Marie-Clare Boyes, Director of Sales for Marine and Offshore at C Teleport, was recently a guest on The People Podcast by Maritime Software Hub. She shared insights into how automating crew travel can help managers work more efficiently.
A single platform for booking and managing crew travel
In the interview hosted by Callum Beaumont, Marie-Clare explains how travel managers can consolidate crew rotations without switching between multiple tools. Customers such as Fugro and Blue Planet Shipping, for example, appreciate having a single centralised solution for crew travel.
“We are an online B2B platform that lets users book flights and hotels for their crew, fully integrating with any HR or crewing software a company uses. Our aim is to automate their processes through the system,” Boyes explains.
Automation to save time on routine tasks
Marie-Clare highlights how automation reduces time spent on repetitive tasks, a major challenge in crew travel management. Managers no longer need to spend hours collecting and comparing flight options from local travel agencies.
The system compares several fare sources instantly and suggests the best options. “The system does internal benchmarking for them,” Boyes explains. “They can access multiple fares instantly, without waiting for responses from travel agents. This way, their tasks are completed much faster.”
In addition to fare comparisons, the platform automatically generates reports, providing managers with quick insights. “At the push of a button, they can get a report from the system without waiting for someone to manually check and compile it,” she adds.
Instant changes and cancellations for flexible planning
Making last-minute changes and cancellations is a common challenge in the maritime industry. Travel managers using the C Teleport platform can adjust bookings directly in the system in just two to four clicks.
“The platform allows for instant changes and cancellations, so they don’t have to rely on back-and-forth communications,” Boyes explains. “They can go in and make those changes directly themselves.”
How travel managers drive innovation
Modern marine companies are transforming the crew travel industry by demanding more automation. C Teleport’s platform meets these demands for its customers by offering custom features and flexible integrations that fit seamlessly with their existing ecosystems
“If a client has a requirement and they think it’s something they need, we can definitely look into it,” Boyes explains. “We always listen to our customers and go back to IT to file those feature requests. We see how important they are, how many of those requests we have, and then we prioritise them.”
This client-driven approach ensures the platform evolves to meet the needs of any dynamic industry.
Online marine fares, low-cost airlines, and everything in between
Marie-Clare explains how managers can easily find the best fares for their crew online. C Teleport provides online access to marine fares, standard fares, and options from low-cost airlines.
By consolidating these fare options into a single platform, the system eliminates the need to rely on external tools or lengthy processes. As Boyes puts it: “The whole point is to basically bring everything together, save them time in doing everything instead of, you know, emailing and doing it in the more traditional ways.”
Integrating with crewing software for smoother workflows
Seamless integration with crew management or HR systems ensures all travel data stays synced in one place. This removes the need to manually check passenger and travel data across different systems and helps managers make quicker decisions and work more efficiently.
“Our integration pushes data back into their software so it’s always updated,” Boyes points out, adding: “Managers can still access the platform if they need to check or double-check something. Everything is there—they don’t need to sift through thousands of emails or invoices.”
The main challenge in the industry: adopting new technologies
Change can feel overwhelming, especially in industries with long-established practices. Marie-Clare acknowledges this hesitation but stresses that the benefits of automation far outweigh the initial challenges.
“I think the main challenge is change management. There’s still some apprehension toward technology. Some clients feel it’s not a top priority yet, but it’s coming,” she says.
Once companies see how much time and money they can save, many realise the value of automation. Moving away from outdated methods allows crew managers to work more effectively and adapt to modern travel needs.
Listen to the insights directly from Marie Claire
🎥 Watch the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/1aKBQrEpbck
🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Du36IRo5c4T2HLnzc9vdb?si=d2d3d7d5ab194f5d
🔉Listen online: https://feeds.captivate.fm/maritime-softwarehub/
