or many TMCs and HBAs, 2011 proved to be a welcome return to business as usual (or some semblance of usual)
after the horrors of the previous couple of years. Greece, oil prices and unrest in the Middle East have conspired to keep things interesting, and there was the ever-present threat of a return to recession. Despite that, clients began travelling again as they recognised they needed to travel to do business; volumes and spend increased as a result. Airlines were able to push price increases as a result of the increased load factors while still keeping a tight rein on capacity. Hotels had managed to keep rates in the key business destinations fairly buoyant even throughout the recession, while those outside cities
TRAVEL MANAGEMENT COMPANIES
TMCs LEADING BACK TO BUSINESS AS USUAL
Mark Frary introduces Buying Business Travel’s annual guide to the top travel management companies in the UK
like London, New York and Moscow started to nudge upwards too. Despite higher client travel spend in many cases, TMCs did not take this for granted, and improved their products and services to make them better value for their clients than ever before. Read on to see the most eagerly
awaited publication of the travel management year.
A NOTE ON METHODOLOGY Pulling together the leading 50 TMCs supplement each year is a lot like compiling the Sunday Times Rich List. Because of the lack of easily comparable figures, we are reliant on – and enormously thankful for – the supply of figures for key information such as gross sales, new business volumes and transaction levels from the TMCs themselves.
However, some are unwilling to
supply us information for a variety of reasons. A few years ago we took the decision to include all of the major TMCs in this ranking, regardless of whether they supplied the necessary information. This means that for a small handful of TMCs, we have to make estimates of certain key figures, notably gross sales, rather like the compilers of the Rich List do. These are clearly marked. We try to make these estimates as
rigorous as possible. This involves looking at Companies House accounts, analysing 2011 air volume figures from IATA’s Billing and Settlement Plan and taking note of public statements about growth in business. We also consult with a number of key industry people on the validity of these figures and we believe they are a fair reflection.