‘Why are we paying for a service that we can easily do ourselves, I wonder?’ Photo Shutterstock Anyone travelling abroad for WUR is required to book their trip through Diversity Travel. Not everyone is happy with the agency. An intranet group collecting “horror stories” was launched last week.
‘I thought it was very inconvenient on the occasions I booked a trip through Diversity Travel’, says page initiator David Katzin. ‘I understand that there is a tendering process and that we are required to book through an agency, but the process is slow, cumbersome and expensive. And there are many small annoyances, such as the layout of their emails, which make the messages difficult to read. I accepted it, because it is WUR policy and it’s not my own money.’
The last straw for Katzin was a trip he recently wanted to book from Paris to Ede-Wageningen. ‘They offered me an option that would take me 12 hours of travelling, including seven transfers at twice the price of the Eurostar train I could have booked myself. Had I not checked, I would have had an awful night. Later, I discovered they charge booking fees for each train they book. That makes no sense at all. ‘Why are we paying for a service that we can easily do better ourselves?’
Horror
Katzin decides to share his stories on an intranet page named “Horror stories” to let off some steam. ‘A little dramatic, perhaps, but that certainly is how it feels. Moreover, Facilities and Services asks for feedback, and this is my way of providing it.’
Pretty soon, it transpired that Katzin is not the only person with complaints about Diversity Travel. Within about ten days, seven similar stories appeared on the intranet page, with varying degrees of horror. On disproportionate booking fees for short trips, attached PDF documents that turned out not to be tickets, flights that don’t connect to the previous part of the trip and the wrong flight times, causing someone to miss their flight.
Tender won
Marieke van der Linden, Facilities & Services travel manager, read the story with ‘some disappointment’. Van der Linden is responsible for contacts with the travel agent. ‘We have been partnering with them since 2023. During the tendering process, Diversity Travel was new to the market. They won the tender based on objective criteria such as sustainability, price and customer service.’
Van der Linden acknowledges that the partnership is not without issues. ‘Diversity Travel’s service is insufficient. That is partly due to their services, but also partly our doing. The online booking module is satisfactory, yet colleagues often choose to submit their request by email, which can lead to miscommunications. Sometimes, multiple Diversity Travel employees, there are four full-time employees working on WUR’s travel, work on a single trip, which may result in errors. Moreover, colleagues often compare Diversity Travel’s options to those on sites such as Skyscanner, which display an ‘up from’ price. With a reserved seat and suitcase, the price you pay through such sites is often the same as through a travel agent.’
Another issue is the fact that the digital approval portal is still unfinished. Van der Linden: ‘Now, you must first ask for a quote from the travel agent, then submit an order in our financial system which must be approved and subsequently send the order number to the travel agent. Only then can the booking be confirmed. In the future, the booking will be linked to the financial system. We are currently in the final testing stage, and we expect the tool to be available this summer.’
Frequent bookers task force
In March of this year, Van der Linden launched a task force made up of frequent bookers, mostly management assistants who book trips for their group. ‘In addition, I am in contact with travel managers at other universities, some of whom also work with Diversity Travel. They are having similar issues. We relay feedback to the travel agent, which appears to result in slow but steady improvements. After the summer, we will assess to determine whether to continue our partnership.’
Martijn van den Heuvel, head of Integral Facility Management, would have preferred to hear from Katzin, rather than him launching an intranet page. ‘But we do understand the users’ frustration. And we will include these experiences in our discussions with the travel agent. Because if we argue that agreements are not being met, we will have to substantiate our claims with arguments and statistics. In that respect, it is not helpful if people book trips themselves, because this robs us of their experience and input. Plus, we are legally and contractually bound to this supplier.’
