AltoVita's Spotlight Series: 5 minutes with Jessica Dunderdale

For our latest Spotlight Series, we’re delighted to introduce Jessica Dunderdale, our Head of Client Partnerships. Jess joined AltoVita at the beginning of 2022 to lead our global expansion into mobility and business travel and spearhead our global business development team.

Based outside of Surrey, UK, Jess embraces the work-from-anywhere model on a daily basis whilst being a full-time parent. She has been instrumental in providing creative and proactive solutions for any client inquiry, resulting in 40% pipeline conversion rate and revenue growth of 230% from new business since the beginning of the year. She embraces a balance between being an expressive communicator and directive driver.

Continue reading as we get to know Jess a little better, discover her part-time passions, and more…

Business travel is decidedly back and you’ve been busy circling the globe attending conferences from Business Travel Show in London to ITM in Birmingham to ProcureCon Travel in Palm Springs, California. What were the biggest topics of conversation and takeaways for our industry?

I have been fortunate enough to have attended a few conferences this year, and it was apparent how ready everyone was to be together again, to reconnect, to learn, and to grow as an industry. Clients are reporting that their figures have superseded 2019, with reports of the busiest summer in years! I have such a sense of pride when I attend conferences and see how resilient this industry is. Top topics within business travel were:

• How travel programmes have changed, and what this means for the travel managers 
• Wellbeing 
• DEI 
• Sustainability

Subject matters which are close to our hearts at AltoVita, hence our Smart, Safe, Sustainable Summit in May 2022 and our D&I webinar in June 2022. We are looking at how the role of the travel managers has changed during our upcoming product webinar series, when we will explore the high-tech vs high-touch shift (look out for the announcement and registration soon!).

It was insightful to see how these subject matters are being approached around the globe, and how travel managers are taking varied approaches to challenges they face within these areas. 

What is the most common question you get asked from prospective clients about AltoVita, and how do you answer? 

Where does the name ‘AltoVita’ originate? 

The answer is ‘High Life’ in Latin! We are all so dedicated and committed to ensuring all clients, travelers, and assignees alike enjoy a piece of the good life, so the name is fitting! This being one of the reasons for such a stringent 4-Tier Quality Control vetting process, to ensure everyone staying with AltoVita has a delightful experience! 

How do you think the pandemic has most impacted the global mobility and business travel industries? 

The pandemic has affected the people within the global mobility and business travel industries. We are all bearing scars from the past two years, and we have all changed somewhat as a consequence.

Travel managers and global mobility managers desire a greater understanding and control over their programmes. Transparency is frequently used when asked “what are you looking for in your programme?” This is why AltoVita have the multiple-user software so that managers have visibility and why we accelerated the launch of our reporting dashboard, so that there is transparency over where their travelers or assignees are, on cancellation terms, transparency on requests, rate per night, how AltoVita make money, and the list goes on. 

We recognise that transparency grows trust, and trust is the true currency of business. 

You have been doing a tremendous job at working both as a member of the team and raising your young family. What are your secrets to successfully managing your time and balancing career and family life as you work from home?

A good G&T?! In reality, any parent will say that juggling work and a family is really tough. Parents are constantly spinning plates to ensure both work and family excel, and guilt plays a massive part of being a parent! I am a firm believer in equality between parents, and I have a supportive husband who balances the seesaw, which is vital.

In my opinion, working from home and forming part of a company that supports a flexible working schedule is imperative to success. Work is completed, in-person meetings are held, but without impacting precious family time. I don’t waste three hours per day commuting and I don’t carry guilt that I can’t do bedtime routine or have morning cuddles! 

When you do have a moment to relax, what are you normally doing?

I like to work hard, play hard! When I have time to relax I enjoy time with my family. We are a family of social butterflies, with friends joining for playdates and dinners weekly, day trips to the beach, bike rides and picnics, holidays in the sunshine, and Game of Thrones in the evenings… with a G&T!