European companies 'to go on travelling'
The vast majority of businesses in Europe say they plan to keep travel at the same level or increase it in the next 12 months, according to a new American Express survey.
The first ever survey by Amex and CFO Research Global Business & Spending Monitor found that European corporates regard travel as "critical" for their business.
The poll showed that 88% of European businesses questioned said their domestic travel would remain as it is or grow while 80% said the same of their international travel. But the survey also found that 46% expected to cut spend on travel and were implementing strategies to bring savings.
European attitudes to travel amid the slowdown in the global economy were more optimistic than in other regions, the survey said.
While 29% of European companies expect to cut travel to conferences, management retreats and training events, the figure for other regions was higher.
It was 55% in the US, 38% in Asia and 33% in Canada.
Europeans were also less ready to reduce domestic travel with 21% saying they would. The corresponding figures for the US, Asia and Canada were, respectively 45%, 36% and 30%.
Globally, 34% of respondents said they planned to adopt tighter policies on domestic travel while 21% said they intended the same for international travel.
The poll surveyed 370 senior finance executives at large and global companies across a wide range of industries in the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia and Australia.
German agents meet Bundeskartellamt
Representatives of German agents have met with officials of the Bundeskartellamt, the country's monopolies' authority as part of their campaign against Lufthansa's new preferred fares scheme.
A spokesman for the DRV, the agents' association, said the meeting was regarded by both sides as "helpful and meaningful."
DRV told the authority that there were technical difficulties with the Lufthansa plan.
As the scheme is due to come in effect on July 1, there was also a lack of time to train agents to use it.
He said the DRV was now watching to if Amadeus became the last major GDS to sign a deal with Lufthansa.
Rival GDSs Travelport and Sabre have already signed deals.
Under the Lufthansa proposals, agents which do not sign up for its preferred fares scheme and make their bookings through GDSs will be charged a booking fee.
The deals the airline has signed with Sabre and Travelport exempts their agents from this fee.
Talks between Lufthansa and Amadeus are still continuing.
Co-op Travel buys rival Parador
Co-operative Travel Management, a leading UK independent TMC, has bought Parador Travel Management.
The acquisition makes Co-operative one of the largest TMCs in the country with a turnover of more than £100m.
Parador, also an independent company, was founded in 1981 and is based in London with offices in the East Midlands.
The sum paid by Co-op has not been revealed but the acquisition brings the number of its outlets in the UK to 16.
It will absorb Parador's 40 employees but managing director Alan Weiner will be leaving the company after working as a consultant for three months.
Mike Greenacre, managing director of The Co-operative Travel, owners of Co-operative Travel Management, said: "It is a particularly important acquisition because it provides us with the London base that is clearly required in this sector of travel if we are to compete for large national accounts that have their headquarters in the city.
"We shall continue to develop a stronger regional network through either green field development or acquisition, and are particularly keen to open offices in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland."
Anthony Rissbrook, head of Co-operative Travel Management, said: "Parador Travel Management is an excellent fit with our business because it boasts a track record of strong sales growth and sustainable profitability.
"Parador Travel Management has also developed an impressive corporate customer base."
Price not brand crucial – VDR
The price of a hotel, not its brand, is by far the most important issue for the bulk of business travellers, a new analysis by the VDR said.
The German travel managers' association said 80% of buyers named price as the crucial factor while only 7% went for brand.
The result is part of the new VDR Business Travel Analysis 2008 which is due out later this month.
The preliminary findings said that the second most important factor in choosing a hotel, cited by 44% of respondents, was its classification followed by "personal recommendation" which 35% said was important.
The survey, conducted for VDR by consultant Bearing Point, found that most German business travellers stayed in four- and three-star properties.
More than half (52%) stay at three-star hotels with four-star properties the next best choice.
But only 4% of travellers stayed in five-star hotels.
UK bookings stay steady
Bookings made by members of the UK Guild of Travel Management Companies (GTMC) have stayed steady in the first three months of 2008.
Despite a downturn in the global economy, GTMC members made 7% more bookings compared to the same period in 2007.
