p28 NBTA Sept4 1/9/09 16:26 Page 28
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ttglive.com
NBTA Convention 2009
August 23-26 ■ San Diego, California
The “business travel event of the year” attracted
SOCIAL MEDIA.
5,600 delegates to discuss the sector’s future.
‘Don’t ban staff
Martin Ferguson reports from San Diego
from Facebook’
Sector ‘too protective’
TRAVEL bosses must embrace social media,
according to a leading software expert.
Michael Fauscette, group vice-president of
software business solutions for San Francisco-
THE NATIONAL Business Travel profit and planet are the based market analysis company IDC, said HR
Association was accused of drivers of change.” departments should encourage staff use of sites
being overly “protectionist” Tilstone’s comments came such as Twitter and Facebook.
by the head of the UK’s as he announced ITM would “These tools are extremely powerful,” he said.
leading buyer consortium. host the first-ever interna- “If you are not involved you won’t know what
Paul Tilstone, chief execu- tional travel buyer forum in people are saying – that can be dangerous.”
tive of the Institute of Travel early 2010, to discuss the fu- Fauscette cited one airline that had suffered
and Meetings, was speaking ture of travel in a “changing and one that had benefited from social media.
after the NBTA’s annual con- business landscape”. United Airlines’ share price plummeted after
vention in San Diego, where The rise of video-confer- a musician uploaded a satirical music video,
former president Bill Clinton encing had a role to play in called United breaks guitars, to YouTube after
and comedian Jay Leno were Bill Clinton addresses the NBTA convention the future of the sector, he the carrier broke his guitar. The post received
among the keynote speakers. said. Face-to-face travel was more than five million hits.
Tilstone said the conference was a reminder still vital but a new balance had to be found. Meanwhile, JetBlue was lauded for reacting to
of the key role business travel plays in the “There is need for debate about where and a “tweet” by a passenger complaining about a
global economy, but the NBTA’s vision was too when travel supports businesses and about boarding delay. Staff responded via Twitter to let
restricted. He said the event was “a missed other mechanisms businesses can use to create the customer know there was a hold-up at the
opportunity” to enter into a proper debate about efficient and sustainable interaction with their front of the queue because a disabled passenger
the role of alternatives to face-to-face meetings, stakeholders,” he said. had become stuck.
such as video-conferencing. In a session on the future of aviation, Conti-
“There was an overriding protective stance for nental Airlines chief Larry Kellner said: “People
the industry,” said Tilstone. have been using video-conferencing for years for
AIR FARES.
“The message seemed to be ‘travel is good and some meetings. The number has grown recently
Carrier defends bag fees
face to face is the only true way to do business’.” but that missing travel will come back as there is
“Neither video nor face to face are the whole no substitute for face-to-face meetings.” CONTINENTAL Airlines said it had
solution. But there is a valid challenge to face- Tilstone said ITM hoped to attract high-level to introduce bag charges and cut
to-face meetings when you consider people, US buyers to the new forum next year. headline fares because its position on
online travel agency search results
had been suffering.
TRAVEL SPEND.
The airline’s chief executive, Larry
Travelocity claims $100m savings for 10 clients
Kellner (pictured), told delegates he
“hated” the charge but insisted it had not led to
TRAVELOCITY Business has claimed to have consulting services for Travelocity Business, a loss of market share. “We held off for as long as
saved 10 of its corporate clients $100 million said: “Our analytical processes have delivered we could,” he said.
since the start of the year. measurable savings. Clients are travelling Continental had been suffering on search
Company bosses at the NBTA convention said smarter, maximising preferred supplier relation- engines, said Kellner, when other airlines
technology provided by Sabre had helped drive ships and tracking spend to ensure quality data appeared cheaper because their baggage
efficiencies in their clients’ businesses. for the next round of supplier negotiations.” charges were excluded from headline fares.
They called the savings a “milestone” in the Travelocity pulled out of the UK and Ireland Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines boss Gary Kelly
middle of the economic downturn. business travel market on September 1. Its could not rule out a change next year to the no-
DeAnne Dale, vice-president of sales and clients will be serviced by Portman Travel. frills carrier’s current “bags travel free” policy.
28 04.09.2009
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