The Royal Mail Group (RMG) has achieved an online booking take up of 84 per cent, just three months after launching its new strategy with accommodation and meetings services provider, BSI.

The BSIDirect tool helped RMG to increase online bookings greatly, with an industry norm of around 40 per cent.

Vanessa Amissah, procurement manager, marcomms events and travel at RMG said: “We wanted a provider with relevant specialist expertise, the leverage to negotiate good rates and the ability to support our sustainability strategy. We also knew that the best way to take the organisation’s travel programme forward was to move our hotel bookings online. First and foremost, BSI came up with a great hotel programme and good rates.”

Sam Welch, BSI’s head of account management, added: “Behavioural change from a telephone-based service to an online system can be a gradual process, with adoption levels built gradually through a combination of senior management sponsorship, engagement with booker communities and effective internal communication. Surprisingly few organisations go so far as to mandate their chosen booking channels, but in the case of BSIDirect, the potential cost savings provide a powerful argument.”