Diversity Travel: ‘A waste of everyone’s time and money’

Should the university keep bookings through Diversity Travel obligatory? Is its sustainability worth enough for long booking procedures and expensive, time-consuming travelling? Our readers don’t think so.

“I ended up paying an extra 100 euros for a two-day conference with Diversity Travel”, said one reader. “This costs the university a fortune and results in missed opportunities for international cooperation.” In addition to the high costs, our Instagram followers complained about the slow and ‘low quality’ website: “It constantly crashes, and the options aren’t cheap.”

PhD candidates are also strongly affected by the requirement. “I will now not be able to go to conferences anymore, since my remaining budget will only last for one more conference under these high costs”, said the PhD student. Another candidate agrees, stating that this decision ‘will impact EUR’s international networking and standing’.

Some believe it’s a problem of bureaucracy: “We need to cut budgets everywhere and then EUR decides to create more bureaucracy”, one reader said. Another reader describes the process as an ‘unworkable system’: “The university (particularly the Executive Board) shifts as much work, red tape, and costs onto the employees as possible.”

The solutions

What should the university do? Some only see one way back to normalcy: “Booking your own trips.” On Instagram, the suggestions are more straightforward: the university must ‘stay out of staff’s business’. One follower thinks a more radical approach is necessary: “Get rid of Diversity Travel.”

Another reader believes the problem isn’t the website, but the idea behind travelling sustainably: “Monitoring sustainability may be fashionable, but it’s frankly ridiculous.”