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September 7, 2009Published by Odyssey Media Group

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NBTA San Diego/09: Resounding Success

More than 5,600 corporate travel professionals, including

more than 1,240 travel buyers, filled the San Diego Convention

Center - continued on page 3StarCite’s, Kevin Iwamoto

received NBTA Industry Icon Award 2009

Kevin Iwamoto, StarCite’s VP, Enterprise Strategy

INSIDE

COMING EVENTSCIBTM

8-10 September 2009Beijing, China

www.cibtm.com

Business Travel Show (Germany)30 September-1 October, 2009

Dusseldorf, Germanywww.businesstravelshow.de/en

World Travel Market9-12 November 2008

ExCeL, London, UKwww.wtmlondon.com

EIBTM1-3 December 2009

Barcelona, Spainwww.eibtm.com

- NBTA Hosts Successful Convention for 5,600 Corporate Travel Professionals- Michael Mccormick To Serve As New NBTA Executive Director- NBTA Announces Board Election Results- NBTA Offers Innovative Strategies For Managing Small Meetings- NBTA Global Events For 2010- New Business Brings Online Bookings Surge For FCm Travel Solutions- Amadeus Unveils Website Focused On North America- BMO Spend & Payment Solutions Partners With CyberShift- Concur Unveils Powerful Mobile T&E Solution For The iPhone- Egencia Introduces Powerful New Package of Solutions- GetThere Launches Customer-Centric Global Consulting Service- GlobalStar Announces New Partners In The UK & Egypt- HRG Wins New Government Contract- Travelocity Business’ Air Consulting Drives Significant Cost Savings- SignUp4 Announces Product Integrations with Amadeus- Vision 2000 Travel Group Goes Virtual With Grasp Technologies- Second Phase of British Airways’

“Face-to-Face” Campaign- Qatar Airways Unveils Global Rewards Travel Program- Hahn Air Appoints Airworld Alliance For North America- LAN Airlines Committed To Growth, Longevity & Superior Service- Virgin Atlantic; Eurostar To Implement Joint E-Ticketing- TRAVCO Group Acquires The Hotel Company STEIGENBERGER Hotels AG- StarCite Achieves Record Q2 Client Expansions Amidst Recession- Cvent Announces International Expansion of Cvent Supplier Network- Rearden Commerce Partners With StarCite- CIBTM Announces Dedicated Meetings Week In China- Certain Software Appoints Peter Micciche As CEO- Eurostar Confirms Plans For Senior Management Changes - RADIUS Expands Global Sales Force With New Appointments- Beverly Heinritz Joins Rearden Commerce- Wyndham Appoints Global Sales Executive- Travelport GDS Appoints Michael Yates As Marketing Director, Asia Pacific- Carlson Hotels Worldwide Names Executive VP & Chief Branding Officer

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NBTA SAN DIEGO/09

Publisher & Managing Editor: Colin J. Holden - [email protected]

Associate Editor: Brian Menzies - [email protected]

Associate Editor: Edward Lambert - [email protected]

Technology Editor: Marten Streifel - [email protected]

M.I.C.E. Editor: Deborah Ibsen - [email protected]

Michael Mccormick To Serve As New NBTA Executive DirectorMichael W. McCormick has accepted the position of NBTA Executive Director and COO. McCormick comes to NBTA with more than 20 years of travel industry experience, having most recently served as Managing Partner of Hudson Crossing, LLC, a successful travel industry advisory business. He has vowed to NBTA staff, members and leadership to aggressively globalize the association, expand product and service offerings, and grow membership.

Craig Banikowski, C.M.P, CCTE, incoming NBTA President & CEO, said, “Choosing one of the many impressive applicants was a rewarding challenge for the Selection Committee, because

NBTA Hosts Successful Convention for 5,600 Corporate Travel ProfessionalsNBTA held its third largest International Convention & Exposition in the association’s history in San Diego – August 23-26, 2009. More than 5,600 corporate travel professionals, including more than 1,240 travel buyers, filled the San Diego Convention Center to attend more than 65 ground-breaking education sessions and visit with more than 400 exhibitors on the show floor.

Craig Banikowski, CCTE, C.P.M., CMM, the association’s new president & CEO, said, “The sheer magnitude of this year’s Convention, especially in a down global economy, proves the value of business travel to corporations across the world. Corporate travel professionals from more than 30 nations came together this week to enhance their industry knowledge, sharing best practices to ensure their managed travel programs are cost effective and reflective of current industry trends. Contracts were signed, deals were made, and business travel produced business this week and beyond for corporations across the globe.”

The Convention offered a special welcome session Sunday evening during which Captain Chesley B. Sullenberger III inspired attendees with this account of the infamous landing of a commercial flight into the

Hudson River, saving the lives of 155 people. Over three days attendees took advantage of more than 65 education sessions, the most the association has ever offered at its annual Convention, in which industry experts and specialists from all sectors of the corporate travel community discussed business travel growth in today’s volatile economy and shifting corporate culture. New resources such as white papers on small meetings and private aviation and an online booking tool RFP template were offered to Convention delegates, and updates to the NBTA Corporate Social Responsibility Toolkit and Hotel RFP Template were also provided.

Attendees heard from Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly and Continental Airlines CEO Larry Kellner Wednesday during the Airline CEO Panel, a special session first offered last year and now an attendee favorite. Peter Greenberg, Emmy award winning travel journalist, moderated the panel about the current state of the aviation industry. The two CEOs offered insights on aviation hot topics such as industry affects of baggage and other ancillary fees, in-flight wireless internet capabilities, and passenger rights.

Olympic Champion Dara Torres, 42, who became the oldest swimmer to compete in the Olympics at the Beijing Games in 2008, inspired attendees during the Monday General Session, and Jay Leno entertained in Tuesday’s session. President Bill Clinton spoke on the Wednesday about the value of

business travel to economies around the world, citing travel as the key to building global peace and understanding.

Banikowski added, “The NBTA Convention is known throughout the industry as the Business Travel Event of the Year, and once again it has lived up to its reputation. At a time when economic uncertainty is on everyone’s minds, NBTA delivered powerful and positive messages to the corporate travel community, and industry energy and enthusiasm was evident.”

www.nbtaconvention.org

#26-16318 82nd Avenue, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, V4N 0N9Telephone: (604) 543-7375

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NBTA SAN DIEGO/09we’ve chosen the right guy for the job. With his many years of experience and leadership in the travel industry, along with his positive vision for the future of NBTA and the corporate travel community, Mike will work hard to advance the association and support its membership with energy and passion.”

Prior to launching Hudson Crossing, McCormick served as Executive Vice President of Cendant’s Hospitality & Leisure Group, where as business unit leader, he was responsible for the strategic direction and operations of the global hospitality business for Cendant Travel Distribution Services, now Travelport. With brands that included Orbitz and Galileo, he was instrumental in designing and implementing strategies that resulted in the development of an industry-leading merchant hotel database of over 30,000 hotels and top line revenues that grew to $3 billion. McCormick has also served as the Chief Operating Officer of PhoCusWright, Inc, President of Biztravel.com, and Vice President of Global Supplier Relations for Rosenbluth International. Rosenbluth was subsequently acquired by American Express.

McCormick commented about his new position, “I am excited to join NBTA’s, members, volunteers, event participants, and staff to make this great industry association even better. I believe in business travel and corporate meetings as proven successful tools for advancement, and I plan to help NBTA make a case for travel in the political arena in every capital around the world.”

Kevin Maguire, GLP, CCTE, outgoing NBTA President & CEO, added, “I would like to thank the Selection Committee for their diligent work in choosing who I believe to be the perfect fit for NBTA. Mike brings a wealth of knowledge to the table and will without a doubt represent the NBTA community with the utmost professionalism, providing guidance and support to all sectors of the corporate travel industry.”

New NBTA Board Members and Key Executives Announced In San Diego At Annual Conventionincluding new Executive Director & COO Michael McCormick (left); and, new President & CEO Craig Banikowski

NBTA Announces Board Election ResultsCraig Banikowski, CCTE, C.P.M., CMM, Director, Global Travel Management for Hilton Hotels, will serve as the new NBTA President & CEO. Jim McMullan, Travel Manager of the Monsanto Company, will serve as the new NBTA Vice President. Banikowski and McMullan

were elected by NBTA Direct Members (travel managers), and both will serve two-year terms beginning today.

