...WHERE READERS RESPOND TO BBT’S ONLINE REPORTS
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LONDON HOTEL LEVY IS ‘CONCERN’ FOR BUSINESS I AGREE WITH THE GUILD OF TRAVEL MANAGEMENT COMPANIES’ comments. This New York-style tax will surely turn more business travellers away from the city and damage the UK economy. Does anyone else note the contradiction between this and the current policy of wanting to increase the MICE market in the UK, as now backed by Visit Britain? It is also an aspiration of the current Mayor of London. Think of the loss of revenue to the capital as these visitors spend, on average, £700 per visit.
GATWICK PROMISES TO BACK REGIONAL FLIGHTS I CAN’T HELP THINKING that all these announcements coming out from Heathrow and Gatwick over the last six months are all propaganda, likened to the daily political announcements coming from our party leaders.
Every pledge is caveated with “if we win the race for expansion...”. I’ll be very surprised if there are suddenly a lot more regional flights in a few years time, especially from Heathrow.
APD REFORMS
SUCCESSIVE CHANCELLORS AND GOVERNMENTS have got it so wrong – it’s greedy tax collecting at best. If Air Passenger Duty can be abolished in Scotland, and non-payable in Northern Ireland, then why is everyone else paying it? Taxes should always be fair and square. Levying more on flights on
122 BBT MAY/JUNE 2015
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@rollsroyce
Our largest ever order. Our #Trent900 will power 50 new @Airbus A380s for @Emirates
@HillgateTravel There is no such thing as a no risk destination. Risk cannot be controlled but can be managed #ITM2015
@CWT_UKI
The average overall cost per #biztravel trip fell 3.7% y-o-y to £451 in 2014 – have your trips got cheaper?
@ally2004 #ITM2015 – room was asked to pick one word for the future of business travel. Outcome = Technology and simplicity
@ServAptNews Speak to buyer, traveller and booker in their own different languages for ultimate success, says Jo Layton TheAptmtService #ITM2015
@LetBritainFly
Gatwick says passenger surge underlines need for new runway #letbritainfly
busiest routes like North America to make up for far eastern flights reduction seems extremely unbalanced to me. We should call it an ADT (Airport Departure Tax) and every passenger pays £10, no matter where they’re going. This would bring in more than the current unfair system, streamline it and make it cheaper to collect. Fair for all. If you were flying somewhere, would you be quite willing to pay a mere £10? I believe so. Anything else is a socialist policy of unfairness. A bit like the car tax system!
ACCORDING TO AMON ITM HAS NO RIGHT to denounce Marriott as anti-corporate, and it’s completely normal for companies like Emirates to want to ‘disintermediarise’. However, one of the things most companies in the business travel sector aren’t able to get right is customer service. In fact, very few companies get it right. Most people don’t care whether they book via websites, emails, texts, GDSs or phones, or whether they deal with a supplier direct or an intermediary. What most people do care about is warm, efficient, quick and friendly service. Very few companies deliver consistently on this.
AS A BUYER I probably shouldn’t agree with the above comment, but I do. Yes, it’s frustrating when they offer extras if you go direct, but the issue of targeting travellers direct is hardly a new one, and to be honest if you haven’t secured free wifi in your hotel
programme then I believe you need to go back to the negotiating table. However, I do think Marriott has gone about this the wrong way with their flippant comments that seem to just disregard the relationships it has with travel managers. Let’s see if they change their tune if/when hotel prices in booming cities like London, Dublin and Paris start to drop and demand decreases.
TRAVELLER TRACKING: PRIVACY ISSUES
THIS IS A VERY GOOD ARTICLE with some great information on education for buyers and corporates. What I gleaned is that there’s a bigger need to ensure employees are sufficiently covered while travelling. My view is that there’s a
greater need for a supplier from a risk management background with all the in- house capabilities that offer a totally joined-up approach. As Jon Richardson rightly pointed out with the Concur apps, if there’s no cell service, he “doesn’t have a magic wand” and therefore you’re on your own.
Companies such as Anvil, iJet and ISOS have capabilities on multiple levels – not just apps, tracking, medical and repatriation – but also the knowledge and experience to work outside the box. Apps are not all we need to have in place from a travel risk perspective – unless Jon will be selling magic wands? Until then, travel risk management companies are where we need to partner.
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
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