Business Travel News - May 5, 2008 - (Page 4)

NEWS CWT Debuts Compliance-Check Tech 10,000 clients. Travel technology Carlson Wagonlit Travel recently firm TRX has been handling backmade available to all of its clients a end data consolidation, normalizareporting tool that uses integrated tion and cleansing using its Dataagency and credit card data to meas- Trax product. ure air, car, hotel and rail program While TRX handles much of the compliance. data consolidation and delivers daiThe travel management compa- ly feeds to CWT, the agency further ny has been testing the tool with two normalizes the data to ensure conclients, each with more than $100 sistency and avoid data irregularimillion in global T&E spending, that ties and redundancies caused by inhave been receiving monthly reports consistent property categorization by hotel and credit card companies. “You would be amazed at how hard it is to track the actual hotel properties and names with any sort of consistency,” said TRX president and CEO Trip Davis, who found 2,000 to 3,000 duplicates in the 120,000-property database of hotel meta-search engine company VibeAgent, of which he is a board member. The Agency+Card Reporting tool is available in 15 markets in North America and Europe, and Australia and Brazil. CWT plans to add additional markets, including China, but DAWN RAASCH did not disclose a specific timeframe CWT global product director to do so, and said adding countries depends on obtaining daily data using consolidated data from their feeds into CWT’s data repository. corporate card providers, American Buyers long have been troubled Express and Diners Club, for more by the lack of actual data reporting than six months, said CWT global and have historically relied on product director of corporate card booked data in supplier negotiations. and expense management Dawn According to Raasch, one test client Raasch, who has been leading the has begun a sourcing initiative usdevelopment for more than a year. ing the new tool. The test clients alThe Agency+Card Reporting tool ready have found discrepancies in matches booked and actual data booked versus actual data. One thought its hotel comfrom CWT and the client’s preferred card For the latest breaking news, pliance was around see btnonline.com/bn the perceived industry vendor to measure the percentage of air and hotel transac- average of 60 percent, but instead tions in compliance with policy and found the program in the 40 percent highlight noncompliant travelers. to 50 percent range. The system uses customized reports “That’s often the challenge for the and dashboard technology to track agency and the buyer to say, ‘I know several compliance metrics in each what was booked through the spend category. agency, but what I need to know The travel management compa- what was spent and what was billed ny plans to integrate the tool with once the traveler hits the street,’ ” other major card providers for said TRX’s Davis. “We don’t pay for clients who add it into CWT’s Pro- what we reserve. We pay for what gram Management Center portal, we spend.” which it said is used by more than ■ sharris@btnonline.com ■ BY SETH HARRIS MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL LOWERS PROFIT EXPECTATIONS Marriott International, generally the earliest chain to report performance and often a hotel industry bellwether, continued to temper its 2008 outlook after sluggish firstquarter domestic revenue growth. In North America, revenue per available room grew by only 2.3 percent for the quarter, although international growth was much stronger. Marriott slightly lowered its 2008 profit outlook, although it maintained its forecast for revenue per available room growth of between 3 and 5 percent for 2008. Marriott also said that group bookings for the rest of the year are strong. INSIDE TRACK DOT TO RAISE DENIED BOARDING COMPENSATION Amid fierce opposition from air carriers, the Department of Transportation said in May it will double the maximum amount airlines must compensate involuntarily bumped passengers. Under the rule, passengers who are involuntarily bumped would receive compensation equal to their one-way fare up to $400 if they are rescheduled to reach their destination within two hours of their original arrival time for domestic and four hours for international flights, and $800 if they reach their destination after those times. DOT said it also would apply the rule to previously exempt aircraft that seat between 30 and 60 people. U.S. EXPANDING VISA WAIVER PROGRAM The United States dramatically has expanded the number of countries participating it the Visa Waiver Program, most recently signing a Memorandum of Understanding with South Korea that may clear the way for its inclusion later this year. The accord, which puts into force such enhanced security procedures as an electronic system of travel authorization for air passengers, was signed April 18. Similar agreements have been signed with the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania and Malta, which would join the 27 other participating countries that enhance security measures for airports that originate U.S. flights, including permitting air marshals. However, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in late April proposed a rule requiring airlines and cruise lines to collect departing foreign visitors’ fingerprints and transmit them to DHS, and said if the procedures were not put into place by June 30, 2009, the planned extension of the Visa Waiver Program might not be possible. The department intends to implement the procedures by January 2009. While visa-holding foreign visitors are required to submit fingerprints when entering the United States (BTNonline, Jan. 4, 2004), both the International Air Transport Association and the Air Transport Association of America stated collecting biometric information should be the responsibility of the government, not suppliers. DHS will publish a final rule following a 60day public comment period. U.S. TO PILOT INT’L REGISTERED TRAVELER PROGRAM U.S. Customs and Border Protection this summer plans to pilot a voluntary expedited entry process for U.S. citizens and permanent residents. CBP said it would start taking applications May 12. The program will launch June 10 at New York’s John F. Kennedy International, Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental and Washington Dulles International airports. Applicants must provide the government with biometric information, undergo a background check and pay a $100 fee. Members can bypass customs lines and go to a kiosk to scan passports, have photographs taken, answer declaration questions and submit fingerprints. A receipt is printed and presented to a CBP officer. 4 Monday, May 5, 2008 www.BTNonline.com Business Travel News http://btnonline.com/bn http://www.BTNonline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Business Travel News - May 5, 2008

Business Travel News - May 5, 2008
Contents
Inside Track
Profile
BTN Research
Aviation
Lodging
Travel Management
Travel Management Tech
Executive Dashboard
Corporate Travel World
Destinations

Business Travel News - May 5, 2008