Banikowski commented, “I am truly honored to hold such an esteemed position with NBTA and within the corporate travel community. It’s been a tough year for us all, and while we’re starting to see signs of economic recovery, there are sure to be more challenges as we power ahead. I look forward to working with the global NBTA membership over the next two years as we continue to advance the business travel industry around the world.”

Banikowski has been has been a member of NBTA for 12 years. He has held multiple NBTA leadership roles including member of NBTA’s Board of Directors, President of the NBTA Chapter Presidents’ Council and member of multiple NBTA committees. He has also been an active member and leader in the Austin Business Travel Association.

McMullan has been an NBTA member for seven years. He has served as secretary and president of the St. Louis BTA, and was the most recent president of the Chapter Presidents Council. He also won the Business Travel Professional Service Award in 2007.

Direct Members at Large

NBTA Direct Members also elected three NBTA Directors at Large: Sharon Fogarty CCTE, Director, Travel Services,

Thomson Reuters; Pamela McTeer, C.P.M., CTC, Manager, Strategic Sourcing, Miller Coors; and Mark H. Ziegler, CCTE, Corporate Travel Manager, Atmel Corporation. Both will serve three-year terms.

Allied Member Director at Large

NBTA Allied Members (travel suppliers) elected Christopher A. Juneau, CTE, Senior Director Segment Marketing of Concur Technologies to serve as Allied Member Director at Large. Juneau will serve a two-year term.

NBTA Offers Innovative Strategies For Managing Small MeetingsThe NBTA Groups & Meetings Committee published the latest paper in its groundbreaking series (August 24), Framework for Success: Strategic Meetings Management Programs (SMMP). The newest paper, A Strategic Approach to Small Meetings, helps corporate travel buyers and meeting planners to define what a small meeting is for their organization and offers innovative strategies for managing them.

NBTA Groups & Meetings Committee Chair, Lee Ann Adams Mikeman, said, “Companies around the world have embraced the SMMP concept, successfully affecting savings on larger


NBTA SAN DIEGO/09and more visible meetings and events. Increasingly, especially in today’s volatile economy, businesses are now realizing small meetings are another significant source of meeting spend. This paper will serve as a road map to tackle that area of spend and tap into unrealized savings opportunities.”

To identify and validate small meetings best practices and emerging trends, the NBTA Groups and Meetings Committee surveyed the industry and found that an average of only one in three industry providers has a small meetings program in place. The whitepaper presents a discussion and analysis of survey findings on topics such as defining what is considered to be a small meeting based on organization-specific criteria and tips for determining best methodology and practices.

Committee Vice Chair, Linda McNairy, commented, “The new white paper will help planners determine what a small meeting is for them, which will provide for a comprehensive policy to mitigate cost risks. A small meeting can be defined by the number of attendees, number of sleeping rooms or budget amount, or it can be defined by complexity, purpose, or some combination of these factors.”

The NBTA Groups and Meetings Committee also updated the paper Building a Meeting Policy to Support Your Strategic Meetings Management Program, designed to provide a discussion of key considerations and examples helpful in building a comprehensive meetings policy. The enhanced guide includes an application that ties each component of the SMMP model together, providing concepts and best practices for each. It also provides insights into recent government actions concerning organizations that have accepted assistance.

meeting spend can be achieved in the

Adams Mikeman added, “Companies have come under fire lately for holding corporate events that are perceived as luxurious and unnecessary, and consequently, others have chosen to cancel or downsize meetings to avoid scrutiny. Planners need to be aware of these current events and incorporate current concepts and lessons learned into their policies and procedures.”

The SMMP Executive Summary was also updated to include insight into the importance of managed meetings programs in a global recession. According to the paper, savings between 15 and 20 percent of a company’s total

early stages of an SMMP.

NBTA Global Events For 2010 The National Business Travel Association’s (NBTA) 2010 global event schedule will offer industry-leading events around the world designed to meet the education and networking needs of the international business travel community.

Craig Banikowski, CCTE, C.P.M., CMM, new NBTA President & CEO, said, “NBTA has assembled a world-class lineup of major events to serve its more than 15,000 business travel professionals around the globe. Our lineup includes regional conferences in Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific; national events in the United States, Mexico, Canada and Shanghai; and globally recognized business travel event of the year -- the NBTA International Convention & Exposition.”

NBTA’s major events for 2010 are as follows:

January 27 – 28 ISM and NBTA Summit on Travel & Meetings - Tampa, FL

March 1 – 3 5th Latin American Corporate Travel and Technology Exchange (LACTTE) - Sao Paulo, Brazil

March 15 NBTA Business Travel Financial Forum - New York, NY

March 15NBTA Foundation 13th Annual Gala Dinner - New York, NY

March 22 – 24 4th NBTA Mexico Corporate Travel Conference - Mexico City, Mexico

April 7 – 9 4th Corporate Travel & Technology World (CT&TW) China - Shanghai, China

April 13 – 14 NBTA Canada 6th Annual Conference & Exhibitor Showcase - Toronto, Canada

June 2-3 NBTA Legislative Summit - Washington, DC

June 29 – July 1 National Travel Forum (NTF), Presented by the NBTA Government Travel Group - Orlando, FL

August 8 – 11 NBTA International Convention & Exposition - Houston, TX

September 6 – 7 15th NBTA Asia Pacific Regional Business Travel Conference - Melbourne, Australia

October 1 Strategic Meeting & Events Conference – Latin America (SMEC-LA) - Sao Paulo, Brazil

Fall 2010 European Business Travel Conference - Location to be determined

Attendees of each event will have opportunities to advance their knowledge of travel industry trends and practices regionally and globally, to hear from industry thought leaders, and to build value for their companies by building their peer networks. NBTA will also offer attendees opportunities to take part in professional development through NBTA’s three-tiered development program, including regionally tailored versions of those professional designation courses.

In addition to these major events, NBTA’s will offer dozens of professional development programs in various locations throughout the year; its U.S. Chapters and regional affiliates (NBTA Asia Pacific, NBTA Canada, NBTA Mexico, and ABGEV) will as well by partnering to help advance other important industry events.

www.nbta.org/events


TRAVEL MANAGEMENTNew Business Brings Online Bookings Surge For FCm Travel Solutions lutions has seen a surge in use of online booking tools from new clients since September last year. The UK division of the global travel management company has won over £100 million in new business over the last 12 months and 55 per cent of those clients have asked FCm to implement an online booking tool from day one. New clients include Sunseeker International, Pret a Manger and Games Workshop.

The TMC is at pains to point out however that not all new clients are migrating to online solutions. Some 45 per cent still prioritise their business travel requirements in terms of service, as well as price, and prefer their travel requirements to be met by a dedicated team of consultants. In fact self-booking clients also benefit from the service of their local consultant in terms of driving online adoption rates and ticket fulfillment, unlike rival TMCs who centralise the process via a call centre.

FCm Travel Solutions attributes the online growth to a combination of two factors – the launch of new tools within the TMC’s online portfolio plus the current economic climate which is driving clients now more than ever to find new ways of reducing agency and expenditure costs.

“We have seen an unprecedented number of new clients since September last year asking us to implement an online booking tool from day one,” said Kevin Trill, FCm UK’s director of business solutions. “Previously when a potential new client was going through the tender process, they would not have required FCm to implement an online tool from the outset. The client would consider implementation further down the line, once both parties are comfortable that we understand their business and therefore their requirements from an online tool.”

better understanding of the cost to the company,” explained Trill.

“We have also seen situations where the booker community in a company is being made redundant so the client needs to push the ownership of travel direct to the travellers”.

New online bookings tools introduced by FCm Travel Solutions in the last six to 12 months include Amadeus e-Travel Management, Concur Cliqbook Travel and Conferma.

