Paul Tilstone, who started this month as the new executive director of the UK and Ireland Institute of Travel Management (ITM), said his main priorities would be to raise the organisation's profile and increase its membership.
Mr Tilstone, who has joined from P & O Travel, told BTE: “My goal is to make every single individual in the travel industry, particularly in the UK, aware of what ITM does and that they should be seeking to become a member.”
He named three areas where he wanted the ITM to be active: research, improved education and improved services for members.
Mr Tilstone also cited the use of technology and the relationship between ITM and other industry organisations - ITM has recently pulled out of a planned merger with the Association of Corporate Travel Executives – as areas which he will be assessing.
* For the full interview see BTE Analysis.
Amadeus “growing steadily” – Tazon
Jose Antonio Tazon, president and ceo of Amadeus, said the GDS and IT provider was growing “steadily in all key business areas.”
He said that in the second quarter of 2005, net income has risen 41.8% to 79.5m, total revenue has grown 22.3% to 633m and that bookings were up 9.3% to 125.3 compared with the same quarter for 2004.
It was also the quarter which has seen the sale of Amadeus to WAM Acquisition made up of Cinven BC Partners, Air France, Iberia and Lufthansa.
Mr Tazon said that South African Airways was the latest to sign up for Amadeus's Altea business management system. More than 25 now used its Altea IT solutions, including BA, and 150 for reservations.
Online air bookings had grown year-on-year by 42.2% and now represented 14% of all air bookings.
Opodo, which is owned by Amadeus, was now one of the leading online agencies in Europe and on course to deliver 1bn in gross sales this year.
NH Hoteles post profit
Spanish-based hotel group NH Hoteles reported a profit of 14.34m for the first half of 2005 after an improvement in business in Spain and Germany.
NH, the third largest business chain in Europe with 240 properties, said much of the recovery had taken place in the second quarter of the year.
During the first half, revenues were up 3.7% to 436.6m and revenue per available room (revPAR) up 2.8%.
In Germany revenue grew by 4.1% and in Switzerland, Austria and Hungary it was up 3.8%. It also grew by 2% in Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Altogether the operating profit in the European properties totalled 61.3M, 16.9% higher than in the first half of 2004.