THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE I 39 The Review ➔ GTMC highlights challenges


THE Rt Hon Norman Baker MP, Under Secretary of State for Transport, reinforced the message that the enemy is not the plane but is in fact carbon as he defended the government’s decision to cancel expansion plans at Heathrow Airport. He was speaking as the keynote speaker at the GTMC's autumn conference held at London's reopened Savoy Hotel. “Transport matters and we have


two high-level objectives: creating jobs and cutting carbon,” he said. Baker also said the government was committed to protecting Heathrow as a global hub. ”We will make Heathrow better, not bigger. There is no expansion at Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted in this parliament and we will review it next year. We are keen to promote regional airports as the South East is overheating somewhat.” The major emphasis was on high speed trains, however, pushing for a modal shift from car and air. There will be longer franchises to train companies and the go-ahead for several other projects, namely Crossrail, developments to the Midland Mainline and East Coast Mainline, metro upgrades in Tyne & Wear and two brand new tram lines in Nottingham. Tony Collins, chief executive of


Virgin Trains, followed Baker and made a plea for the government to


THE LOWDOWN IN BRIEF


invest in infrastructure including stations, naming London Euston as an example. He asked for government to be “bold and visionary with capital expenditure,” and foresaw a time when train tickets would include theatre and/or air tickets, and be available through a mobile phone for the entire end- to-end journey. He also predicted a 60-minute London-Birmingham journey time. Heated debate followed in a session featuring three suppliers and one buyer, namely Jamie Hindhaugh of the BBC and chairman ITM UK. Hindhaugh pointed out the faults on both sides in the buying community, with the TMC and buyer, highlighting that buyers don’t always buy just on cost and


ALTOUR'S ALTERNATIVE APPROACH


A NEW kind of TMC has launched in the UK and across western Europe, based on a model of independent contractors that has worked for the company in the US where it has its roots. Think of a corporate version of


Travel Counsellors and you have Altour, a company that began life in 1991 and that today has volumes worth US$800million. The corporate travel arm is augmented by Altour Limousine, Altour Air, Altour Travel Master, Altour Incentive Manage- ment and Altour Management. The UK face of the company


is managing director Nigel Parkinson, formerly with Carlson Wagonlit Travel. Its London offices are in St Paul’s and they already have 40 contractors signed up which is a mix of one-man bands


and groups of up to eight people. Altour uses Sabre as its GDS, Evolvi for rail, and can bespoke any technology solution – such as self-booking tools – but they pride themselves on offline and a high touch service. IT offers the usual array of services, from consolidated management information to traveller tracking. “We have a large focus on film


work, for example, as we offer a high-end concierge style service so that pits us against Travel by Appointment,” he says. “Our perfect clients are UK/US centric, so the banking fraternity, for example, is another area, and not the big boys but the small finance houses instead. We’re about the value proposition,” Parkinson explains.


that greater understanding was required by TMCs of the challenges they face. “We have to work together more


than ever as an industry,” he said. He suggested more cross industry staffing, with buyers moving into TMCs, for TMCs to gain a better understanding of procurement and the opportunity to win business, to manage the impact of bad buyers helped by better education and for TMCs to articulate better the consolidated opportunities. TMCs latched on to Hindhaugh’s


term ‘bad buyers’ and were ready to blame them for all their problems rather than accepting that they have an opportunity to improve and understand the corporate customer.


EXPENSIVE EXPENSES


TRAVEL and expense specialist KDS says too many corporates are using outdated methods of expense management, leading to loss of time and money. Commenting on the results of research carried out by KDS, ceo Yves Weisselberger, says, “There are just as many people submitting expense claims on paper as there are employees making online expense submissions. It’s easy to see where many companies need to look for greater efficiencies. Paperwork, in a computerised world, is costing staff and employers time and money.”


• THE Institute of Travel & Meetings has released a 30-page report on the lessons that business travel buyers and suppliers can learn from last April’s ash cloud crisis. It is the first project produced by the ITM’s crisis support group, the Phoenix Project. ITM chairman and head of production and sourcing, logistics, at the BBC, Jamie Hindhaugh, says, “It was clear to us at ITM that the ash cloud effectively acted as a test-run for corporations to see how robust their travel crisis management solutions were. Fortunately, without life having been at risk, we are easily able to objectively look at the reactions of business travel buyers and managers and the supplier community and present some lessons in this report for our members.” The report details over 50 tips from travel buyers and suppliers who coped with the crisis and lays out how the association plans to help its members and the wider industry in the future. ITM members (and their European counterparts through NBTA Europe) can access the report without charge through the Member Zone of the association’s website.


• CEGA Group Services has launched a ‘one-stop global risk service’ which it claims supports every aspect of a business traveller’s wellbeing before, during and after an overseas trip. CEGA says it brings together three specialist areas of support traditionally available through separate sources, namely emergency medical assistance, security and occupational health services. It has joined forces with Health Management Ltd and red24 to offer the new service.


• IRISH travel management company World Travel Centre has joined Travel Solutions International (TSI), a network of privately owned TMCs. TSI board member Mervyn Williamson, of UK member Statesman Travel, says “TSI wants to appoint a limited number of partners in specific global markets and Ireland is a fast-developing region for corporate travel. We are very pleased to work with such a highly regarded agency and WTC’s technological expertise allows us to offer more competitively priced euro airfares to our multinational customers.” Travel Solutions International’s growing network of TMCs has recently been strengthened by the addition of new partners in India (etravelvalue), Brazil (Globalis Viagens), Philippines (The Flight Shop) and New Zealand (North Shore Business Travel).


36 I THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE


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