“FCm Travel Solutions is renowned for its approach to service as we have a distinctive company culture that makes our people focused on delivering customised outcomes. However we also use the best travel technology available to give clients tight control over their corporate travel expenditure and are consistently exploring products available in the marketplace,” added Kevin Trill. “We introduced Amadeus e-Travel in October last year, and Concur’s Cliqbook in February 2009, both of which are comprehensive and innovative online solutions which have seen a high take-up by clients.”

www.fcm.travel

“The current economic downturn has prompted clients to give serious consideration to self booking tools. It’s a case of creating visual guilt. When the traveller is making their own booking they can see how much the fare is costing, so it is much harder for them to book a more expensive airline, or class of travel. By passing the mantle to the end user, employees have a much

Amadeus Unveils Website Focused On North AmericaAmadeus, a global leader in technology and distribution solutions for the travel and tourism industry, announced today at the NBTA International Conference that the business travel marketplace in North America now has a new place to go on the Web to find the IT solutions, services and information they need in today’s challenging business environment:

www.amadeus.com/businesstravelit

“Amadeus is in an excellent position to deliver on the specialized needs of business travel companies. This new website is a way for us to inform and interact with the North American marketplace regarding our new approach to serving their needs beyond traditional distribution offerings,” said Vic Pynn, Executive Vice President, Amadeus Americas.

Features of the new website include:

- Information about Amadeus’ broad portfolio of IT solutions and consulting

services for business travel, including the newly launched Amadeus One solution which features a Web-based, multi-source, fully-customizable desktop environment for corporate travel managers that addresses all their business operations in one place.

- A research gallery containing compelling industry insight, studies, and analyses of breaking corporate travel trends and developments.

- Success stories and testimonials from people and partners who have worked with Amadeus and benefited from solutions that optimize front, mid and back office processes; achieve ticket price savings; improve productivity and reduced costs; and more.

- Amadeus’ latest corporate travel news & events, company information, and contact details for more information.

Pynn said the new Amadeus website showcases Amadeus’ business travel technology focus and commitment in North America, including its newly launched Amadeus Travel Technology Consulting group.

Amadeus Travel Technology Consulting is a newly created unit which is bringing a unique consulting approach as well as custom, targeted solutions to customers in the Americas region. The team consists of a global, cross-functional team of sales engineers, technologists, and business analysts. According to Pynn, their focus is to understand the customer’s business, focus on their key objectives, consider the global landscape, and provide consulting services and custom solutions.

Pynn added that corporate travel customers are the first to benefit from the work of the Amadeus Travel Technology Consulting team. However, this group will ultimately serve the entire spectrum of Amadeus customers across the travel industry that could benefit from consulting services and custom IT solutions.

ww.us.amadeus.com

BMO Spend & Payment Solutions Partners With CyberShift BMO Spend & Payment Solutions, a


division of BMO Financial Group, today announced a strategic partnership with CyberShift, Inc. The agreement is another of several partnerships in the BMO Business Travel Alliance, a consortium of world-class vendors committed to helping customers eliminate inefficiency, improve business practices and controls and drive better terms and prices with preferred vendors.

The partnership with CyberShift tackles a fundamental challenge in managing travel expense – getting employees to submit accurate and timely accounts of what they have spent. By combining BMO’s corporate card solutions with CyberShift’s best-in-class expense management solution, employees can significantly reduce the time and effort required to complete their expense reports. This timely submission of expense reports drives immediate improvements in an organization’s ability to quickly and accurately monitor and control travel expenses.

“Organizations realize that employee travel is an essential part of doing business but with every trip come a complex series of expense reports,” said Terry Wellesley, Managing Director, BMO Spend & Payment Solutions. “Our card program coupled with CyberShift’s automated expense management solution, gives employees, managers and organizations a sure-fire vehicle to submit, approve, certify and receive reimbursement in record time.”

BMO’s expansive T&E card program gives organizations control over their cost centers and provides employees a way to make payment without reaching into their wallets. BMO card customers can now offer their employees a way to submit expenses from the road – speeding the time to reimbursement, a benefit that should help accelerate the adoption of card use for everything from hotels and restaurants to taxis and client entertainment expenses.

Employees can create expense reports on their smart-phone devices, submitting the report to managers in an easy-to-read and easy-to-approve format. The solution automatically populates the expense report with card data – airline charges, hotel folio data, restaurants and taxis – eliminating the need for paper receipts. Any cash expenditures can be captured using a digital scanning system.

“As the newest member of BMO’s Business Travel Alliance, our powerful

TRAVEL MANAGEMENTintegrated expense management solution gives organizations a way to effectively manage expenses with the employee’s well-being front of mind,” said Robert Farina, CEO, CyberShift, Inc. “Providing employees with a quick and easy tool to file expense reports

not only results in increased individual productivity and satisfaction, but also gives organizations immediate visibility into business travel expenses. With this data, organizations are better positioned to manage and control their employee business expenses.”

Concur Unveils Powerful Mobile T&E Solution For The iPhoneConcur unveiled Concur Mobile for the iPhone at the NBTA Convention. This powerful extension to Concur Travel & Expense – Concur’s innovative end-to-end travel and expense management service – now enables iPhone users to manage their itinerary, conduct in-policy business travel transactions, capture T&E expense data and approve expense reports – all while on the road.

Already in use by thousands of business travelers on BlackBerry or Windows Mobile devices, Concur Mobile is the business travel companion that not only makes life easier for the mobile workforce, it also helps companies more tightly control the significant amount of unmanaged employee spend that occurs during business travel. With the introduction of Concur Mobile for the iPhone, now, for the first time ever, travel managers can provide their business travelers with a choice from among the three leading smartphone platforms to better manage corporate travel spend.

“Just as Apple’s iPhone transformed the way we interact with our mobile devices, Concur has revolutionized the corporate travel industry by making it easy to book travel, file expenses and get reimbursed,” said Rajeev Singh, president and chief operating officer of Concur. “By making Concur’s powerful enterprise application – Concur Travel & Expense – accessible through the iPhone’s intuitive mobile platform, we’re delivering the next phase in Concur’s continuous innovation to help our clients increase compliance and drive costs out of every step of the business travel process, while making life easier for the mobile workforce.”

“All signs point to the continued growth of mobile technology’s relevance and importance in travel,” says travel industry research authority PhoCusWright in a recent report. “While existing mobile travel applications largely treat mobile devices as simply an additional access point for existing content, the next generation of mobile applications, currently under development, will begin to serve the real-time needs of the mobile traveler.”

Concur Mobile enables travelers to quickly view their itinerary booked through Concur Travel & Expense, and add or delete items such as hotels, rental cars, dining reservations and taxis – all from their mobile phone. Concur Mobile is currently available in English, French and German, all at no additional charge for Concur Travel & Expense customers. Concur Mobile provides business travelers with a powerful tool to help them comply with corporate policies and be more efficient and productive wherever they may be traveling.

The solution also lets business travelers quickly and easily capture miscellaneous out-of-pocket purchases and tips, ensuring that these commonly forgotten transactions are automatically and accurately accounted for within the expense report. Busy managers can even review their employees’ expense reports in detail, right from their hand-held device, allowing them to approve or reject expense reports quickly, no matter where they are.

Concur Mobile utilizes the industry’s most robust and flexible mobile application technology to extend the power of Concur’s market-leading on-demand travel and expense management services to popular smartphones. And by seamlessly connecting to Concur Travel & Expense, Concur Mobile helps drive compliance and minimize program leakage by delivering access to in-policy travel choices and accurately capturing the resulting spend.

www.concur.com


TRAVEL MANAGEMENTEgencia Introduces Powerful New Package of Solutions Egencia today revealed a new package of solutions that addresses global businesses’ need for increased program and cost management of corporate travel programs. These solutions focus on two critical components of any successful program: the need to empower travelers with tools and information to increase efficiency and compliance through the booking and travel process; and the need for policy controls and business intelligence to help corporations manage spend.

Tools that empower travelers, or that are “traveler-centric” include: Trip Collaboration and Multi-Passenger Booking, a redesigned Hotel Shopping path and Egencia On the Go mobile portal. Program enforcement and management tools include: Dynamic Messaging, Trip Controller and Custom Report Builder. Combined with Egencia’s first-class customer service and leading account management team, these tools deliver a strong solution for program and spend control.

