THE TECHNOLOGY
Amadeus tackles ancillary issues
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BERNARD HARROP, HEAD OF SUSTAINABILITY IN CHARGE OF NBTA'S PROJECT ICARUS
NBTA Houston sets ‘green’ example
AMADEUS is ramping up efforts to tackle the tricky area of ancillary spend associated with airline unbundling, where fees are charged separately for items such as baggage, online check-in, seat allocation and food and drink. French airline Corsairfly is piloting the Amadeus Ancillary Services solution which it has used to offer the option of booking additional baggage allowance. “The main factors driving the implementation of ancillary services for Corsairfly are, of course, revenue, but also the ability to deliver benefits in a way which our customers recognise as adding value,” says Damien Paries, deputy director capacity management at Corsairfly.
“Managing the baggage allowance at the booking stage improves the airport experience for customers and means staff are not burdened with managing excess baggage claims.” Amadeus is also trialing an
Electronic Miscellaneous Documents (EMD) tool with Finnair, which enables airlines and travel agencies to sell and track the usage of ancillary charges, whether they are linked to the flight coupon – such as baggage and seat allocation – or are standalone fees such as lounge access or re-booking charges. Amadeus says there is a pipeline
of potential customers and they hope to make further announce- ments in due course.
CONCUR GETS SMART
EXPENSE specialist Concur is another supplier looking closely at its smartphone offering, and made a series of announcements at the recent NBTA convention in Houston, Texas. The company is expanding its partner programme, Concur Connect, to include a series of third party mobile solutions from the likes of Amtrak, FlightTrack by Mobiata, GateGuru, Metro by Kinevia and OAG. Concur is also extending the
reach of its mobile solutions from iPhones and BlackBerry devices currently, to Android phones and iPads. “We recognise that mobile will continue to transform our
entire industry, from suppliers to corporate buyers and especially the mobile worker,“ says Ranjeev Singh, president and chief operating officer of Concur. “Our goal is to empower employees by delivering smart, real-time content and connections to them anytime, anywhere. We also believe that companies that embrace mobile solutions will drive costs out of their business while making life easier for their mobile workforce,“ says Singh. In addition, Concur also revealed
that a series of TMCs have entered into strategic distribution agree- ments to offer its mobile solutions to business travellers.
I HAVE just returned from the NBTA convention in Houston where the temperature was approaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity was over 85 per cent – that’s hot! Weather aside, this was quite an event, with over 5,500 buyers and suppliers in attendance and over 100 workshops and education sessions available, in addition to the huge trade show. It was good to see Richard Branson flying the flag for the UK and extolling the virtues of good old British entrepreneurship, while Condoleezza Rice showed the softer side of her character by explaining how she has once played the piano for the Queen of England. But what made the biggest impression on me was the massive effort made by the organisers to apply the principles of sustainability – this was no mean feat I can assure you. It started on the day before the conference opened with a social enterprise event. I joined over 125 volunteers who descended on the Star of Hope Mission, a hostel for Houston’s homeless. Our goal was to redecorate the main building and a number of resident’s rooms. This was achieved with much gusto and no small amount of perspiration. The reaction from the residents had to be seen to be believed! The organisers also tried very
hard to reduce the impact on the environment by reducing the carbon footprint where possible. A wide range of initiatives were in operation, from using recycled paper and limiting the number of handouts, to eliminating plastic
water bottles and using USB keys instead of printouts. In addition, there were a number
of education sessions on CSR, starting with a session on the basics of CSR and why and how corpor- ations are adding an environmental and social dimension to their corporate travel programmes. We also heard about the benefits
of implementing sustainability practices into meetings and events, and how to build better brand loyalty internally and externally, and develop better relationships with vendors, communities, employees and customers. Presentations were also given by
“What made the biggest impression was the massive effort made by organisers to apply the principles of sustainability”
the 2010 NBTA CSR award winners. Marriott International won the Allied Member award for addressing water, waste and energy issues. Their goal is to further reduce fuel and water consumption by 25 per cent per available room by 2017. ANZ Bank, meanwhile, were the Direct Member award winners: their goal is to be carbon neutral by the end of September 2010 through a combination of carbon management initiatives and offsetting. All in all, good value and time well spent. Next stop the NBTA Europe conference in Lisbon this month.
For more details about NBTA Europe and its environmental programme, Project Icarus, see:
www.nbtaeurope.org
ITM UPDATE
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