The days of the TMC as a “one-stop shop” are numbered, according to Capita Group business chief James Parkhouse.
Speaking to ABTN at this week’s Business Travel & Meetings Show (BTMS) Parkhouse, who is Capita’s business director, travel and conferences, stressed that his company’s £42.5 million acquisition of hotel booking agency BSI, announced over Christmas, was driven by changes in the corporate travel market.
He and BSI managing director Trevor Elswood – who is now also managing director of Capita Business Travel – denied that the takeover was driven by Capita concerns over pubic spending cuts.
While nearly 50 per cent of the parent company’s business comes from the public sector, only ten per cent of CBT’s revenues come from that quarter, Parkhouse said.
He and Elswood argued that corporate clients are increasingly looking to retain sector-specific specialists, and that Capita is meeting that need by creating “a family of specialist solutions”.
“The client who is moving from unmanaged travel to managed travel goes to TMC because they want a one-stop shop,” said Parkhouse, “but the market has become much more sophisticated. They recognise that ‘generalist’ TMCs have their strengths and their weaknesses.”
Both Royal Mail and energy group E-on have recently appointed Capita to handle air and rail, and BSI to handle hotels – now the two companies are part of the same “family”.
“It’s been very market-driven,” said Elswood. “What we are offering is convenience without compromise.”