Traveler-Centric Tools

“Consumer shopping habits and growing acceptance of social media and mobile tools has informed the way business travelers expect to book travel,” said Simon Tam, Egencia Senior VP Product and Technology. “By making the traveler a key consideration when enhancing our offering, Egencia helps companies simplify the traveler experience, drive compliance and ultimately increase savings.”

allows travel managers or arrangers to duplicate an itinerary or book multiple passenger flights and hotels simultaneously. Forty-percent of trips include multiple travelers so allowing them to shop and compare multiple flights helps uncover cost savings. Trip arrangers can shop for up to six travelers at a time, while efficient technology creates reservations using individual passenger records so traveler preferences and frequent flyer details are maintained. Policy enforcement is maintained for each individual, allowing support of multiple policy groups at once and closing loopholes that exist in other products. Bookings with more than six travelers can be accommodated through Egencia’s Meetings & Incentives division which provides full-service meetings management to larger groups.

Egencia’s newly redesigned Hotel Shopping path combines greater ease-of-use and interactive Google mapping to help travelers efficiently shop and book hotels. Easy-to-use search forms help travelers and travel arrangers quickly evaluate hotels worldwide by city, airport, partial address or company custom destinations. Interactive Google maps pinpoint the search address or landmark, which speeds up the process of finding the right hotel in the right location. Policy indicators visually identify program-compliant choices including negotiated rates and hotels from Egencia’s Preferred Program. Travelers can choose from 4,000 Egencia Preferred hotels with exclusive discounts and value added amenities, such as loyalty points, free high speed internet, early check-in and breakfast included.

The Egencia On the Go Mobile Portal works to provide travelers with tools necessary for their trip and demonstrates continued investment in a global mobile platform for North America and Europe. In addition to proactive trip alerts, Egencia clients are now able to view their complete itineraries for flights, hotel and car from their mobile device, both at a summary and detail level. Travelers can also check into flights, check flight status, email itineraries, leverage Google maps for addresses included within itineraries and click to call a travel consultant for assistance.

Travel Program Enforcement & Cost Control

“As one of the largest expenses for companies, T&E spend has become a

key consideration for business leaders throughout corporations,” said Pam Keenan Fritz, Senior Vice President, Egencia North America. “Egencia has designed these tools to make it easier for companies to promote cost-cutting travel programs, mine data for further savings opportunities and communicate more effectively to employees about policy.”

Dynamic Messaging allows travel managers to communicate important information to travelers at the most crucial part of the booking process. Messages can be strategically targeted based on departure and destination parameters, specific to flights, hotels or car rental. Travel buyers can promote preferred vendors, enforce travel policies, provide important security alerts or communicate destination-specific transportation information.

Egencia’s updated Trip Controller tools will be available by the end of 2009, providing an enhanced solution to parallel company workflow processes. The tools offer single-click trip approval from mobile devices and backup scenarios in which requests can be automatically forwarded to other approvers. A link from an email enables managers to approve requests without signing in and automatically routes approval to another approver if the trip has not been addressed within specific time parameters. Additionally, approval requests can be immediately sent to backup approvers if a manager is out of the office. This tool makes it easy for approvers to view all outstanding trip requests for anyone the approver oversees.

Custom Report Builder is a new addition to Egencia’s global dynamic reporting platform. Also available by end of 2009, this new feature will allow clients or Egencia’s experienced account management team to create customized reports by either modifying the most popular of Egencia’s hundreds of existing reports or developing a report from scratch in order to best fit unique company processes and needs. The five-step custom report builder allows clients to combine air, hotel, car and train data, group and filter data as desired, view global detail, consolidate meetings and corporate data, and save templates for future use.

Egencia Trip Collaboration tools simplify coordination with fellow travelers on complex or small group trips. Travel arrangers and travelers can share and edit trip notes and links, invite other employees to collaborate on a trip and view flight seat location of fellow travelers via Seat Pinpointer. While in the past travelers might book overlapping rental cars or ground transportation due to lack of visibility, they can now coordinate and share resources to increase efficiency and decrease cost. In addition, Trip Collaboration encourages “peer guilt.” When other travelers see a colleague’s lower-priced itinerary, they are encouraged to book a trip at a similar or lower cost.

Multi-Passenger Booking support

To drive a successful program, it’s important that companies adequately address traveler empowerment, program enforcement and cost control. Egencia’s product innovations are a


continued investment of the company’s efforts to bring greater savings and efficiencies to the travel management space.

egencia.com

TRAVEL MANAGEMENTGlobalStar Announces New Partners In The UK and EgyptGlobalStar welcomes its newest members Chambers Travel Management representing the United Kingdom and Royal Manta Travel representing Egypt. Chambers Travel Management is a leading privately owned travel management company, with UK offices in London and Glasgow. Royal Manta represents the Egyptian market with 5 offices throughout the country with a focus on corporate services in travel.

GlobalStar’s President Steve Hartwell commented; “After the departure of ATP, the company which held the GlobalStar exclusive rights for the UK, we formed a task force in order to recruit a new partner for this important market”. Initially we approached several UK based companies to become our partner; based on our extensive research we are delighted to announce Chambers who fitted the GlobalStar concept and philosophy”.

Chambers has won numerous awards over the last decade for its exemplary customer service including TTG Business Awards 2008 Best Account Manager & Account Team and Best 2008 TMC Buying Business Travel.

Chris Thelen CEO of Chambers Travel stated: “Joining GlobalStar Travel Management enables us to develop our Multinational Business Travel. We are energized about joining this network which has proven its stability and effectiveness in the past years”.

Royal Manta Travel, GlobalStar’s new partner in Egypt is considered one of the fastest growing travel companies in Egypt. Mr. Mostafa Khalil, one of the shareholders in the company said: “As Egypt’s professional travel agency we are more than aware of the practical needs of our clients, and our connection to GlobalStar provides a wide range of opportunities for our company and indirectly for our clients. In addition to professional business travel services we are looking forward to providing our MICE services to GlobalStar partners and clients worldwide.

Peter Klebanow, GlobalStar’s Chairman said that GlobalStar looks forward to a future of good co-operation with Chambers and Royal Manta and welcomes them as newest members of our dynamic organization.

www.globalstartravel.com

GetThere Launches Customer-Centric Global Consulting Service GetThere has launched a new global consulting service targeted at mid-size to multi-national business travel programs and the travel management companies (TMCs) that serve them. Led by Duane Futch, an award-winning former global travel manager, the consulting service offers the full range of advisory programs – from short-term projects to complete program reviews – all targeted at collaborating with corporations and TMCs to set them up for sustainable success in the everyday management of their program.

More than $9 billion in business travel bookings are made annually via GetThere, a Sabre Travel Network business. The majority of America’s 100 largest corporate travel programs are GetThere clients. GetThere representatives will discuss potential consulting service engagements with attendees in booth number 1319 at this week’s National Business Travel Association Conference and Exhibition.

“Today’s economic environment has many corporations taking a deep look at their travel programs in the quest for great value, policy compliance and consistent performance,” said Duane Futch, vice president of travel procurement strategy for GetThere. “Our consulting programs are focused on working in a collaborative fashion with our GetThere and TMC customers by driving actionable solutions with measurable results.”

A global consultancy with localized expertise, the new service is designed to assist customers in achieving sustained success. GetThere Consulting customers will receive an objective assessment of their organization through an end-to-end range of consulting offerings that are designed to drive a positive return on investment.

Corporations and travel management firms seeking to optimize their business travel operations can choose from a

menu of engagements, all supported by the industry’s leading collection of trusted, proven travel technologists and veteran experts from Sabre Travel Network and GetThere.

www.getthere.com

HRG Wins New Government ContractHogg Robinson Group (HRG), the award winning international corporate travel services provider, has won the travel management business for the Department for International Development (DFID). The contract was the first to be awarded under the Buying Solutions Travel Management Services framework.

HRG has been awarded the business in recognition of the value it can offer DFID in delivering a first-class level of service. In addition, HRG’s ability to deliver consistent and high quality management information through the use of pre-trip and expense reporting tools was a critical factor in the final decision.

HRG will provide DFID with a classic online and offline service with capability for air, rail and hotel bookings. HRG’s breadth of service and in-house technology will allow the government department to measure policy compliance and effectively manage the complex itineraries of its travellers.

Chris Fry, Commercial Director for HRG, says: “The Buying Solutions Travel Management Services framework has been designed to contract travel management on behalf of government


departments and the wider public sector and already we are delighted to see the benefits of having this framework in place with the DFID business win. We are thrilled that DFID feel that we are ideally suited to them and look forward to working with the government department to ensure policy compliance, monitoring traveller security and reporting on corporate travel both pre and post-trip.”

