News
Conference round-up
and tablets, and a multicamera broadcast of live and recorded sessions on EIBTM’s Facebook page and website. This year’s EIBTM Technology Watch Award, which aims to spot significant innovations in the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) industry, went to US- based analytics provider ITN International for its Citywide Attendee Credential, a delegate badge that doubles as a free pass to public transport and tourist attractions in a host city. The dynamics between
Generation Y and Z, and Generation X – who were identified as the current decision makers – were explained by Shuli Golovinski, CEO of Newtonstrand, sponsor of the Future Events Experience. He said: “There is a need to understand that sweeping, fundamental, cultural change is here to stay. GenX managers would benefit by understanding and embracing the fact that this change blends the traditional aspects of the events industry with the new and emerging ones, and will advance the industry as a whole. "It doesn’t mean throwing
everything away and starting with a blank slate, but rather adding the social elements that are missing from today’s traditional events.” n
MP Kwasi Kwarteng (centre) with GTMC chief executive Anne Godfrey and chairman Michael Hare
GTMC London conference
Regulation was the topic of the day at the Guild of Travel Management Companies’ London conference. Sara Turner reports
HELD AT THE ST PANCRAS Renaissance Hotel in London, keynote speakers at the Guild of Travel Management Companies’ (GTMC) conference included politicians, transport providers and senior figures from the world of managed travel – from both the buyer and agency sides. Subjects covered included why aviation is suffering an image crisis, and how the GTMC plans to change that with its lobbying efforts, plus discussions around the eternal bugbear of taxes.
Aviation must market itself
better if it is to have any hope of a brighter future, Transport Select Committee member and MP for Spelthorne, Kwasi Kwarteng, told delegates. The Tory minister accused the industry of being “complacent” and said: “The case for aviation has to be made again.” Kwarteng said his interest in aviation stemmed from his Spelthorne seat, which is directly affected by the fortunes of Heathrow, as a large proportion of his constituents work there. He said: “To many of
us in the House of Commons it is obvious that aviation improves the economic prosperity of a country,” but said that not all ministers agree. “The aviation industry has failed to make the argument that aviation is good for the economy," he added. He praised the work of the GTMC in creating a unified industry voice, but said more had to be done. Expanding on the
conference’s legislation theme, keynote speaker Chris Gibson, HRG’s head of taxation, spoke in an exclusive interview with Buying Business Travel’s sister brand
ABTN.co.uk. He said travel buyers should beware of ignoring value-added tax (VAT). “The downside is too great. VAT for travel is complex because business travel itself can be complex, and specialised tax advisors can be expensive.” Gibson said HM Revenue
& Customs had introduced measures to “close the tax gap”, including a risk rating of companies, meaning closer scrutiny for some. He also warned corporate buyers to talk to their TMCs about the Tour Operators Margin Scheme (TOMS) – the buyers whose TMCs operated within TOMS could find that UK VAT was not recoverable, with significant impact on costs and budgets. Read the full interview at
www.abtn.co.uk n
More than 50 buyers debated topical issues with suppliers and agents at the ACTE/MS-UK Corporate Travel & Expense Management Forum in central London. Paul Revel reports
ACTE/MS-UK AUTUMN FORUM
BCD MANAGING DIRECTOR Michele Lawley, who opened the forum at the Hesperia hotel in Victoria, described a “pragmatic” scenario of better public debt management by Barack Obama and Eurozone governments, leading to single-digit growth in business travel during 2012.
She said airline consolidation, tight seat 28
capacities and ancillaries would contribute to rising air fares this year. Tips for buyers to minimise costs included booking further ahead, and she also said buyers should push for individual airline negotiations, and should warn their finance departments of coming "imposed costs" from distribution fees and emissions trading system premiums. Travel buyers called for greater clarity and trust when negotiating supplier deals.
Deborah Short, travel buyer for insurance brokers Willis, said global deals should be “more like McDonald’s” – a clear and consistent standard of offering anywhere in the world. She said airlines failed to offer good rates on lesser-used routes despite overall spend, while global hotel programmes were undermined by local deals. Hotel management expert Paul Kavanagh said buyers sometimes undermined the request for proposal (RFP) process by failing to deliver on promised volumes of room nights. However, buyers responded by saying often the reason for not booking the projected volumes over a given period was hotels did not offer availability on the required nights. Former Goldman Sachs travel boss Sally Shervington was one of several delegates
who urged buyers to put pressure on airlines and the global distribution systems to make it easier for buyers to control and report ancillary costs, pointing out that in 2010, 12 per cent of corporate air spend was on ancillaries. Also debated were distribution channels, mobile technology and developments in UK and European rail travel. Jon Reeve, trade relations director at rail-booking technology firm Evolvi, said major public sector cuts in first class rail travel meant new incentives were being sought to attract corporates to the large amounts of empty first class seats available. View video interviews with forum
speakers at www.buyingbusinesstravel. com and visit
www.ms-uk.com for more information. n
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012
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