KEY POINTS:
Everybody dreads that moment when fellow travellers have bustled off smugly with their overflowing trolleys, and you are staring in vain at an empty revolving carousel.
It is something that has happened to most of us. You trudge disconsolately over to the usually unmanned inquiries desk and fill out long forms which you fear may not bring you any closer to your favourite Agnes B shirt or your good luck Hermes tie.
Lost luggage can completely throw corporate travellers off their game. It takes their focus away from the meeting they have travelled thousands of miles to attend and it can make them angry and frustrated - never a good way to meet new contacts.
Intelligent minds have put some heavy man hours into solving the problem of lost luggage. And they need to. British Airways is reported to have lost a record one million pieces of luggage last year and is investing in trying to solve the problem.
A New Zealander, and former general manager of Thomas Cook, Les Probert, has invented the Traca system which he is now taking to the world.
As a former tour manager, Probert says he is no stranger to lost luggage.
He still shudders at the memory of a family holiday in Fiji when his teenage daughter had to wear her brother's clothes for three days. "Not conducive conditions to having an enjoyable vacation," he says.
For $20 Traca clients you receive a one-year subscription which includes two Traca tags. Before a trip, you enter the number of the tag and your email and cell phone details into the Traca website, www.traca.co.nz, then attach your labels. If the luggage goes missing, the finder, who is offered a Traca reward of some free tags, just goes to the website, keys in the unique reference number on the tag and reports the lost luggage found, giving their contact details. The Traca system then gets in touch with you by sending an email and a text telling you where and from whom to collect your luggage.
In many cases it is the lost luggage personnel who find the bag.
"It's making their lives that much easier," says Probert.
Many travel companies use the Traca tags as a giveaway to clients and put their brand on the front.
Paul Forward, general manager of Orbit, the corporate division of House of Travel, encourages his corporate clients to have the appropriate insurance.
Travel insurance packages can be tailored to companies whether they are a Small Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) or a large organisation.
People should find out before they travel what insurance policies cover and what clients can and cannot replace. This information is invaluable if the at any time bags do go astray, he says.
Business travellers tend to be in a hurry, Forward says, but if they take the time to ensure all their documentation is easily accessible, this can mitigate some of the stress of lost luggage.
- Detours, HoS