Andy Machin, Senior Category Specialist, Booking Services, Buying Solutions, comments: “We are very pleased to see how the Buying Solutions Travel Management Services framework agreement has successfully allowed DFID to find the right match for them in HRG. Working with HRG, which is one of four travel management companies appointed to the framework, will mean that DFID will be able to control and manage their travel expenditure to achieve savings.”

www.hrgworldwide.com

TRAVEL MANAGEMENT

Travelocity Business’ Air Consulting Drives Significant Cost SavingsTravelocity Business’ consulting team, established in 2006 to help corporate programs gain maximum value from supplier relationships, achieved a milestone this year by cumulatively saving nearly $100 million for its ten participating clients. Deploying proprietary techniques and leveraging Sabre Travel Network and GetThere resources, Travelocity Business (TBiz) anticipates even greater savings in the next year as best practices are refined and the agency takes advantage of Sabre’s new Contract Optimization Services to build its Airline Contract Management Tool.

Travelocity Business, a full-service corporate travel management company, offers multi-national companies a compelling combination of best-in-class automation with a complete array of traditional travel management services. Members of the TBiz consulting team are demonstrating the capabilities of the new Airline Contract Management Tool at booth number 427 at this week’s National Business Travel Association Conference & Exhibition in San Diego.

Travelocity Business’ Consulting Services is particularly effective at driving

meaningful savings for corporations that seize automation’s advantages in the booking process. With the analytical reporting as a foundation, TBiz’s veteran consulting team can guide programs to savings via:

- Improved use of messaging to arrangers and travelers at the point-of-sale;

- Integration of point of-sale-preferencing both in the online and telephonic booking process via proprietary TBiz technologies;

- Isolation of preferred suppliers;

- Ordering of preferred suppliers on screen displays; and

- Educational programs for road warriors, etc.

In each case, the mix of online and offline tactics fit neatly with the company’s strategic travel program goals and corporate culture. TBiz’s existing stable of air consulting clients recorded a net effective discount of 17.8 percent over the past year, saving millions on both domestic and international travel.

“CFOs at companies big and small are putting unprecedented pressure on travel procurement staff to get the most out of every travel dollar,” said DeAnne Dale, vice president of sales and consulting services for Travelocity Business. “Our analytical processes have delivered measureable savings for


clients with less than two million in air spend to larger corporations on the BTN 100 list. In each case, companies are traveling smarter, maximizing preferred supplier relationships on a market-by-market basis, and tracking their spend to ensure access to quality data for the next round of supplier negotiations.”

www.travelocitybusiness.com

TRAVEL MANAGEMENTVision 2000 Travel Group Goes Virtual With Grasp TechnologiesVision 2000 Travel Group has announced a partnership with Grasp Technologies to provide an online solution for VisionIntelligence, Vision 2000’s dynamic reporting suite.

VisionIntelligence, already powered by Crossfire Systems, the leading software development and consulting company specializing in travel management information and data analysis for the travel industry, will now be available anytime, anywhere to decision makers.

VisionIntelligence will feature a state-of-the-art web-based management reporting product offering complete automation of the report production and delivery process. Key elements include automated data synchronization functions, executive dashboard reporting, report scheduling and delivery and a Data Café providing details of any transaction in the data warehouse.

“This greatly enhances our ability to provide customized reporting to key decision makers whenever and wherever it is needed”, said Ian Race, Vice President of Corporate Sales & Account Management for Vision 2000 Travel Group. “It opens a new set of doors into cost containment and forecasting for our clients”.

www.vision2000.ca

SignUp4 Announces Product Integrations with AmadeusSignUp4, LLC, a leading provider of Strategic Meetings Management software solutions, announced at the NBTA Conference that they will integrate select corporate travel products with Amadeus, the world leader in providing solutions to the travel industry, to deliver an easy-to-use, end-to-end solution for North American customers.

The integration of SignUp4’s Event Management System with Amadeus e-Travel Management gives meeting planners and corporate travel managers a complete overview of meeting registrations and travel bookings. The SignUp4 product allows for easy and precise meeting and event registration and Amadeus e-Travel Management is one of the most comprehensive corporate self-booking tools available today for the management of business travel worldwide. With the integration, meeting attendees registering via a SignUp4-powered registration website can then automatically be logged into Amadeus e-Travel Management to make travel arrangements for the meeting.

Also integrated is SignUp4’s Travel Management System (TMS) with the Amadeus global distribution system (GDS), allowing for meeting event management intelligence. This gives SignUp4 customers who use the Amadeus distribution system in the U.S. and Canada the ability to pull flight itineraries directly from Amadeus into SignUp4. Meeting and event planners now have complete insight into travel policy compliance; they can easily generate reports from within SignUp4 that show, for example, which employees are out of policy, which have not booked a flight, and which travel procedure needs to be addressed.

“The ability to pull custom reports specific to each meeting or travel

planner’s needs is a unique and defining measure in the meeting industry,” explains Nick Romano, President of SignUp4. “We have given the meeting planners a resolution for matching meeting registrants with their company’s travel guidelines. They know who has registered for a meeting or event, and they now know who is in or out of policy for that meeting. This is valuable information.”

SignUp4 and Amadeus have also entered into a joint referral program, effective immediately. “By recommending each other as a stand-alone entity, we use our reputations as industry leaders to give those looking for single product solutions an educated opinion. They can take this information and make a smart business decision based on their individual needs.” said Romano.

“We’re working closely with Amadeus on defining and offering solutions to meet the needs of the meeting industry,” says John Broaddus, Vice President of Sales. “We anticipate the industry to embrace this and other projects as ways to make meeting and travel planning easier and to give them the insight and ability to plan smarter.”

“By integrating and aligning the Amadeus and SignUp4 solutions, we have found an innovative way to save planners and companies not just time, but money,” said Eddie Tie, Director of Strategic Business Development, Amadeus North America. “We have created an information repository for business travel that will empower the meeting and travel planner to increase compliance for corporate travel policies and procedures while increasing their efficiency and cost savings.”

Along with Odyssey eMagazine we also provide subscribers with access to the leading news and resource website for business travel; meetings, incentives, conventions & events.

The website includes four regional micro-sites - Asia Pacific; Central & South America; Europe, Middle East & Africa; and, North America. Each micro-site includes 21 editorial departtments. Collectively the website archives more than 32,000 news items for your easy access and reference.

Subscribe to Odyssey eMagazine and “bookmark” the websiteAdvise your colleagues and clients to follow your lead


Second Phase of British Airways’ “Face-to-Face” Campaign

Following the successful launch and take-up of its “Face-to-Face” campaign, British Airways, committed to keeping entrepreneurship alive and to helping stimulate global business, announced today the launch of “Business Opportunity Grants.”

The airline and its partners, The Regus Group, Courtyard by Marriott, Canon USA, Inc., and British Airways World Cargo will award 100 small-to-medium size U.S. businesses free travel to anywhere in the world where British Airways flies plus valuable products and services to help support their businesses and maximize their travel experiences.

“Business Opportunity Grants” is phase two of “Face-to-Face”, a multi-phased campaign that aims to drive forward small and medium sized enterprises by focusing on tangible, human connections as a crucial driver of business growth. The program will offer these companies a variety of support including the opportunity to travel overseas and conduct face-to-face business meetings that will result in new and/or deeper partnerships, new projects, and revenue for U.S. cities. Starting today, businesses with a demonstrable need should visit www.ba.com/facetoface for the chance to win.

AIRLINES & AIRPORTSlong known that the key to building a successful long-term business partnership is through face-to-face meetings,” said Simon Talling-Smith, Executive Vice President, Americas, British Airways. “Even after giving away close to 1,000 seats during phase one of the campaign to help U.S. entrepreneurs grow their businesses, we realized there was still more we could do. Our hope is that the ‘Business Opportunity Grants’ help these businesses increase their revenues and reach important milestones in their strategic growth plans.”

To help reinforce the idea that in-person meetings do really drive business, British Airways commissioned a survey of Harvard Business Review readers to gauge perceptions within the international business community about the importance of face-to-face meetings. In a time when business travel has been severely cut, the study aimed to uncover the impact that virtual meetings have had on business growth and relationship building. Results from the survey of over 2,300 Harvard Business Review readers concluded that 95 percent of businesspeople said they believe that face-to-face meetings are key to success in building long term relationships, and 89 percent agree face-to-face meetings are essential for “sealing the deal.”

