Business Travel News - June 16, 2008 - (Page 1)

JUNE 16, 2008 INSIDE Maritz Launches Mtgs. Data Warehouse . . . 4 DHS To Begin Online Visa Waiver Program. . 6 Buyers Eye Medical Assistance Services . . 10 Amtrak To Revisit Acela Discount Levels . . 19 Bank Shares Best Meeting Practices . . . . . . 20 3 6 16 HOTEL CEOS SEE TRAVEL POLICY BA’S OPENSKIES TOUGHER TIMES STRIKES GOLD BEGINS NY-PARIS Blackstone’s Gray Basil Chamra sees gateway cities pioneers managed holding up. travel in S. Africa. Managing director Dale Moss finetuning for launch. BTNonline.com Siemens Seeks Protection For Corporate Travel Data BY SETH HARRIS Carriers Slash U.S. Capacity BY JAY BOEHMER Siemens Shared Services director of travel management Steven Schoen, alarmed at the extent to which his data is being sold to companies with which he does not even do business, is pursuing a solution with his preferred travel management and global disSTEVEN SCHOEN tribution system companies to protect the Pooling data for privacy privacy of employee travel patterns. During the 2008 hotel request-for-proposals season, individual nonpreferred hoteliers contacted Siemens commodity specialists to ask about gaining more of their business, armed with the number of room nights Siemens booked in the hotels’ zip codes. The hotel salespeople were using data purchased from hospitality business inContinued on page 8 Domestic airline industry downsizing continued in recent weeks as several carriers announced steep capacity withdrawals, employee reductions and fleet retirements to cope with unrelenting fuel costs. Industry analysts said further reductions are likely—as are higher fares, more crowded planes and reduced schedules. United Airlines this month said it would reduce mainline domestic capacity by 14.5 percent in the fourth quarter and 18 percent in 2009. Continental in September plans to ini- tiate its latest round of capacity reductions after the peak summer travel season, expecting fourth-quarter mainline domestic departures to be down 16 percent from the same period last year, with domestic seat miles reduced by 11.4 percent from that time. American Airlines last month said it also plans a drastic fourth-quarter mainline domestic capacity slash of up to 12 percent. “The airline industry is in a crisis,” Continental CEO Larry Kellner and president Jeff Smisek told employees in a memo this month. “Its Continued on page 24 REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: ACTE/BTN’S CORPORATE TRAVEL WORLD ONE-ON-ONE AMADEUS EXEC. VP COMMERCIAL DAVID JONES Buyers Brace For Managing Demand Washington, D.C. - Travel buyers are bracing for the difficult economy through tighter controls on expenses as well as reducing the number of trips through remote conferencing, according to a panel of Corporate Travel 100 travel managers meeting during the Business Travel News’ Corporate Travel World and the Assocation of Corporate Travel Executives’ Global EdPostmaster: Newspaper Handling/Periodicals Postaage ucation Conference collocated here last month. Debra Goldmann, senior specialist of travel services for Verizon, said her team is employing a number of tools to push travelers to virtual meetings whenever feasible, particularly following a cost-analysis study regarding the associated savings. “We found a face-to-face meeting is Continued on page 25 Amadeus To Further Airline Retailing Amadeus by 2010 plans to roll out its Airline Retailing Platform to offer merchandizing, upselling and unbundling options to airlines through the global distribution system. Executive vice president of commercial David Jones sat down with BTN senior editor Jay Boehmer late last month to discuss the platform’s evolution. BTN: What’s the Airline Retailing Platform status? David Jones: The last few years have been a Continued on page 26 Big business. Small rate. Wise move. Saves you money Call 1-800-331-3550 or visit Thrifty.com/business today. ©2008 Thrifty Rent-A-Car System, Inc. Thrifty.com is a trademark of Thrifty, Inc. All rights reserved. Thrifty features quality products from Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep® and other ﬁne cars. you plan the trip leave the rest to us chain code: RA ramada.com 1-800-2Ramada © 2008 Ramada Worldwide Inc. All rights reserved. All hotels are independently owned and operated. http://BTNonline.com http://Thrifty.com/business http://Thrifty.com/business http://ramada.com http://Thrifty.com http://ramada.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Business Travel News - June 16, 2008

Business Travel News - June 16, 2008
Contents
Inside Track: Citi, TMCs Test Traveler-Tracking Tech
Profile: South African Firm Mines Travel Savings
BTN Research: Emergency Medical Assistance
Forum: Delta, Northwest Deal Doesn't Add Up
Aviation: Dale Moss Pilots OpenSkies' Launch
Lodging: NY Legislation Worries Corp. Housers
Ground Transportation: Amtrack Eyes Discounts
Meetings Today: Decentralized Co. Interacts
Executive Dashboard: Air, Hotel Demand Slipping

Business Travel News - June 16, 2008