THE LOWDOWN IN BRIEF
• TRAVEL and expense specialist Concur has lined up a $12million deal to acquire London-based Global Expense, an online specialist it end-to-end expense manage- ment. “This acquisition reflects our commitment to continue growing Concur’s investment and presence to serve the large untapped travel and expense management market in Europe,” says Steve Singh, chairman and CEO of Concur.
• MORE research pointing to sunnier economic climes and increasing business travel volumes, this time from GetThere. Its 11th annual benchmarking survey revealed 61 per cent of respondents expect their travel budgets to increase by up to ten per cent this year, while online adoption rates climbed for the tenth consecutive year, to 55 per cent. Respondents reported average savings of 18 and 24 per cent on domestic and international airfares respectively; 12 and 31 per cent on domestic and international hotel rates respectively; and 70 per cent savings on agency fees – thanks to increased online adoption.
• PASSENGERS making online purchases of First Class return tickets with Gatwick Express are now entitled to complimentary access to the airport's No.1 Traveller lounge. The initial booking period for this offer lasts until August 31, and tickets must be purchased at
gatwickexpress.com.
• THE acquisition of St Albans-based Pressplan Travel in April cements an expansion plan at Baxter Hoare spearheaded by Adam White, the major shareholder of the company. Baxter Hoare was acquired from his old employer, Bath Travel. Pressplan’s 50-year credentials neatly gives Baxter Hoare expertise in the events and exhibitions market, augmenting specialisms in rail and personal travel for high net worth individuals, alongside core business travel. “We’re not about shagpile carpets and pot plants, but small transaction fees and the SME business. Our client base is both private and public companies, from stockbrokers to government unions,“ says White. Baxter Hoare is targeting those in the £25,000 to £50,000 annual spend category, but has accounts as small as £10,000pa. In terms of facilities, the company has, among others, Travelport, Evolvi, travel tracking tools, transient and MICE SBTs, and rate checking facilities in place, “plus a cutting edge price,” says White, and is a member of Advantage. “We have two main drivers, organic growth and acquisitions where it makes sense to do so. There are lots of people out there who want to divest,” he says.
in independence ➔
Chambers revels
GUEST COLUMN
ROBERT COOK CHIEF EXCUTIVE OFFICER MALMAISON & HOTEL DU VIN
HOW long will it take for the penny to drop that the hospitality industry has got to stop hiding behind the veneer of design to discover we are actually in the service business? We need to invest in service and
BTM NEWS
CHAMBERS Travel is becoming a force to be reckoned with
as it gears up to become Europe’s number one independent travel management company. Occupying the middle ground
– alongside the likes of FCm, Portman and ATP – its global reach is secured through a tier one partnership in the GlobalStar network. It has wholly owned centres in France and Germany, plus a partner in Sweden. Pan-European clients are managed by a multilingual team at its London-based Euro Centre that targets clients in the one to ten million euro range. Growth has been organic, with no outside help. “We closed with £82million on
our books in March,” says Chris Thelen, the company’s CEO, who
bought into the company in 1999. “We have the right team, who we incentivise and pay well, plus we operate with a high ratio of account managers; we have nine, nobody else has that level of account management to business.” Thelen is expecting to have a £500millon turnover in five years and virtual licences in key markets in Europe. Much of that growth is dependent upon its mainly home- grown technology, with a product suite called Qi. The TMC launched the first of its mobile technology solutions, iRequest Mobile, at Business Travel Market. “Our USP is our technology;
we love online,” says Thelen. “I some times feel like I’m running a software company, not a travel management company.“
POWER IN THE HANDS OF TRAVELLERS
BTM NEWS
IN THE closing keynote session of Business Travel
Market show, Ron DiLeo, executive director of ACTE, painted a picture of a business travel world where power transferred from travel managers to travellers through the use of their mobile phones, and where they would be wooed by suppliers directly. “The market will be increasingly governed by the personal choices of individual business travellers rather than companies preaching a gospel of travel management governance. The notion of what is right for the company no longer competes with the notion of what is right for the ‘me’ in travelling for business,” he said. “In this new
world, business travellers have evolved into being an extension to the business travel manager.” Pinch points were duty of care issues and travel policy compliance. Organisations working to block company sponsored mobile phones from having the ability to download travel apps that enable this type of direct access to their travellers is a flawed approach: “All travellers will do is carry two phones,” he said. DiLeo predicts that this change
will cause a shift in supplier focus from competing as a commodity to competing on service. “And this is a good thing; if service improves then so does a business traveller’s quality of life,” he concluded.
the fine art of hospitality, in parallel to investment in properties. No one stays in ugly hotels or entertains in dated bars and restaurants. Equally, no one ever comes back because the light fittings were cool. Great design is a given in today's society. I recently visited a new hotel concept that is entering the UK market place and I have to say I was very impressed with the design and layout, especially of the bedrooms. The look of its food and beverage spaces, however, were designed for design's sake – there was no substance or soul to them – but they were uber cool in design. The investment in young, hungry
talent that understands the art of hospitality and an attitude of "the answer’s yes, now what's the question?", is really what we are looking for. People development and exciting and motivating talent needs to be higher up the investment agenda. As an industry we should hire
on attitude, not knowledge, and choose those with fire in their belly – it should be in their DNA and, in turn, we can train skills. These skills will make our properties function, but it's their attitude that makes staff sing. I always remember Malmaison founder Ken McCulloch’s fantastic line: "Great service is not a mystery, just hire nice people." The future is still uncertain economically but one thing that is certain, is that the customer will never comeback for less. We as an industry must look carefully at the people agenda. Great hospitality is what makes the difference and those who live by it will prosper and progress. A hotel’s greatest asset is its brand equity and that is its people. Brand equity is admittedly a slow
build, but Ferdinand Porsche once said: "It took a long time to build something this quick."
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