INFORM
WORDS MOLLY DYSON
TMC LEADERS RECOGNISED IN ANNUAL ‘MOST INFLUENTIAL’ LIST
THREE TMCs WERE NAMED in Business Travel News’ “25 Most Influential People in Business Travel” at the Business Travel Trends & Forecasts event held in New York in December. Suzanne Horner,
chief executive, Gray Dawes Group (pictured, right, with BTN’s Elizabeth West); Marcus Eklund, global managing director, FCM Travel Solutions; and John Snyder, chief executive of BCD Travel, attended the unveiling at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel where they received their accolades and also took part in a panel, moderated by West. Horner was the only UK entrant on this year’s
ranking and spoke of her recent appointment as the new chair of the Business Travel Association and GDG’s recent acquisitions – including Amber Road in the summer. In December, Horner was also appointed to the board of the Advantage Travel Partnership.
FCM’s Eklund, meanwhile, spoke of the TMC’s own investments. In April last year, it acquired a 25 per cent stake in Upside for an undisclosed sum. The booking platform was launched in 2017 by Priceline founder Jay Walker. It rewards business travellers who make savings by being flexible with their travel. Parent company Flight Centre is now the largest individual shareholder in Upside. Flight Centre also bought California-based TMC Casto Travel last year BCD’s Snyder also talked about the purchase of Adelman Travel in August, and the launch of SolutionSource, which he said was a marketplace that allowed the TMC to help technology start-ups gain investment and get visibility. It currently has more than 20 companies on the platform. BCD has also opened up a developer hub to offer its API to other companies. Each year, the “25 Most Influential People in Business
Travel” list is compiled by BTN’s editors, who track the trends and events impacting business travel, and identify the people who exert pressure on the market, influence traveller behaviour. BTN is owned by Northstar Travel Group, which also publishes Buying Business Travel.
EASYJET TO OFFSET CARBON EMISSIONS OF ALL FLIGHTS
EASYJET IS TO OFFSET the carbon emissions of all flights across its entire network, at no cost to passengers. The carrier has become the first to voluntarily operate carbon neutral
flights and will offset through schemes accredited by Gold Standard and VCS. These will fund forestry, renewable and community-based projects. Speaking at the GBTA Conference 2019 – Munich in Partnership with VDR,
Thomas Haagensen, easyJet’s group markets director, said carbon offsetting schemes were a temporary solution to the problem of sustainability. “The ultimate objective should be to decarbonise flights, but that’s not the
reality yet,” Haagensen added. “What’s important is that the industry invests heavily in the development of more sustainable aircraft, such as hybrid and electric planes.”
The airline is aiming to reduce the amount of carbon offsetting undertaken
as new technologies emerge. Calls made for carbon-based travel budgets, p42
36 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020
Trip.com ups its presence in business sector
BUSINESS TRAVEL IS BOOMING for Chinese online travel agency
Trip.com, according to its third-quarter results. The predominantly leisure-focused
OTA recorded US$47 million in corporate travel revenue for the third quarter of 2019, which is an increase of 26 per cent compared with the same period in 2018, and 9 per cent up from the second quarter last year. The OTA rebranded to
Trip.com Group
Limited from Ctrip at the end of December and said the business travel boost was driven by “expansion in its corporate customer base and an optimised product mix trend”.
buyingbusinesstravel.com
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