed for a smooth transition, building momentum and program value as each market came online.

Program transparency
To enable meaningful reporting and global visibility, CTM introduced standardised data requirements across all markets. For example, the consistent use of trip reason codes enabled internal benchmarking and clearer insights. Through this data-driven approach, visibility into areas such as unused air tickets drastically improved, reducing unclaimed ticket value from $1.3 million USD to just $20,000 USD in the first year.

Policy adoption
CTM supported the introduction of a new global travel policy designed to strike a balance between cost management and traveller experience. As a result, more than 76% of air bookings are now made 14+ days in advance. Ongoing support from CTM’s global account manager has been key, working hand-in-hand with local teams to promote understanding and encourage policy compliance.

Consistent service
To ensure high service quality across all regions, CTM tracks over 20 performance metrics monthly. These are combined into a unified service quality score, helping identify opportunities for refinement. By the end of the first year, every market had achieved a service consistency rating above 96%, demonstrating the strength of CTM’s global delivery model.

Outcome

With CTM’s support, the client successfully consolidated their travel program across 39 markets, bringing 89% of their $100 million USD spend under a unified framework.

CTM’s strategic approach to supplier negotiation, online adoption, and policy compliance helped the client achieve a $6 million USD savings target in the first year by fully leveraging their global buying power.