How UVic reduced travel booking time from 7 days to instant reservations
Challenge
- Unsustainable wait times: Travel confirmation responses often took more than 7 days. Faculty, researchers, and administrative staff experienced additional stress due to an convoluted booking process that involved forms, emails, and multiple follow-ups.
- Overwhelming workload for travel managers: Manually managing travel for over 2,000 travelers was chaotic. Travel managers received constant calls—sometimes even on weekends—due to last-minute changes, cancellations, and other disruptions.
- Lack of visibility and control over travel: Global travel management became increasingly challenging. University leadership and procurement department lacked a clear overview of travel expenses and trip statuses, making it difficult to generate quarterly reports to evaluate travel performance and costs.
Solution
"Previously, the process was unsustainable, but now it’s much faster with automatic bookings and complete visibility over all trips."
Eva Jurado Homs- Corporate Travel Manager at UVic
Results
Automation that saves time and resources
"Now, I focus on more strategic tasks, significantly increasing the value I bring to the university."
Eva Jurado Homs- Corporate Travel Manager at UVic
Complete visibility and control over travel
24/7 support and happier travelers
"Travelers have enthusiastically embraced this change, praising me for the improved travel management. In the end, we’ve all won."
Eva Jurado Homs- Corporate Travel Manager at UVic
Which TravelPerk features does UVic use?
- Access to the largest travel inventory in the industryFlights, accommodations, car rentals, and trains can be booked instantly at pre-negotiated rates for both local and international trips.
- Automated travel policies and approvalsTravel policies can be created in under 2 minutes, budget limits set, and approval flows streamlined as needed.
- Real-time expense controlAll travel expenses are displayed in one place, allowing budgets to be maintained and finances optimized for future trips.
- Centralized invoicingAccounting and financial management are simplified with a single invoice that consolidates all travel expenses.
- Real-time travel trackingTeams can be located wherever they are, with records kept of all bookings, activities, transportation methods, and policy compliance.
- Duty of care and protectionTraveler safety is ensured before, during, and after the trip. Security alerts are provided, team locations tracked on a map, and immediate responses enabled when needed.
- 24/7 support serviceContinuous support is available from real people for bookings, plan changes, cancellations, and other issues.