Business Travel
ondon City airport has a new sales force in the UK to ramp up its efforts with the corporate travel community
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City airport eyes TMCs IN BRIEF L
London City airport refocuses its efforts on the business travel sector with dedicated sales force working with TMCs. Lucy Siebert reports
and travel management companies, said its chief commercial officer. Matthew Hall, who joined the
airport last year, told TTGthat working with TMCs was a “critical” part of its strategy. It is also increasing its presence
in key markets in Europe where it has employed staff to highlight the benefits of travelling through London City to TMCs in those countries. Traditionally the airport has focused on the high-net worth business traveller – with the average
passenger having a salary over £100,000 – and one of its marketing campaigns focuses on it being just 22 minutes via Docklands Light Railway from Bank station. Hall said that there was even a tool on the airport’s website where travellers could work out how much of a saving they could be making. While it remains a business
gateway, Hall pointed out that London City had also had recent successes in launching more leisure routes and focusing on high-volume business routes such as Dublin It has seen 8% growth in traffic
movements year-on-year, with passenger volumes up 6% in April. “We have unlocked a lot of
premium leisure demand, which is important and is part of our service offering,” said Hall. And with the debate around airport capacity in London continuing without any end in sight, Hall added that he sees London City as being “part of the solution” by handling more short- haul routes. In particular, he believes the Olympics will be a boost for the airport. “We will have between 1,700 and
2,000 of the Olympic delegations coming through here and we will have dedicated information in terminals, but for us it is business as usual and all our regular customers will be able to use the airport,” he said.
■REGIONAL CHANGE FOR ITM Olive Kavanagh has been appointed Ireland Regional Chairman for the Institute of Travel Management. Kavanagh is travel manager for western Europe and Central Eastern Europe for Microsoft Ireland, responsible for 20 markets. She will work closely with the ITM board to represent ITM’s Ireland members.
■PROTEA’S NEW PROPERTIES Protea Hospitality Group has invested £114 million into the refurbishment of 17 hotels in Africa and the purchase of five additional properties. Hotels joining the group include Arabella Hotel & Spa in the Western Cape and Protea Hotel Roodepoort in South Africa, Protea Hotel Amani Beach in Tanzania and two hotels in Uganda that are due to open under the Protea brand in the third quarter 2012. There are also new builds underway in Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda.
■EGENCIA MOBILE ADDS ANDROID Expedia’s corporate travel arm Egencia has launched the next phase of Egencia Mobile, extending it to Android and mobile web devices. This allows travellers to access flight and destination alerts and check-in online, and was previously only available on the iPhone.
Travel restrictions to Libya could be lifted within months Mercian ‘warmly welcomed’ on fact-finding Libya trip
A CORPORATE travel specialist has visited Libya on a fact finding mission ahead of the country’s elections next month. Kevin Harrison, managing director
of Mercian Travel Management, travelled to Tripoli in May with Abby Hyslop, a corporate travel manager from the company, to assess the situation on the ground there. “It was a really positive visit and it was a lot different to what we expected,” said Harrison. He explained that during the
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four-day trip the group stayed at the Radisson hotel in Tripoli, which he described as “very good” – and visited a further five hotels. Mercian’s local partner in Libya is
Palm Travel, which facilitated much of the trip, as well as helping with visas, said Harrison. While the Foreign Office still advises against all but essential travel to the country, Harrison said it had indicated to him that this could be lifted after the elections. If this happens, he is planning on
facilitating the travel of some trade missions in the autumn. “We hope to run some market briefings in the UK in partnership with UK Trade & Invest ahead of the autumn,” he added.
Harrison said he felt “warmly welcomed” by the Libyan people in Tripoli and that there was a real sense that they would welcome new investment. “They are also keen to get small and medium-sized businesses into the country,” he added.
■CHINA TO TOP TRAVEL SPENDING Growth in international outbound business travel spending in China is expected to increase by 27% in 2013, according to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA). Its recent BTI Outlook – Chinaresearch report also suggests the total amount spent in the country could reach $245 billion in 2013. China is currently ranked second in the business travel market, according to GBTA, but is forecast to surpass the US by as early as 2015.
■AIRLINE BOSS SLAMS AIRPORT The boss of Air Berlin has criticised Berlin Brandenburg airport following the news it will not open until spring 2013. The date was pushed back until March 17 next year, until fire-safety system checks are completed. Air Berlin chief executive Hartmut Mehdorn called the delay “totally unacceptable”.
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