Angelia Herrin, Research Editor, Harvard Business Review noted: “Our survey revealed that what most business people really want is solid human connections. Technology serves as an effective supplement, but face-to-face communication is the broadest bandwidth communication you can have in professional life, helping to cement long-term relationships and drive business growth.”

Chance to Win Free Travel to Conduct Business Anywhere in the World*

“Business Opportunity Grants” invite U.S. businesses to make their case for an unmet business travel need and win free travel for one year to anywhere in the world that British Airways flies, to attend crucial meetings. The grants will allow each of the businesses 10 roundtrip transatlantic Club World business class tickets to be used at their discretion in 2010. Whether it’s a sit-down appointment with a potential client, vendor, investor or a check-in on an office that has not been visited because of budget cuts, the program is designed to help budget-conscious businesses get where they need to go,

physically and financially.

Businesses interested in entering the competition should visit www.ba.com/facetoface to complete the entry form telling British Airways about their business objectives in 2010 and how a Grant would benefit their business. Entries will be reviewed by a group of British Airways executives and its communications and business partners. Entries will be accepted until midnight (PDT) September 30, 2009, and winners will be notified by late November. Entries must represent companies with 500 employees or less and have a Federal Tax ID Number.

“Business Opportunity Grant” recipients will be awarded 10 British Airways roundtrip transatlantic Club World business class tickets to be used at their business’ discretion in 2010. Regus will provide five Businessworld Gold Cards offering access to its business lounges worldwide. Courtyard by Marriott will provide each grant winner $1,000 toward accommodations. Canon will provide each grant winner a PIXMA MX860 Wireless Office All-In-One Printer, specifically designed for small businesses, including printer, copier, scan, fax and photo lab capabilities. British Airways World Cargo will offer each winning company five free global shipments of up to 500 kilos, including fuel and security fees, shipped from any BA World Cargo U.S. gateway.

“Connecting people globally is our number one objective, and we’ve

Qatar Airways Unveils Global Rewards Travel Program Qatar Airways announced the global roll-out of its corporate travel rewards program for small and medium-sized businesses following successful trials in the airline’s home market of Qatar.

Named Qbiz, the rewards program makes it easier for companies with limited travel budgets to maximize their savings when travelling with Qatar Airways. The program allows companies and employees to accumulate Qmiles through the airline’s Privilege Club loyalty program.

The global roll-out of the program allows both the individual and the company to accumulate Qmiles for any given flight. The accumulated miles can be used to redeem free flights and secure upgrades on Qatar Airways.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said that the airline aimed to support small and medium-sized companies through Qbiz as part of its corporate social responsibility program. He emphasized that the scheme was a win-win situation for all, as business trips would be twice as rewarding.

“While Privilege Club members travelling on business will continue to earn Qmiles and membership status in their own accounts, their companies will also be able to earn Qmiles for the same trip and redeem them on subsequent Qatar Airways flights,” said Al Baker.

“Qbiz is an exciting corporate rewards


travel program developed specifically for small and medium-sized businesses to help them manage their budgets more cost effectively. Qatar Airways understands that many businesses require their staff to travel regularly. The Qbiz offering aids local businesses in the UK and indeed around the world by providing real incentives to travel on a single airline,” added Al Baker.

“The pilot program proved very successful in Qatar and we are excited to be able to roll-out Qbiz worldwide. It will add significant value to local companies’ travel bookings.”

Businesses looking to join Qbiz can do so online on Qatar Airways’ website. Once enrolled, companies receive a personalised Qbiz account number and a Qbiz code, which they can use to accumulate miles when making bookings. Every dollar spent on Qatar Airways flights will earn the company Qmiles. The individual traveller is also entitled to collect Qmiles on the same booking when checking- in for their flights.

Qatar Airways currently operates a modern fleet of 68 Boeing and Airbus aircraft to 82 destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Far East and North America.

www.qatarairways.com/qbiz

AIRLINES & AIRPORTSVirgin Atlantic; Eurostar To Implement Joint E-Ticketing Passengers travelling on Virgin Atlantic can now book Eurostar tickets for onward high-speed journeys between London, Paris and Brussels. Virgin Atlantic is the first airline in the world to implement an e-ticketing agreement with Eurostar, enabling passengers to travel seamlessly between London and Paris or Brussels . Virgin Atlantic passengers can simply make a booking on Eurostar at the same time as they book their air ticket via the Virgin Atlantic contact center, which has access to live availability on each high speed train, or through their local travel agent.

Alan Lias, Head of Loyalty, Virgin Atlantic, said: “This new agreement gives Virgin Atlantic passengers even more flexibility. They can quickly and effortlessly book Eurostar tickets when booking a flight, and experience the delights of Eurostar’s key destinations – London, Lille, Paris and Brussels.”

Eurostar is the only rail operator in the world to be registered on GDS in its own right. Following the move to paperless ticketing Eurostar has pioneered this IET solution to enable travel agents, and passengers, to book Virgin Atlantic and Eurostar tickets in one transaction.

Emma Harris, Director of Sales and Marketing, Eurostar, said: “Many of our customers making corporate bookings can now take full advantage of these through fares, opening up a host of new travel opportunities. The vast majority of people traveling between London and Paris and Brussels use Eurostar and it’s fantastic news that our overseas travellers will now have greater access to the ease and comfort of high speed rail.”

www.virginatlantic.com

Hahn Air Appoints Airworld Alliance For North AmericaHahn Air enhances its services for North American travel agents by appointing Airworld Alliance, the airline representation division of SITA World Group. The services include direct contacts and support in six different locations in the US and Canada, a 12/6 service line and a toll free number.With the increasing number of airline partners available for ticketing on the HR-169 document on the North American continent, Hahn Air expands its presence in the market providing comprehensive services to its travel agent clients by appointing Airworld Alliance as its General Sales Agent (GSA).

Airworld Alliance, the Airline Representation division of the Sita World Group, representing fourteen offline and online carriers in the USA and Canada will take over the

representation of Hahn Air as of 15th September, 2009

The new services provided include:

- direct support out of six locations in the US and Canada:

New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Toronto and Vancouver

- A toll free number for all US and Canadian travel agents: 1 877 HR169HR

- A 12/6 service line

Travel agents can issue non ARC/BSP airlines using Hahn Air (HR-169) e-tickets. Availability can be checked through the Quick Check module on www.hahnair.com

Globally Hahn Air is offering 200 interline e-ticketing (IET) partners including Flybe (UK), S7 (Sibiria) and Luxair (Luxembourg).

www.hahnair.com

Clark Corey, Commercial Development Manager for Airworld Alliance receives commemorative plaque from Hahn Air representatives at NBTA

LAN Airlines Committed To Growth, Longevity & Superior ServiceLAN Airlines, Latin America’s premier air carrier, will be present at the National Business Travel Association (NBTA) International Convention & Exposition in San Diego this year. Despite a year of challenges, LAN has accomplished major benchmarks as an industry leader, underscoring their commitment to growth, longevity and superior service in 2009.

“LAN continues to maintain a competitive position in the market as we expand our connectivity within South America; we continue to enhance

our service offerings in both Economy and Premium Business Class to ensure we are providing the best service to our passengers,” said Pablo Yunis, LAN Airlines’ Vice President for North America and the Caribbean. “NBTA offers a platform for LAN to discuss


exciting news for our airline including the launch of LAN for Business, convenient Premium Business Class fares through the end of the year, and healthy financials in the midst of global economic challenges.”

Investments In Technology and Service

To date, LAN has completed the implementation of its new Premium Business and renewed Economy Class on all long-haul flights the company operates to destinations in North America -United States, Canada and Mexico- the Caribbean, Europe, South Pacific, New Zealand and Australia.LAN initiated the process of incorporating advanced technology devices, called winglets, in all of its Boeing 767-300 long range aircraft. As an important part of the company’s fleet renovation plan, winglets create efficiencies and underscore the commitment to the environment. Winglets are placed on the wings to improve the aircraft’s fuel efficiency. The reduction in usage equals approximately 450,000 tons of fuel per

year, which means about a 5% decrease in CO2 emissions for every aircraft.

