Meeting the Needs of Your Groups on Extended Travel Assignments

I had the enjoyable experience of attending the GBTA 2024 Project, Crew, and Team Travel Summit in Houston on November 18th and 19th. The summit promised “insightful sessions focused on the significant complexities in programs which service large numbers of travelers” across a spectrum of industries including global energy companies, non-profit organizations, and entertainment enterprises. The attendees had a common interest in preparing for and managing the needs of groups of travelers on extended stays – often in challenging locations and frequently subject to disruption for reasons ranging from geopolitical causes to severe weather conditions.  

The sessions at the summit included updates on innovations in travel-management technology as well as an overview of payment systems designed for efficient and seamless traveler support. As a representative of Dwellworks Living and our specialization in global housing solutions, especially for group travel, I was particularly interested in the sessions focused on duty of care and emergency preparedness. We recently published a white paper on group travel, including a section dedicated to how we manage emergency situations. Read it at the button below. 

Download Our White Paper

Employers Expect a Hands-On Approach to Emergency Management  

The nearly 200 attendees were promised hands-on discussions for real-time situations in group travel requiring the support and experience of everyone involved, from immigration providers to payment managers, and of course, those of us who provide accommodations and local services in the assignment location.  

One particularly relevant session was called “Sourcing Accommodations Under Pressure” and the focus was less about finding furnished living solutions in demanding circumstances, and more about “how can we collectively be better prepared to manage services and support under pressure.” The speakers in senior travel management roles at major energy and logistics companies made clear that all of us in the value chain need to continuously upgrade our planning, communication, and preparedness, whether the challenge is extreme weather or evacuation from a war zone. 

Global travel is a visible and essential aspect of global business, and the corporate travel leaders and their travel management company partners at the Summit made clear they expect those of us in their supply chains to have detailed duty of care and emergency preparedness plans. One travel leader suggested validation of these plans should be a qualifying question for any travel provider RFPs and other travel buyers agreed.  

This was an important confirmation of our way of working at Dwellworks Living. We have learned as partners with some of the world’s leading energy service organizations that meeting HSSE requirements is ‘table stakes’ for earning the opportunity to service their accommodations needs at a global scale. In our white paper Delivering Excellence in Temporary Housing for the Energy Sector, we cited the key supplier-selection criteria of these companies as: 

• Supply: Global capacity to select, audit, train, onboard and manage high performance suppliers 
• Safety and Security: Effective Health, Safety, Security and Environment, or HSSE protocols, and proven governance and compliance practices across the client’s geography 
• Service and Support: Demonstrated capability to consistently exceed customer service targets 
• Streamlining and Savings: Ability to meet cost targets and leverage volume for client value, while always ensuring premier service 
• Sustainability: Processes in place for sourcing sustainable suppliers and driving net zero goals 

Dwellworks Living is aware of these expectations and is fully prepared to manage a program to these standards. Earlier this year, we organized housing for hundreds of interns for one of the world’s largest employers. The employer’s intern program included a planned kick off orientation at their global headquarters before dispersing the interns to locations across the US. When severe weather resulted in those plans being cancelled, the interns faced the possibility of being stranded en route, since their arrivals were already scheduled for later in the week.  

Our contingency planning recognized the very real possibility of this situation, and we quickly activated a response. We worked with our housing partners to arrange early move-ins where possible. In other locations, we contacted our hotel partners in our network and delivered accommodations for every intern who needed a ‘bridge’ to their longer-term stay. A crisis was averted because of diligent planning, and more importantly, the employer was able to reinforce positive feedback from this important pipeline of high potential talent.  For more information on how we delivered this solution and similar solutions for group travel, take a look at our recent blog on duty of care below. 

Read Our Duty of Care Blog

Managing Accommodations for Global Travel and Global Mobility  

A key takeaway from the Project, Crew, and Team Travel Summit was the message that group travel needs arise from a variety of assignments – including Group Moves associated with relocation and global workforce mobility. In 2025, GBTA has proposed looking at group travel from this wider lens, and we look forward to participating. It was my privilege to learn and contribute to the essential conversations at the 2024 Summit and I look forward to applying these direct customer insights and expectations to my next GBTA Ladders Team session and in ongoing client engagements.  

For more information about the services for Groups offered by Dwellworks Living get in touch with me at the button below.