The Guild said that air and car bookings were down 1% and 5% respectively.
But there was a "healthy" rise of 22% in hotel bookings to 931,237 for the quarter and a 16% increase in rail bookings to 877,343.
The Guild said the eaeliest Easter for 25 years, followed by a school holiday had affected the figures.
But it described British business travel as "robust."
Philip Carlisle, GTMC's ceo, said: "The Early Easter Effect was unusual as it created a two holiday break scenario within a single quarter which has made like for like comparisons against previous years difficult for us.
"However, given that, the results are still remarkable when one considers that air travel is down just 1% over last year and hotel and rail transactions are impressively up.
"This leads us to believe that the British economy, for which business travel is a bell weather, is proving to be very robust against the claims of a world recession."
European hotel profits grow – TRI
Hotel profits in Europe are rising according to the latest HotStats survey by TRI Hospitality Consulting.
TRI found that in the found months to April, profits in seven of the ten cities surveyed increased despite a fall in occupancy.
Only chain hotels in Paris and Budapest showed a rise in occupancy.
In Amsterdam, it fell by 5% and there were also "notable" drops in Berlin, Warsaw and Munich.
But the survey found that while occupancy rates were falling, average rates were rising.
In Berlin occupancy dropped by 4.1% to 59.9% but rates rose by 9.1% to €151.11.
Room rates in Amsterdam rose by 6.6% to €168.94.
TRI also noted that the revenue per available room (revPAR) was falling in many of the cities.
It dropped from 10.3% in 2007 in Amsterdam to -0.1% this year; from 10.6% to 2.2%b in Berlin and from 13.9% to 4.7% in London.
Only Paris bucked the trend with a rise form 10.1% last year to 13.2% this year.
Jonathan Langston, TRI's managing director, said: "In most cases, falling overall occupancy has not deterred hoteliers from continuing to push rates upwards.
"However the negative impact of weaker demand on revPAR growth is clear to see and illustrates the generally slower economic conditions that are prevailing across most of Europe."
HRG adds new American affiliate
Hogg Robinson Group (HRG) has signed up another US agency to its North American Affiliates Program.
Corporate Travel Consultants II, based in Miami Beach, becomes the fifth company to join the scheme.
The programme provides large regional agencies with the resources to compete with large multi-national TMCs.
The existing members of the scheme are: Austin Travel of Melville, New York, Avia International Travel of Houston, Texas, Casto Travel of Santa Clara, California and Shorts Travel Management of Overland Park, Kansas.
Corporate Travel Consultants II includes Global Crew Logistics which specialises in handling airline crew members.
Chris Dane, president of HRG Affiliates Program, said: "Global Crew Logistics has successfully established a unique market niche that services customers all over the world.
"The new affiliate programme will allow it expand into additional global markets with greater ease."
Austrian predicts loss this year and seeks partner
Austrian Airlines has predicted that the current price of oil will force it to lose between €70m and €90m this financial year.
The carrier said with fuel around $130 per barrel, it will cost it an extra $130m this year.
An extraordinary meeting of the airline's board decided to appoint consultants to determine what would be the benefits of a strategic partnership for the airline.
A statement by the airline added: "While we do not believe that the oil price is likely to remain at levels of US$ 130 or more per barrel in the medium term, it is difficult to estimate when prices will begin falling again as the situation stands at present.
"Due to the current situation in the industry the previous forecasts for 2009 are outdated. It will not be possible to produce reliable result forecasts for 2009 and subsequent years before the results of the project become available."
Reuters reported that Austria's finance minister Wilhelm Molterer told journalists: "Given current economic conditions, the competitive situation and the high oil price I think a stand-alone solution is the most unlikely scenario and a strategic partnership the most likely one."
An agreement whereby a Middle East investor Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa al Jaber would buy a 20% stake in the carrier fell through after he claimed he had been deliberately misled about the results.
The airline has hotly denied this.
Reuters also reported that Russian carrier Aeroflot was interested in a possible deal while Lufthansa and Air France KLM were both watching the situation.
