ICANN Travel Management Company Review: Ensuring Excellence in Travel Services

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As part of our commitment to continuous improvement and excellence, we periodically review ICANN's service providers to ensure alignment with our evolving needs and to assure they are delivering the best possible value. Our current focus is on our travel management company, or travel agency. Given the significant changes in the travel industry resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, we are conducting a thorough review to ensure that we have the right partner to support ICANN's very specific needs.

Need for Review​

In recent years, the global travel industry has faced unprecedented challenges, including significant technological advances, mergers, acquisitions, and overall loss of talent. Since fully resuming travel in 2023, ICANN has noticed and been affected by these changes. This review aims to ensure ICANN's travel program remains resilient and adaptable. This is part of our ongoing effort to ensure continuous improvement and alignment with business needs.

Project Goals​

The primary goal of this review is to identify a travel partner that meets ICANN's needs in this changed travel landscape. We aim to identify a travel management company that best matches ICANN's needs now and into the future.

Review Methodology and Strategy​

We have conducted a thorough review involving internal and external assessments. This included analyzing current travel needs, gathering feedback from stakeholders, reviewing the latest travel market conditions, and comparing a large pool of potential travel management companies.

We have narrowed our selection and released a request for proposals. We will finalize our choice through cost and capability comparisons in the coming weeks. We are on track to meet our established deadlines, which include an announcement of the selected travel management company in November 2024 and the expectation that the selected vendor, if changed, will begin supporting ICANN in January 2025.

Partnering with Festive Road​

To support this initiative, we have engaged a third-party company called Festive Road, a leading consultancy in travel management strategy and sourcing. Festive Road's approach focuses on cultural alignment, capabilities, and commercial criteria to ensure the best fit for ICANN. Their proven methodology and extensive experience in delivering successful travel management sourcing projects will be invaluable in guiding us through this review process.

Next Steps​

We are committed to conducting this review with clarity and thoroughness. Our goal is to ensure that ICANN continues to receive the highest-quality travel services that are aligned with our strategic objectives. We will keep you updated on our progress and look forward to sharing the outcomes of this critical project.