Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), the leading travel management company (TMC) in Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America and number two in the US, has reported record figures for 2006. The company”s acquisition of Navigant International last year contributed to the year”s success and made CWT the second largest TMC in the world.
Total sales volume grew by 22% in 2006, totalling $17.6bn. New sales for the company, including those of Navigant, reached $2bn in 2006 ” a 45% increase on 2005 figures and the highest total in the company”s history.
Significant changes were made during 2006 in the company”s four lines of service ” traveller and transaction service, programme optimisation, safety and security and meetings and incentives.
These include adding to the company”s hotel booking portal database by 13%, growing sales by 17%. CWT Portal, the company”s web-based tool, was made available in 12 languages; the consulting division, CWT Solutions Group, was introduced to the Asia Pacific region; enhancements were made to the mobile solution, CWT Freedom, currently available in the US; and the company introduced carbon emissions reporting.
Plans for 2007 include rolling out CWT Freedom in other markets, launching CWT Program Management Center (a one-stop, multilingual, web-based management tool), and introducing the UK Carbon Calculator deployed by Defra (Department of the environment, food and rural affairs) internationally.
”Carlson Wagonlit Travel had a terrific year in 2006,” said president and CEO, Hubert Joly adding: ”The acquisition of Navigant International was a great milestone. We couldn”t be happier about the progress we”re making with the integration, where our approach has been to combine the best of both companies.
”There are ample opportunities to further enhance what we do for our clients and support them in their objectives to optimise service, savings and security,” he concluded.