News CONFERENCES AND EVENTS
ITM FORUM: INTELLIGENT TRAVEL MANAGEMENT MORE THAN 40 SENIOR travel buyers attended the Institute of Travel & Meetings’ forum, held in London at the Grange Tower Bridge hotel in March. Speakers included Amadeus managing director Diane Bouzebiba, Get There’s Guy Snelgar and Easyjet director Paul Simmons. Sessions included a debate on
distribution, entitled Content is King, which looked at new channels to market and the impact of direct-connect fares. Diane Bouzebiba gave a robust defence of the efficiency and value of the global distribution systems (GDSs). She said that there are 95,000 flights worldwide every day and “one million passengers in the air right now – having the GDSs streamlining such vast content is key”. She questioned the effect of direct connect on yield, citing instances where yield has “gone through the floor” and highlighted the GDSs’ huge investment in technology. “If you don’t have standardisation of exchange of data, you are creating a monster,” she said. ITM executive director, Mark Cuschieri,
said direct connect challenges the GDSs and “drives them to up their game”. He said “serious investment” was required to improve hotel content on the GDSs. Paul Simmons described direct connect as “a stick for AA to beat the GDSs with”
UPCOMING EVENTS
ACTE/MS-UK FORUM BUSINESS TRAVEL CONSULTANCY
Management Solutions (UK) is partnering with ACTE to host its spring forum this month (May). The all-day event
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gathers senior corporate travel buyers, agents and suppliers to debate key issues facing the sector. Discussion topics, which are led by top industry experts, include travellers’ behavioural trends, best practice in procurement, compliance, the latest tax challenges and RFPs. The day includes
a buffet lunch, networking and a post- event drinks reception. The ACTE MS-UK Corporate Travel &
Expense Management Forum starts 8.30am, May 15, and takes place at the City Grange Hotel, 8-14 Cooper’s Row, London EC3N 2BQ. For more information, visit
www.acte.org
BUSINESS TRAVEL MARKET
THIS YEAR’S Business Travel Market (BTM) will be the first under the show’s new ownership by events giant Reed Travel Exhibitions. The show organisers
have a target of 500 hosted buyers, up from 300 in 2011, for the event at London’s Excel on June 13-14. The show is aiming for 70 exhibitors, with new companies signed up
including Hong Kong Airlines and Scotrail. BTM sales manager Neil Simpson said: “It’s going to be an exciting year. Reed’s influence is going to take the show to the next level.”
Simpson said another highlight of the event was the conference programme, run by ACTE, with speakers including Astra Zeneca global programme manager Kerrie Henshaw-Cox, Carlson Wagonlit Travel director Nigel Turner, and Susan Hopley, founder of the Data Exchange. ACTE regional director
Caroline Allen said: “We have built a programme around three core areas. First, we look to the future
– where technology is taking us, how skill sets will evolve, and how we will do business in the next few years. “Second, we focus on
operational and technical issues, with practical tips to help delegates learn from their peers and discover new ways to maximise the value of their travel programmes. “And third, we focus on communications –
how companies have improved the way they communicate through structure, language, tools and approaches. She added: “ACTE
will provide a relevant programme for BTM, focusing on issues that matter to travel buyers of managed business travel, and helps them benchmark and advance their own processes.”
and said there was no real demand for it in the UK. He pointed out that Easyjet has 18 API partners and is on all three GDSs. Also discussed was transparency in ticket
costs. The boom in ancillaries revenue – over $30 billion last year – and a 325 per cent increase in air passenger duty (APD) since its introduction in 1994, plus a transport secretary who believes aviation is not taxed enough, were some of the issues cited that make understanding and managing total ticket costs such a challenge. Other issues included airlines not knowing the true cost of the EU’s emissions trading scheme, inflated credit card fees and volatile oil prices. n For more on ITM, see p118
ITB BERLIN: AIRLINES UNVEIL PRODUCTS AS LUFTHANSA WAS LAUNCHING business class on board the 747-8 Intercontinental service at ITB Berlin this March, sales boss Jens Bischof said the new seats were part of a €1.5 billion investment in new aircraft this year. Lufthansa’s product chief Reinhold Huber said the first new jumbos would go into operation in May on routes to the US and India, with five 747-8s this year, plus another five in following years. Bischof said: “The new jumbo is also
good for the environment – burning 16 per cent less fuel and 30 per cent quieter, plus it will have 36 more seats than the 747-400.”
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker shows Berlin mayor Klaus
Wowereit the airline’s new business class seat
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker (see
The Interview, p32) demonstrated the airline’s new business class pods, which feature 30in-wide/80in-long flatbeds, 17in touchscreen TV monitors and extensive storage, including shoe drawers. Meanwhile, Air Berlin’s CEO, Hartmut Mehdorn, told the conference that Berlin’s new hub airport would see the airline operating up to 750 flights a week from this summer. But he slammed Germany’s air traffic tax (ATT) for putting the country at a financial disadvantage and costing jobs, and vowed to keep fighting it. “We have not given up on ATT,” he said. “It doesn’t benefit the federal government, because it is losing business for the country. It particularly impacts on smaller airports.” He added: “Our entry into the Oneworld
alliance and our strategic partnership with Etihad means we can offer 800 destinations in 150 countries around the world.”
MAY/JUNE 2012
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