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On February 2, 2022, the first meeting of the Vipservice Corporate Business Expert Council took place. A platform for developing a culture of business travel management and improving quality of the company's services, brings together highly competent and reputable professionals in the field of business travel.
The Vipservice Corporate Business Advisory Council was established in January 2022 by the holding's CEO, Irina Solovieva. First of all, this is a space for sharing experiences, analyzing current market trends and combining the best industrial practices and case studies.
The permanent membership of the Council includes the largest customers of business trips and MICE services among commercial companies: FC Otkritie Bank, SIBUR, Center for Corporate Solutions, Yandex, KPMG, Michelin, Roche Diagnostics, and Softline.
The first meeting was devoted to applicability of international business travel practices in Russia, successful cases of digital business transformation and innovative models for provision of the MICE services. These themes resonated deeply among the participants. The experts commented on their membership in the Council and highly appreciated results of the first meeting.
“The request for creation of a collegial body was around for a long time, a unified platform for discussion lacked, within which a unified voice of the industry should be formed,” said Tatiana Parakhina, Head of the Business Travel Department of Otkritie FC Bank PJSC.
“Each of us knows what the industry breathes with, and our opinions as clients converge in many ways, so the Council brings a whole palette of views together. It is crucial that we are able to maintain an open dialogue and exchange views,” confirmed Ekaterina Gavrilova, Head of the Travel Organization Department at VTB Bank PJSC.
Victoria Litorina, Head of the Events and Business Travel Department of the Corporate Solutions Center, described her reaction to an invitation to be a part of the Vipservice expert community: “Surprise, doubts, joy, pride are the emotions that I experienced when I received an offer to join the Expert Council. Surprise - from the fact that I heard the news about the idea of creating such a discussion platform. Doubts - do we really have an opportunity to discuss professional issues at a different level, talk with suppliers, highlight problems, find solutions and answers together? Joy and pride came from the fact that the Expert Council had brought together people with such experience, such a wealth of knowledge, and the site has been supported by the largest business travel agency in Russia. I am grateful to my colleagues for the idea, implementation and, of course, trust. I count on an honest, open dialogue and a better understanding of each other’s tasks, which will allow us to introduce new tools on the market, implement new ideas and help each other.”
“The opportunity itself to meet at a round table is already a value. You enjoy fullness of communication, which is given not only with spoken or written words, but also with non-verbals - gestures, glances, atmosphere of a place in which a meeting takes place. This is how resonance is achieved and ideas are generated. And when the interlocutors gathered at this round table, on the one hand, are united by common challenges and hopes, and on the other hand, each has its own specific experience, efficiency will be maximum,” said Andrey Vasyukov, head of the procurement department in Russia at Roche Diagnostics.
“In the business tourism market, there is a need for transparent process management, awareness of choice and understanding of the relationship of all participants: end service providers, agencies and clients. The Expert Council will be able to take over aggregation of the best practices and their dissemination. It seems to me that a very important task based on these practices is development of a single platform for dialogue between the client and the entire chain of suppliers and partners providing services for business tourism,” said Maria Kolesnichenko, head of the travel group at Yandex.
Initiators of the project at Vipservice are confident that a professional community in close connection “TMC - customers - suppliers”, where interests of customers are at center, will help corporate businesses to hear the “holistic voice” of the industry and be better - get insights to create and quickly implement innovations.
“The Expert Council is a landmark and very special initiative for us. I am sure that such projects help the industry to grow. Built on the principles of openness and unity with customers, it will help develop a culture of business trips, make our community more competent, and make us as TMS better by offering customers the most relevant and in-demand products and services,” said Galina Polishchuk, Managing Director of Vipservice Corporate Business.