LAN recently announced the launch of LAN for Business, a new online booking engine designed to allow Small and Medium Businesses to purchase and reserve airline tickets directly with a few easy clicks of the mouse. The tool is specifically created to satisfy the administrative and management expectations of agents when booking business travel, and offers control, convenience, independence and savings. LAN for Business can be accessed at www.lan.com/forbusiness.

Additionally, LAN created a partnership with Prism Group to provide software for LAN Corporate sales contracting. PRISM is recognized around the world as the industry leader in data consolidation and warehousing of travel data. The implementation of this tool allows relationship growth and identification of new sales opportunities for LAN corporate sales team.

www.lan.com

AIRLINES & AIRPORTS

HOTELS & RESORTSTRAVCO Group Acquires The Hotel Company STEIGENBERGER Hotels AGSTEIGENBERGER, a leading European hotel Company based in Frankfurt, has completed its process of strategic repositioning that has started in 2008. With the Egyptian tourism group TRAVCO Group International Holding S.A.E., owned by Hamed El Chiaty and his family, a new partner has been found for the hotel business of STEIGENBERGER Hotels AG as of A, comprising the brands “STEIGENBERGER Hotels and Resorts” and “InterCityHotel”. The new partner will continue to pursue and further develop the long-term targets of the Company. In addition to hotels and Nile cruise ships, TRAVCO’s business activities also include complete tourism services. The parties have agreed not to disclose the price of the transaction.

After a period of consolidation of the hotel portfolio, international expansion is the next strategic stage for the STEIGENBERGER Hotel Group. The

STEIGENBERGER Family, the previous owner, is convinced that this key element of the initiated strategy, as well as an improved brand awareness and quality leadership, can be realized easier with a strong international partner. In the family-run company TRAVCO, which is, inter alia, already operating an own hotel chain, STEIGENBERGER has found a partner who appreciates the long and proud tradition of this German Company which was founded by Albert STEIGENBERGER in 1930 and successfully developed by his son Egon STEIGENBERGER. In line with this tradition, TRAVCO is committed to continue STEIGENBERGER’s plans for the future maintaining the excellent German hotel culture of STEIGENBERGER.

“We want to secure STEIGENBERGER’s future in the long run. In TRAVCO we have found an experienced partner in the hotel industry, which fully supports our initiated strategy. The international hotel and travel services of TRAVCO enable us to offer our guests a new world of travel destinations. The enlarged hotel network creates new experiences and career opportunities for our employees,” said André Witschi, Chief Executive Officer of STEIGENBERGER.

STEIGENBERGER will be the stepping stone of TRAVCO’s hotel presence, as well as its entry into the city hotel business, particularly in the German, Austrian and Swiss markets, and will allow to further strengthen the Company’s positioning in quality segments. The two hotel brands, “STEIGENBERGER Hotels and Resorts” and “InterCityHotel”, which have been established especially in German speaking regions and have access to a wide, trusted and long-standing customer base, will perfectly complement TRAVCO’s product and geographical set-up. The mostly complimentary businesses of the two companies will allow for cross-selling opportunities across the brands and further economies of scale. TRAVCO fully supports STEIGENBERGER management’s internationalisation efforts and both companies firmly believe to be able to accelerate these efforts through TRAVCO’s existing international network.

“This is a very important strategic step on our long-lasting and continuous course for growth, which positions us as a global player in the tourism and hospitality industries and allows us to offer an even greater and more appealing value proposition to our

2009 | 2010MEDIA KITS

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customers,” says Hamed El Chiaty, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of TRAVCO. “In addition to the clear strategic benefits, we will aim at increasing our joint added-value through accessing new growth opportunities and realising operative synergies. At a particularly challenging time for the entire tourism industry, this decisive

move strengthens our leadership claim within the leisure business. Together we will shape the hotel industry in Europe and the Middle East for the years to come. By combining STEIGENBERGER and TRAVCO, two traditional family businesses come together.”

www.steigenbergerhotelgroup.com

HOTELS & RESORTS

M.I.C.E.StarCite Achieves Record Q2 Client Expansions Amidst Recession StarCite, Inc., the leading provider of Web-based solutions to strategically manage corporate meetings and events, today announced that the company set a new record for client expansions during the second quarter of 2009, driven by the growth of strategic meetings management programs by current customers to increase global savings and control over their meetings investment. StarCite also added to its roster several new marquee clients including a Fortune 500 financial institution, a leader in higher education and a global eye care manufacturer.

With its continually expanding client base, StarCite broke the 10 million mark for attendee registrations and the four million mark for total meeting electronic request for proposals (eRFPs) processed since the company’s inception in 1999. After reaching one million RFPs in 2006, it took StarCite just three years to quadruple its RFP volume.

“We selected StarCite because they are the gold standard in meetings technology,” said Louann Cashill, Meeting Services Manager at Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. Inc. in Torrance, California. “The breadth and depth of supplier participants in their Marketplace is unsurpassed and their platform will allow us to reduce costs and use our resources more efficiently, helping us to maintain a robust meetings program.”

“StarCite provides the only meetings technology solution combined with strategic meetings management consulting that fully addresses the needs of global organizations. Our account management team is the most

experienced in the industry and knows how to help drive value for our clients,” said Elizabeth McNulty, StarCite’s senior vice president of global account management.

“StarCite has been an indispensable partner for growing our meetings and events business,” said, Michael Beardsley, vice president of global sales, North America, Accor Hospitality. “While the sheer volume of potential business flowing through StarCite’s platform is extraordinary, even more impressive from our point of view is the quality of the RFPs they deliver. StarCite brings real meetings business to our doorstep – period – and they do it in a very cost-effective and efficient manner.”

This year also marks the first time the number of non-U.S. hotels and suppliers participating in the StarCite Marketplace has exceeded the number of domestic participants, underscoring the rapid international expansion and adoption of the StarCite strategic meetings management model.

“Our achievements in 2009 show how companies are using the downturn as an opportunity to realize new levels of savings and control over their meetings spend,” said Greg Dukat, StarCite’s chief executive officer. “Companies are turning to our technology and services so they can manage meetings like they manage other large spend categories – providing visibility, control and savings in an area that is historically unmanaged. Perhaps most gratifying is that more current customers have expanded their SMM programs with us than ever before.

“In addition, because so many of the world’s biggest companies now use StarCite, our hotel and supplier partners rely on us to deliver real business – strong leads that they can convert directly into growing sales,” Dukat continued. “The suppliers in the

StarCite Marketplace will be the direct beneficiaries of our growth as our RFP volume continues to expand and the quality of the leads we deliver becomes even richer.”

www.starcite.com

Cvent Announces International Expansion of Cvent Supplier NetworkCvent, the leading provider of meeting management and site selection software for over 14,000 meeting planners, announced additional support and features for international meeting planning on the Cvent Supplier Network. Cvent has included meeting space profiles for over 35,000 meeting hotels, conference centers, convention centers, and special event venues outside the United States. The international properties located in Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia are all listed on the company’s free meeting site selection service, available at www.cvent.com . Meeting planners can sign up for a free account and send electronic Requests for Proposals (eRFPs) to any property to get information on pricing and availability.

All of Cvent’s event management customers now have the ability to send RFPs to international properties. Additionally, Cvent has signed numerous meeting management companies who will be sending RFPs to properties internationally including ConferenceDirect, Meetings & Incentives, Global Cynergies, and EMC Venues.

David Sachs, Director of Sourcing Services for Meetings & Incentives said, “Meetings & Incentives uses Cvent’s innovative technology to manage our clients meetings and events across the

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globe. We find Cvent to be very intuitive and robust in features, which has allowed us to meet each of our client’s specific requirements. The speed and consistency of supplier responses, even for venues outside of the United States, through the Cvent Supplier Network has allowed us to streamline our work. The global adoption of the Cvent Supplier Network with suppliers has made Cvent an application a necessity. Cvent is the end to end solution that every procurement and meetings manager should have access to every day.”

The Cvent Supplier Network functionality supports the global sourcing process and helps meeting planners compare properties. Cvent allows planners to specify a search for meeting space by square foot or meters and offers a free meeting space calculator supporting the metric system to help meeting planners request the appropriate amount of meeting space. Planners can also ask for meeting space pricing from hotels in the monetary currency of their choice. By using RFP attachments, meeting planners can send RFPs in any language via the Cvent Supplier Network. Working closely with over 300 hotel chains worldwide, Cvent ensures planners will get a fast response to their meeting space inquiries.