Amadeus steps up co-operation with easyJet
Travel IT and GDS company Amadeus is stepping up its co-operation with easyJet over the sale of the low cost carrier's tickets.
easyJet signed an agreement for agents to make to make reservations through Amadeus.
The GDS is now testing modifications to this function, allowing agents to change itineraries and bookings.
Amadeus said the changes also included the ability to cancel flights, add special requests and alter passengers' names. easyJet will also flag up to Amadeus' agents any disrupted flights.
Stephane Durand, Amadeus's general manager for the UK and Ireland, described the improvements as the "second generation of low cost carrier functionality."
He said future changes would make the functionality much more flexible.
The IT company also said it had launched the Business Travel Portal (UK), an off the shelf self booking tool for business travel agencies with SME clients.
It said the tool would give SMEs greater control over their travel spend while also enabling their travellers to research and book policy-compliant trips at any time of the week.
Hilton announces major expansion
Major expansion to provide 105 new properties in four European countries has been announced by Hilton Hotels Corporation.
The first deal is with HLH Property Limited for 30 new properties in the UK over the next five years.
The new hotels are mainly expected to be the chain's latest economy brand Hampton by Hilton.
It is the third major deal Hilton has signed to develop its hotels in the UK.
Hilton has also announced it plans to build 50 more properties in Spain.
The announcement was made by Wolfgang Neumann, president of Hilton Hotels- Europe at the opening last week of its new property Hilton Madrid Airport.
Mr Neumann said it was a key milestone in the company's plan to open 50 new properties in Spain and Portugal in the next five years.
Hilton said it had also signed a non-exclusive strategic development agreement with the Kosifler Group to build about 25 new properties in regional locations of Turkey.
It said the mainly Garden Inn hotels would be built in the next five years.
Traveldoo teams up with Good Planet
Traveldoo and Good Planet have teamed up to help business travellers measure the impact on the environments of their trips.
The Paris-based provider of online business travel services and the non-profit making organisation said they planned to help travellers reduce their carbon footprint and to balance greenhouse emissions by carbon offsets.
They will integrate details of carbon emissions into Traveldoo's online services.
The companies said: "Travellers will be able to measure the carbon footprint of a trip, a flight, a rail journey and car travel before making their choice and booking.
"Indicators quantifying the greenhouse gas emissions related to the client's travel spend, with a breakdown by category of expense, business entity, supplier and traveller will enrich Traveldoo's online reporting offering."
SMEs losing money on hotel bookings
SMES are wasting time and money by following "outdated and ineffective" booking practices for hotels.
A new survey by BSI, a UK online hotel booking agency, has found that a third of SMEs do not try to secure good terms for overnight stays.
It also found that half the SMEs do not set a budget for hotel spend while one in three say "robust procurement" is not a priority.
The study also found that a 10% of the SMEs did not believe that "duty of care" had any relevance to them.
More than half (53%) of the companies questioned had "no idea" how much they spent each year on accommodation while 39% of them said that each employee organised his or her own bookings.
Mostly (53%) this was done at the last minute.
Trevor Elswood, managing director of BSI, commented: "With margins tightening, SMEs are facing even greater budgetary and resource pressures.
"Our research shows that, due to limited understanding, apathy or misconceptions, a large number of SMEs are not following best practice procurement when buying and booking overnight accommodation, meetings and events, a fact that is likely to be causing them to waste significant time and money.
"No matter what the size of company, proven solutions are readily available that will deliver significant benefits via increased savings, the highest standards in Duty of Care and a streamlined, efficient booking process which will alleviate historical frustrations and complexities."
ITP signs new US partner
The International Travel Partnership (ITP), a global travel management network, has signed USTravel as its second North American partner.
The new addition brings the number of ITP partners to 35 in 29 countries.
Ian Epps, ITP's director of partnership relations, said: "We are very pleased to be working alongside USTravel, a national leader in travel management.
"Its strong West Coast base complements our existing coverage in the USA and brings an even stronger travel management focus to ITP."
Yvonne Long, USTravel's senior vp sales and marketing, said: "Joining ITP is an exciting new step for USTravel.
"Its rapidly expanding network will enable us to service our corporate clients more effectively from a global perspective."