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Business eye
Waller to head up Europe for CWT CARLSON WAGONLIT TRAVEL’S ANDREW WALLER (right) has been promoted
to the post of president of CWT in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Previously CWT’s executive vice-president for the UK and Ireland and the Mediterranean, he took up the new role on January 1. He takes over from Hakan Ericsson, who has been appointed as president of CWT in North America and Latin America. Waller has been with CWT since 2005, when he joined as executive vice president
for the UK. Before that he was managing director of Silverstone Circuits. Douglas Anderson, CWT’s president and CEO, said: “Under Andrew’s
leadership, his team has delivered impressive results for our customers and for the business.I am confident that with his experience and drive, he will lead the EMEA region with the same passion.”
BSI: delegate rates fell in 2011
ROOM RATES MAY HAVE risen heavily again in London last year but meetings rates in the capital were a different story, according to the hotel and meetings booking agency BSI. Its Corporate Benchmark Report, covering the first six months of 2011 and shared exclusively with Buying Business Travel, shows 24-hour delegate rates increased only 2.6 per cent, while day rates actually fell 4.1 per cent. The weak performance did not prevent London from being the most expensive city in the UK for meetings, with an average 24-hour rate of £194 and day rate of £55. Next most expensive of the 24 destinations covered in the report was Reading, at £177 and £47 respectively. The city with the cheapest 24-hour rates was Portsmouth (£110), while Sheffield was the lowest for day rates (£29). Across the UK, the average 24-hour rate fell from £161 to £156, while the day rate stayed unchanged at £41. BSI expects demand for meetings at external venues to fall in 2012, owing to a combination of economic cautiousness and a shift towards virtual meetings and internal meeting space. The company urges meetings buyers to manage external and internal meeting space in a more integrated fashion. The report also reveals how much different industry sectors spend on meetings. Professional and legal services businesses are the most lavish, with an average 24-hour rate of £183 and daily rate of £62. The tightest spenders for 24-hour rates are utilities companies (£117), while for day rates the retail sector is the most frugal (£33).
Travelport launches new fee structure
TRAVELPORT HAS UNVEILED a new charging structure for its GDS users. Until January 1, Travelport charged agencies in a number of different ways for different products, meaning TMCs could pick and choose what they used – and only pay for that. Now agencies are charged under the new Travelport Agility package, with which there is a fee per user. This has prompted ongoing debate within TMCs, as it also means many will be paying what some say are substantially higher fees. Bryan Conway, Travelport’s global head of
commercial operations and supplier services, said this would increase transparency around GDS fees, but admitted some agencies would end up paying more. He said the previous structure’s different chargeable elements could be confusing for agents. “So, we decided to have a simple transparent structure, which is a single monthly charge, effectively per user.” Conway added that Travelport Agility also offers
more value, as it includes a number of added extras. Within the package, agencies gain access to
Travelport’s Smartpoint app, Epricing, and Rooms and More. “We took the opportunity of the launch of the three products to build those into a broader package,” said Conway. “It’s the first time we have packaged all of the products that an agent needs in order to do their business into a single package.” According to Ken McLeod, corporate director at
Advantage Travel Centres, TMCs face a “high cost” under the new scheme. “The challenge that we’ve got is that the GDSs are doing exactly what the airlines are doing and charging for ancillaries,” he said. “The problem here is it’s not something like APD where, while we don’t agree with it, we can pass the cost onto the client. This is something that is quite difficult to pass on, therefore it is an inherent cost to the TMC.” But according to Conway, the increase in fees should be offset against the increased earning opportunities Agility will give. He said Smartpoint is 72 per cent faster in searching for fees, while Rooms and More offers agents more opportunities to earn commissions from bookings.
News
ACTE forum: Royal Mail procurement boss advises buyers
A PESTLE ANALYSIS is a useful way for travel managers and buyers to shape their strategy, according to the best practice director for the Royal Mail’s group procurement department, Corin McGrath. Speaking at the ACTE
Executive Forum in London, he suggested buyers analyse key influences on potential suppliers in terms of six key areas: political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental (PESTLE). A method of auditing what influences an organisation to aid strategic decision making, he suggested it as one of the ways that procurement executives can learn from travel, and vice versa. McGrath said this would help
buyers to better understand the business environment they’re working in. Alan Ryan, regional travel manager at SITA Aero, was one of the delegates at the event, and took part in a round-table PESTLE analysis of airfares. He said it was important to try and minimise surprises, and said analysis tools such as PESTLE can help “really highlight some of the things that may happen in the future for us”.
He said: “If the CFO suddenly asks: 'Why has my air fare gone up?', we can answer that. We can also have some background information to say these are the factors that are influencing this – the price of oil has gone up, or whatever it is.” PESTLE can be used to
understand the current environment, in order to be able to shape a travel strategy and work out how it can be communicated with stakeholders. “That’s the main purpose of it – the more you can focus on this type of thing, the more you control the process, and the more you can communicate and be seen as a strategic advisor,” said McGrath.
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