Cvent also features over 25 international destinations on the Cvent Destination Guide to help clients plan meetings internationally including locations such as London, Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam, Singapore, Seoul, Toronto, Aruba, Jamaica, and the Bahamas.

www.cvent.com

M.I.C.E.

Rearden Commerce Partners With StarCiteRearden Commerce has announced an integration relationship with StarCite, Inc., a leading provider of Web-based solutions to strategically manage corporate meetings and events. With this integration, Rearden Commerce’s more than 5,000 corporate customers will have increased visibility into employees’ meetings spend and can leverage real-time data to better manage this often overlooked spend category.

“Meetings remain a large category of unmanaged spend for corporations. At Rearden Commerce our goal is

to provide customers with a single location for all activities that relate to travel and procurement. As such, StarCite is a perfect addition for the Rearden Commerce Platform,” said Tony D’Astolfo, vice president of worldwide sales, Rearden Commerce. “We make it a priority to connect our customers with the absolute best applications and services available on the market. StarCite’s track record of providing strategic meetings management services to major corporate customers makes them an ideal partner for this essential functionality.”

Directly from the Rearden Personal Assistant, customers will be able to access StarCite to plan, source and book with its small meetings solution. In addition, customers benefit from full access to the StarCite Marketplace, which links meetings buyers with more than 93,000 hotels, venues and meetings suppliers worldwide.

Rearden Commerce is highly regarded in the travel industry for developing a platform that broadens the traditional scope of travel management to include ancillary spend categories such as conferencing, dining, shipping, and rail.

“We are proud to partner with Rearden Commerce and provide strategic meetings management services to its customer base,” said Gregory Dukat, CEO of StarCite. “Rearden Commerce has revolutionized travel management by providing a product that brings a growing number of spend categories under professional control. As companies focus on maximizing the value of every type of expenditure, including meetings, the timing of this integration couldn’t be better.”

www.reardencommerce.com

CIBTM Announces Dedicated Meetings Week In China On the first day of the biggest China Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition (CIBTM) at the China National Convention Centre (CNCC) in Beijing, the organisers, Reed Travel Exhibitions announced an initiative to create the first week dedicated to the Meetings and Incentives industry in China in 2010.

This year’s show, co-hosted by the Beijing Tourism Administration (BTA) is 35%

larger than the previous edition, which took place in 2007 and has attracted 324 international and local exhibitors. A 50% increase in Pre-Scheduled Appointments has been confirmed with over 5,000 already scheduled by 285 Hosted Buyers from America, Europe, Middle East, Asia-Pacific and China. Over 6300 visitors have pre-registered for the three-day event, up 17% on the final pre-registration figure for the previous event.

The anticipated success of this year’s event as well as the growth of the sector has prompted CIBTM to acknowledge the need of industry professionals across China to have access to a week of activities offering additional business opportunities as well as a greater access to strong educational content.

Commenting on the initiative at the event’s opening press conference, Graeme Barnett, CIBTM Exhibition Director said: “CIBTM’s aim has always been to be a driving force behind the growth of the meetings industry throughout China. We believe that our initiative to have a week entirely dedicated to the Meetings and Incentives industry will help China realise its potential. Attracting large scale international corporate and association events with improved venues and facilities, access, accommodation and service standards must be underpinned by a professional skilled workforce, so developing people is critical.”

Referring specifically about Beijing he continued: “There is a confidence about the capital city; its rich cultural and historical diversity offers the industry so much. Beijing has all the attributes of a world-class Meetings and Incentives destination and our role is to help realise this potential. We are delighted that BTA has played such an important role as co-host of the event. We are totally committed to our partnership to further enhance CIBTM and assist Beijing with its post Olympic Business Tourism strategy.”

The Meetings week will see leading industry Associations such as MPI, ICCA and SITE involved in the creation of a diverse and rich programme of professional education activities.

CIBTM 2009 runs for a further two days this week

CIBTM 2010 will take place from 7th to 9th September at the CNCC in Beijing.

www.cibtm.com


PEOPLECertain Software Appoints Peter Micciche As CEOCertain Software, Inc., a leading provider of event management solutions for the global meetings and events planning industry has announced the appointment of Peter Micciche, as the company’s chief executive officer (CEO). As a well-respected and innovative executive in the technology industry, Peter brings more than 20 years of business software and general management experience to Certain Software.

Eurostar Confirms Plans For Senior Management Changes Eurostar, the high-speed provider of carbon neutral rail journeys between the UK and continental Europe, has confirmed its plans for senior management changes that will take place in early 2010 at the same time as the launch of a new, single corporate entity that will replace the current joint venture structure.

Richard Brown, Chief Executive of Eurostar since 2002, will step up to become non-Executive Chairman of Eurostar, replacing Guillaume Pepy who has been non-Executive Chairman of Eurostar since 1998 and who became President Directeur General of SNCF (French Railways) in February 2008.

Nicolas Petrovic, who joined Eurostar in 2003 and is currently Chief Operating Officer, will take over as Chief Executive.

RADIUS Expands Global Sales Force With New Appointments

Sales appointments in North America and the U.K. add executive talent to the RADIUS sales team: John King has joined as Vice President, North America Global Sales & Service, and Peter Connell and Brian Butler have joined as sales executives at Portman Travel, U.K. and Travel & Transport, USA, respectively, supporting RADIUS’ global sales effort. John King brings over 20 years of experience to his role as VP Global Sales and Service North America, where he’s responsible for multinational sales in the North American corporate travel marketplace.

Peter Connell has joined the RADIUS as the first member of the Embedded Sales program, serving as Head of Global Sales for Portman Travel in the Chertsey, England, U.K. Peter is responsible for both developing and maintaining Portman Travel’s international client base, and will be Portman’s lead commercial representative within the global RADIUS network.

Brian Butler joins the RADIUS Embedded Program and will serve as Travel and Transport’s Director of Global Sales.

Beverly Heinritz Joins Rearden Commerce Rearden Commerce Inc. has announced that Beverly Heinritz, former General Manager of Sabre’s GetThere business unit, will join the company as Vice President of Customer Services and Product Support. In this newly created role, Heinritz will oversee the entire post sales customer lifecycle, from activation to the management of the company’s 24 hour support function, and will be tasked with helping customers better leverage the value of the Rearden Commerce Platform.

Ms. Heinritz, started in her new role on August 24th, was formerly the General Manager of Sabre’s GetThere where she directed the overall business inclusive of sales, partnerships and customer service.

Wyndham Appoints Global Sales ExecutiveWyndham Hotels has promoted long-time brand employee Carla Dunn to VP Global Sales transient & specialty markets, corporate travel planners & travel agents.

Travelport GDS Appoints Michael Yates As Marketing Director, Asia PacificTravelport GDS has appointed Michael Yates as Marketing Director, Asia Pacific. Yates will join Travelport in Hong Kong on September 1, 2009 and will report to Tina Iglio, Vice President of Marketing.

Yates brings more than 20 years of experience in strategic marketing and communications almost exclusively in travel and tourism roles. Yates was previously Vice President for Operations of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) based in Bangkok. From 1987-2001, he held various roles with the Australian Tourist Commission (ATC) in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Japan.

In addition, Yates spent time with WPP advertising firm, Batey, working on two key global clients, Singapore Airlines and the Singapore Tourism Board.

Carlson Hotels Worldwide Names Executive VP & Chief Branding OfficerHotel industry veteran Gordon McKinnon has been named executive vice president and chief branding officer for Carlson Hotels Worldwide.

Hubert Joly, president and chief executive officer of Carlson, a global hotel, marketing, restaurant and travel company, announced McKinnon’s appointment, which is effective Sept. 1. He will be based in Minneapolis and report to Joly, who also serves as president and CEO of Carlson Hotels Worldwide.

McKinnon comes to Carlson from The Rezidor Hotel Group based in Brussels, Belgium, where he was vice president of brands. Carlson is the main shareholder of Rezidor, which is one of the fastest growing hotel companies in the world.

Follow us on Twitter at: … Germany World Travel Market 9-12 November 2008 ExCeL, London, UK ...

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