CLOSE ENCOUNTERS


The Business Travel Magazine’s fourth conference – TBTC 2010 – was a resounding success, with buyers and suppliers alike exploring key issues from across the industry


RE-NEGOTIATING contracts, re-engineering travel programmes, implementing new technology and working tirelessly to achieve bottom line savings have characterised the business travel market since the recession. The Business Travel Conference 2010 not only tracked the changes but also explored the work that lies ahead in a still uncertain market. Just under 40 speakers and moderators across five conference sessions and six workshops dealt with facing up to the future of business travel.


STRAIGHT TO BUSINESS The opening session set the scene for the rest of the two-day event, pointing up the changes in the marketplace since the recession coupled with the evolution in buying habits. First speaker Chris Reynolds, senior partner


of consultancy 3 Sixty Sourcing explained: “Suppliers are getting smarter, procurement is bringing a more structured approach to buying and the supplier relationship is still paramount.” Tony McGetrick, director of sales and marketing at BCD, made a plea for suppliers to find a way for TMCs to report unbundled services for their clients and quoted BCD's consulting arm Advito’s predictions for business class fares to rise by two to 4.5 per cent and economy class by 2.5 to six per cent in 2011, for airline mergers to impact on negotiations, for London hotel prices to increase by seven per cent, and New York by 13 per cent, and for a focus on spot buying. “My advice to buyers is to negotiate new deals, negotiate on individual rates rather than with a joint venture, and to seek out those cities that are opening new hotels who will be desperate for business and negotiate a better rate,” he said. The session ended with buyer Lee Whiteing,


UK travel and fleet manager at HSBC, reiterating the importance of relationships: “They are important at any time but more than ever in a recession. If you support your suppliers in the bad times you can expect support when the good times return.”


CUTTING COSTS The second session looked at ’no travel’ strategies and alternatives to travel, and disparate opinions were voiced over the effectiveness of existing technology such as videoconferencing and telepresence. Speaker Jon West, director UK


14 I THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE


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