American Express Business Travel has joined forces with a German agency to target the country's rapidly expanding SME market.
Its new partner is FIRST Business Travel, a part of TUI Leisure Travel.
Amex in Germany has previously concentrated either on key accounts or on the medium to large businesses.
Under the co-operation with FIRST, it will offer its experience and business travel model in return for quick access to the SME market worth billions of euros a year.
According to a recent survey by the VDR, the German travel managers' association, the medium-sized market in Germany is valued at 38bn.
Of the 150m business trips made in 2005, 84% were by SMEs.
Mr Marc Hildebrand, Amex's vp and general manager for Central Europe, said: "By means of the co-operation with FIRST Business Travel we will now better reach the SME segment, too.
"The personalised and professional service and the high regional coverage of our partner will provide an optimal addition to the American Express offer."
Peter Wittmann, head of FIRST, said: "American Express not only operates the biggest global network but also has the strongest global brand.
"This puts us into the position to meet the requirements of our subsidiaries and franchise partners.
"Many of our SME customers have international affiliations and require harmonised solutions in order for their procurement and cost management to be effective."
London hotels still thriving
January figures for London's hotels suggest the city is "building a pre-eminence over other major global cities", according to consultants PKF.
Figures for the first month of 2007 show that London's average room yield rose by 17.9% to £86.94 compared to January 2006, average room rate rose by 13% to £121.49 and occupancy increased by 4.3% to 71.6%.
Hotels in the UK regions also performed well with a 5.6% rise in room yield, a 3.3% rise in room rate and a 2.2% increase in occupancy.
Robert Barnard, a partner at PKF, said: "It is astounding to see the London market performing so strongly, especially at a time when three recent interest rate rises have made their mark on the economy.
"It is testament to the fact that, London has become an increasingly desirable location for people to visit with luxury hotels performing particularly well following an influx of foreign visitors."”
* see BTE's recruitment site www.businesstraveljobs.com