Data-Driven Transformation: How PwC Italy Reached 91% Online Adoption

Challenge

In 2013–2014, PwC Italy managed travel in a highly decentralized way. Around 2,000 professionals traveled frequently, often booking at the last minute and outside of any centralized process. Travel was largely left to personal initiative, with little oversight and limited tools.

Hotel spend was scattered across expense reports and agency bookings. Travel policy was hard to enforce and nearly impossible to monitor. Procurement lacked structure — negotiated hotels were inconsistently used. Employees faced time-consuming and complex booking flows and low-quality service.

This approach was manageable at small scale. But as PwC prepared for growth, it became clear that transformation was essential.

Key challenges included:

• Fragmented hotel spend, with ~40% of bookings outside agency systems
• Lack of centralized data and visibility into costs
• Primarily offline booking, creating high manual effort and low satisfaction
• Poor compliance and limited ability to monitor behavior
• No VAT recovery due to unstructured payments
• High manual booking costs and excessive agency fees

Solution

To resolve these challenges, PwC Italy partnered with HRS to drive a digital transformation of its hotel program — from fragmented and reactive, to streamlined, data-informed, and scalable.

HRS deployed a fully integrated solution from procurement through to payment, bringing:

• Clear visibility into spend and supplier performance
• Automated, policy-compliant booking for employees
• Real-time data and monthly dashboards
• VAT recovery through structured payments
• Greater employee satisfaction and ownership

The solution focused on four key areas:

Centralized Booking
A fully integrated platform within SAP Concur enabled travelers to book policy-compliant hotels with global coverage and pre-negotiated rates, increasing online adoption to 91%.

Automated Insights
Standardized reporting replaced guesswork with monthly performance tracking.

Employee Empowerment
Policy-compliant self-booking tools improved user experience and reduced agency workload.

Integrated Payments
Central billing automated payments and invoice handling, enabling full compliance and ~10% VAT recovery while consolidating data at the source.

Results

PwC Italy achieved:

• 91% online adoption
• 50% transaction shift to online channels
• 15% hotel spend optimization
• VAT reclaim of ~10%
• Significant reduction in agency fees
• A fully compliant, scalable travel program ready for growth

Together, PwC and HRS built a travel program that optimizes savings and enhances traveler satisfaction—one that is ready to scale and lead.

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