Travel AcXess Voyage
What is Travel AcXess
Voyage (TAV)?
Why is it important to use the integrated travel
solution?
What are the financial benefits of using Travel
AcXess Voyage?
Why do departments pay transaction fees for the
travel service?
Is my privacy protected by STSI and TAV?
What is Travel
AcXess Voyage (TAV)?
Travel AcXess Voyage (TAV) is the
name used to define the end-to-end integrated and automated
government travel solution, comprising all steps in the travel
process from planning and booking a trip through to expense claim
settlement.
Travel AcXess Voyage services
include:
- A convenient government travel card
- Secure access to an On-line Booking Tool
- A Travel Call Centre
- An automated authorization and expense claims management
- Consistent customer care by either Intranet or telephone
- A worldwide locator service
- A single portal to access all services
- A comprehensive information management system
Why is it important to use the TAV services?
The integrated TAV services provide
the required insight into the Government of Canada’s travel spend
and enable the government to engage in price negotiations with
travel suppliers.
Currently, the Government of Canada
only has data on 30% of its annual travel spend, or $200 million of
the total $1.4 billion annual spend. There is a significant
“untapped” savings potential within the unknown 70% travel
expenditure. Increased business intelligence collected from expense
claims will result in improved analysis and therefore, improved
procurement. This data will help drive the best possible deals on
airfares, hotel room rates and car rentals.
With Travel AcXess Voyage fully
implemented, the government will have the means to manage the travel
spend and deliver the highest quality services for the lowest cost.
What are the financial benefits of using Travel AcXess Voyage?
As well as enabling the Government of
Canada to gather the travel information necessary to engage in price
negotiations with travel suppliers, each component of the Travel
AcXess Voyage solution provides the government numerous financial
benefits.
Designated Travel Card (DTC):
- Volume rebates based on spending
- Car rental insurance savings due to comprehensive coverage
- User of DTC reduces travel advance costs
On-line Booking Tool (OBT):
- Lower
transaction fees, resulting in savings of
50% compared to the Travel Call Center
Travel Call Centre
- Lower cost
than maintaining an on-site travel agency
- Most cost effective way to
book international travel
Expense Management Tool (EMT):
- Process time savings due to:
- Automatic population of travel
card expenses, Travel Authorization Number (TAN) and traveller’s
personal information
- Incorporated policy rules that
reduce the % of claims that have to be resubmitted
Why do departments pay transaction fees for the travel service?
The Government of Canada has always
paid travel agency transaction fees for business travel services.
Until April 2003, all transaction fees for air, rail and other
travel arrangements were paid by Public Works and Government
Services Canada (PWGSC), using funds collected from the airline
industry through commissions or direct rebates. These commissions
funded the cost related to the travel agency services including any
travel-related transaction fees that were being charged to the
government. As a result, departments were largely unaware of these
costs.
The events of September 11, 2001,
combined with economic downturn, resulted in significant changes to
the travel industry and affected the commissions and rebates
airlines traditionally offered its clients. Unfortunately, this
reduction in commissions and rebates from the travel industry
resulted in decreased revenues back to PWGSC. As a result, PWGSC and
the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) were directed by
Treasury Board ministers to establish a "user pay" travel service,
and departments and agencies became responsible for paying their own
transaction fees for all travel bookings
For more information on transaction
fees, see the Fee
schedule.
Is
my privacy protected by the STSI and TAV?
All Travel AcXess Voyage solutions
incorporate safeguards to ensure that employee information is not
compromised. The collection, use, disclosure, retention and disposal
of employee information is managed according to the Government of
Canada's Employee Privacy Code principles of confidentiality,
accuracy and relevance.
The Intranet-enabled services use a
secure server to ensure that data is protected.
In addition, information gathered in
the system must meet International Air Transport Association (IATA)
travel requirements. IATA is the association that oversees safety
and security matters for the airline industry and requires that data
be transmitted and stored in encrypted format. Departments and
agencies keep this information in confidence and restrict access to
the information to audit and business intelligence purposes only.
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