As demonstrated by its most recent achievements, despite being one of the youngest players in business travel – with just 7 years in the market – BizAway classifies as the strongest and fastest-growing operator in the field. 

The breath of fresh air that BizAway is bringing to the sector did not go unnoticed: skilled professionals have recently joined the company, drawn precisely by its thirst for innovation: experienced veterans who have been working in the travel industry for many years now.

Let’s get to know them better through their own words!

Simone Oltremari – Head of Air Operations

How did your career start, and what is your field of interest? I have been working in the tourism and travel industry for over 20 years. I started as a counterman in the sale of leisure packages; in 2001 I opened my own travel agency, which was then sold in 2004. Right after this experience I started working at a franchise which was later converted into a travel agency network and from 2008 we moved into air ticketing consolidation. Also, for air ticketing consolidation, in 2014 I created my own Travel Network together with other partners. As IATA travel agency our role was to negotiate fares with the airline carriers and close contracts with the various GDS to then resell them to the travel agencies while also providing them with all the necessary assistance.

What does your current role consist of and what added value do you bring to the end customer? Currently I am the Head of Air Operations here at BizAway, taking care of anything concerning the GDS and NDC systems related to the flights ticketing vertical – amongst my daily duties are the training of new employees, the negotiation with the various carriers and networks, and all the daily reporting linked to the IATA BSP. The added value I bring to the end customer is my travel oriented problem-solving skills, especially in relation with the air industry – my consolidated experience in the negotiation of fares allows me to provide BizAway and therefore all of its customers with an increasingly competitive service.

What do you think is the main difference between business travel and leisure travel? What should one pay attention to when arranging a business trip? When it comes to business travel, I’d say flexibility is the most important thing as we know that plans can change very quickly. When arranging a business trip, the first thing to deal with is the journey (often by plane) and then comes everything else. This is because, unlike leisure travel, here you can often face inconveniences such as cancellations by the host company or other contingencies for which you need to be prepared.

What drew you to choose BizAway as your current employer? BizAway combines the services of a traditional travel agency with the ones of a technology company. This is an area I have always wanted to focus on and thanks to BizAway I can now perfectly match these two aspects. No doubt that the future of travel lies here.

Dolores Alonso – Business Travel Expert

How did your career begin? Right after graduating from high school in Argentina, I decided to study hospitality management with specialization in tourism administration. Thanks to an internship, in 2005 I had my first experience in a hotel in Venice.  Back in Buenos Aires, I kept working as a travel agent, while still carrying out my studies.  As a ticketing expert and consultant I have worked together with several agencies, dealing with both leisure and business travel, and the organization of MICE.

What were your tasks? I was mainly involved in the organization of business trips or MICE and worked as expansion manager for an agency within the foreign travel sector, where I was in charge of negotiating and sealing contracts with different tour operators.  As a last experience before moving to Italy, I worked for three years as a personal assistant for the CEO of the most important children’s clothing company in Argentina, where I was in charge of managing his national and international business trips.  Then, in Rome I worked as a Business Travel Specialist for VECI (Viajes El Corte Inglés).

What does your job involve now compared to what you did before? I would say that here my work is getting more punctual and specialised with every passing day. What I like most about this experience, compared to the other agencies I have worked with, is the possibility of being in contact with the client and being able to assist them directly. I love the challenge of being able to always provide a“positive experience” both in terms of management and use of the platform, as well as in terms of problem solving. 

Would you say that this is a more complete experience compared to your previous roles? I wouldn’t call this a “more complete” experience, because in my previous roles I was used to managing everything: the difference is that now, being part of the communication department and knowing that I can always fall back on our very attentive operations team, I can focus entirely on the interaction with the client which is definitely something that I appreciate as it allows for a better care, turning it into a positive experience for both me and the client.

Alfred Sagna – Business Travel Expert

How did your career start? I graduated from Lisbon International University with a degree in Hotel and Tourism Management. In 1999, I arrived in Italy and started working in the hotel industry right away.    

What were your tasks? As soon as I arrived in Italy, I started working in the sector as a front office, back office, gradually coming into contact with all the tasks, until I became an IATA agent in 2006. I was then in charge of training the back office team for GDS systems and managing airline ticketing. In 2005, I opened my own agency to promote tourism in Senegal, an experience that ended a few years later. I worked as a quality management specialist for lastminute.com, for which I looked after the quality and operations management processes (back and front office). I was in fact responsible for quality control of the French market through the analysis of the C.S.I. (for the Tunis and Tangier offices). My duties also included managing and improving the activities of the operations team, as well as planning, organising and training the operations team both individually and in groups.

Would you say that this is a more complete experience compared to your previous roles? Here at BizAway I deal with the management and organisation of business travel, mainly GDS ticketing and all the relevant changes, cancellations and ancillary services. Compared to my previous experience, I find this to be a way more specialised experience as it allows for a higher level of satisfaction in terms of customers’ needs.  

So, if you want to:

  • be followed by the excellent team of Business Travel Experts which includes Simone, Dolores and Alfred   
  • benefit from the best experience to meet all your company’s business travel needs then, ask for a free demo with no obligation by filling in the following form!