More than 1200 delegates gathered in Vancouver, British Columbia for the three day global forum of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE). About 65% were from North America and the rest from around the world.
A spokesman told BTE that the keynote speech by Rushworth Kidder, president of the Institute for global Ethics on The Guts of a Tough Decision: Moral Courage in Business looked at the growing awareness on the need for “corporate social responsibility.”
“This is not as strong in America as it is in Europe but his speech received a standing ovation. ACTE will be taking up this issue when Marc Hildebrand speaks on sustainability at the London Forum on May 26.
“We feel it should be one of our next priorities. Companies have a responsibility to their own people and also to the outside world so we feel our members have a role to play and so does the travel industry.”
New Marriott commission process
Global hotel chain Marriott International has signed a partnership deal with IT company Pegasus Solutions to pay travel agents commissions on hotel bookings on a weekly basis.
Fred Miller, Marriott's vp for global sales, said the deal with Pegasus which provides a commission processing service “would ensure that virtually all travel agencies will now receive their Marriott commissions weekly whether they receive them through Pegasus or Marriott's central travel agent commission system.”
ETA launches automated RFP
E-travel solutions company ETA has launched a new automated Request for Proposal (RFP) for self-booking tools. The company which claimed it was the first of its kind said the e-RFP works with its original ETABid tool which automated the RFP process for selecting a travel management company.