The client
The University of Western Australia (UWA) has partnered with FCM Travel for almost a decade and manages travel for more than 1,000 travellers across multiple schools and departments. After more than 10 years with the same online booking environment the University reviewed its travel booking system.
Challenges
Over the years, travel processes at UWA had become fragmented. Preferred booking channels needed a refresh, the hotel and airline inventory was out of sync with destination requirements, data quality needed improvements, and thousands of inactive or duplicate profiles had accumulated. Limited visibility across travel spend and traveller activity made reporting, compliance and duty of care harder than it needed to be. With 46% of domestic and 28% of international bookings being made through preferred channels, user trust and experience were the driving forces behind the reset
Our approach
UWA partnered with FCM Travel to design a more connected, user-friendly online travel environment built around five key pillars.
Making the change
Technology was only one part of the transformation. Alongside the new tools, UWA and FCM took a realistic look at the entire travel process, reviewing the end-to-end journey from booking through to approvals, expense, and reporting. This included updating elements of the travel policy to better reflect how people book and travel today. To support the change, UWA formed a Travel Reference Group, recognising that early stakeholder engagement together with insights from the preceding survey would be critical to the project’s success. More than 20 face-to-face and virtual training sessions were delivered, supported by digital guides and FAQs. Education focused on practical functionality, behavioural change, and recognising the benefits for all.
Outcomes
While the program is still evolving, early results are clear:
What's next
Re-establishing trust in digital travel tools takes time, but the benefits of a customised, people-led approach can be long-lasting. UWA’s FCM Account Manager and Consulting team will continue to leverage new booking data to guide decision making and collaborate with the UWA team, ensuring ongoing optimisation and continuous improvement.
True partnership requires open communication. We needed to have some difficult conversations with FCM, but if you can’t have honest conversations, the project is going to fail. We appreciate the partnership we’ve developed with our Account Manager and the rest of the FCM team, and we’re confident in their ability to take our people on the journey needed to realise our full potential.
- James Evers
Travel Project Manager, UWA
For UWA, the shift to FCM Booking was an opportunity to reset how travel works across the University. With clearer processes, stronger data and tools designed around real user behaviour, the program is now better positioned to support travellers, finance teams, and decision-makers.