TQ3 launches new packages
TQ3 Travel Solutions launched four new software packages at the ACTE Stockholm conference. These included TQ3 Direct, TQ3 Business and TQ3 Enterprise, aimed, respectively, at the unmanaged SME, mid-sized and multi-national markets in Europe. Each offers multi-channel solutions with transparency and control over travel spend.
The fourth newcomer was the worldwide launch of Hotel eRate which is an automated RFP solution.
ACTE's new officers
Nadine Dewart, EMEA travel manager for BMC Software, was named as ACTE's new president-elect at Stockholm. Ms Dewart, currently EMEA regional chair, is the first European to hold the post. She will take over as president in 2006.
ACTE's new treasurer for 2005 is Bradley Seitz, president and ceo of Topaz International.
Discovery rolls out
CWT has begun its European roll out if its Discovery solution, a web-based reporting product for corporate travel clients. The product is already in use in other regions of the world and CWT said clients would be able to use it for local, regional and global reporting.
Martin Warner, CWT's executive vice president global sales and marketing, said the value of Discovery was that it gave multi-national clients “a global approach to gathering meaningful data.”
MasterCard innovations
MasterCard International also launched a range of new enhancements to its corporate programme for the control and tracking of spend for multi-nationals which have card programmes in more than one country.
Steve Abrams, senior vice president corporate payment solutions, said the expanded programme enabled card issuers to offer multi-national payment programmes as a single provider or through a consortium of regional banks.
Visa breaks $200bn barrier
Visa International announced that in the year to June 2004, the value of purchases on its Visa Commercial product broke $200bn. Aliza Knox, senior vice resident commercial solutions said while it took ten years to reach $100bn, the figure had doubled in just three years.