RUSSIA'S TAX SYSTEM is hampering development of its corporate travel sector, leading travel managers have said. Independent hoteliers are given revenue-based tax breaks and often undercut negotiated rates in return for cash payments. Speaking at last month's Moscow Executive Forum staged by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE), Andrey Chechin, head of corporate cards, Russia and CIS, for American Express Corporate Card, said corporate cards are rarely used outside major business hubs like Moscow and St Petersburg. "When they are used," he said, "it is just for taking cash out of ATMs."
A former Amex colleague, Winfried Barczaitis, now partner with Trust Management Consultants, said tax evasion by independent hoteliers - the vast majority of Russia's hospitality sector - meant travel bosses have little or no accurate management information. For the same reason, global distribution system (GDS) content is limited, even on Russia's own Serena and Gabriel systems, said Vadim Zelenski, founder and general director of travel management technology company Zelenski Corporate Travel Solutions.
The executive forum - with Buying Business Travel's executive editor Bob Papworth acting as moderator - now looks set to become an annual event, although Irina Kuznetsova, administrative director at PricewaterhouseCoopers Russia, proposed more frequent webinars to meet demand. Caroline Allen, ACTE's regional director for north, east and central Europe, and Russia, said the educational forum would become a permanent fixture in the organisation's calendar.