Top tips for getting the most out of your event transport

It’s usually the last piece of the jigsaw in event management and the least attractive part of event planning. By the time you’ve developed your “big idea”, secured your venue, speakers/performers, got your ticket management sorted, you then move on to logistics and even then transport is normally way down the pecking order.

However, it’s slightly different when it comes to national or indeed global events. Back in 2019, Travel Connect, then known as Event Connect, were one of the proud sponsors of The 2019 Solheim Cup, taking place at Gleneagles, Scotland from 9-15 September.

Our main role was management and co-ordination of the transportation for the Solheim Cup players, staff, and media during the event, including the European and American teams, the PING Junior Solheim Cup teams, rules officials, VIPs and dignitaries.

Not only was it a real privilege for Travel Connect to support this world-class event, it was also an ideal opportunity for us to showcase some of the benefits and learnings from the transport management approach taken by both our team and The Solheim Cup event organisers.

So what makes planning transport for a global event different from planning for any other event? Firstly, the processes. The well-oiled machine of global and national event management means that the event organisers in this field bring with them a huge wealth of experience meaning that planning for transportation starts early! Nothings left to chance, no stone is left unturned and details such as timings are planned to perfection.   

How does that help you – as we said, it’s often the case that transport slips to the bottom of your to-do list, it’s also quite often the case that there is no one in your team with transport or operational experience or knowledge, so it’s hardly any wonder it slips to the bottom of the pile.

We always say that Travel Connect are full-service transport management provider and for most people that doesn’t mean much, until of course you realise that you’ve left your transport planning too late and you don’t have staff, time, resources or contacts to get the job done and that’s where we would come in.

Not every event organiser has the same wealth of experience as the Solheim Cup team, but you don’t have to be a global event manager to provide seamless event transport. Here’s a couple of quick wins we thought we’d share from our work on Solheim to help you get started with the planning of your event transport and to allow you to maximise your efficiencies:

Start Early – it’s never too early to start the transport planning process, the more time you have the smoother the process at the other end is. It’s great to have a fantastic event lined up with a packed schedule/itinerary/line-up but what good is that if you’ve no transport in place to get people there!

Clear Brief – make sure you know exactly what you want. Sounds simple, but it’s not always the case. Where do you need to be? When do you need to be there? How many locations need to be serviced? Are there any special requirements? What are your restrictions? What are the location restrictions? What are your timings? Have you done a location recce before you started briefing?  It’s all really basic stuff, but sometimes when you are knee-deep in event planning you assume everyone knows what’s going on and when, but the reality is sometimes you need to take a step back before you start briefing in your transport provider, otherwise confused briefs and mixed messages can cause delays and cost you money.

Clear Budget – first off make sure you have allocated sufficient budget within your event planning model to accommodate the transport requirements. Working to a clear budget will determine the type/quality of vehicles you end up with which can be really important based on your end-user requirements.

Contingency Plan – Be prepared for your plans to change. Each event is individual, yes you will gain learnings from previous events, but don’t treat each event you work on the same as the one before. No two locations are the same, no two groups of clients are the same, so it’s important that have a contingency plan, making sure you cover off adverse weather, the impact of wider transport connections, venue changes, and delays as these are all things which can help save you money in the long run. The more prepared you are to adapt to changing circumstances the less likely you are to blow your budget.  

Don’t worry if this feels way out of your comfort zone, Travel Connect has worked on global, national, regional, and local events for years and we can do all the hard work so that you don’t have to – that’s what we mean by “full service” approach. We will literally take all the transport needs off your hands. We’ve got fleets of vehicles across the UK to help save time on supplier negotiations, buying power to help with cost efficiencies, access to wider transport management services to help with the operational planning, 24/7 regional support so that if plans change at 2 am we can implement our contingency, plus we also offer on the ground operational support to make sure your event goes smoothly on the day.

If you’re planning an event this year, either large or small scale find out how we can support you.

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Tags: Event Connect, Solheim