Business Travel News - November 24, 2008 - (Page 4)

NEWS Consolidator Fares Pique Interest BY JAY BOEHMER there are potential savings opportuCorporate travel buyers are re- nities from using consolidator fares, porting increased interest in consol- they come at the expense of less idator fares, “wholesale” airline in- control over travel spending. Nearventory often sold at a rate lower ly 63 percent of the respondents said than published fares, but their use the use of fare consolidators could remains minimal and adoption does potentially reduce travel spending, not come without some travel man- and BTC chairman Kevin Mitchell agement pitfalls, show results of a noted, “It’s not unusual, for examBusiness Travel ple, for a $10,000 Coalition study refare, available via a leased this month. corporate travel proA BTC survey of gram, to be offered 152 corporate travby a consolidator for el buyers shows that $5,000.” Still, their 37 percent of reusage also can trip spondents said up some fundamenthere is increased tals of a managed interest among travtravel program. elers in using ticket Nearly 91 percent consolidators, of respondents said though only 13 pertracking travelers cent said they curpurchasing such rently use consolidafares is difficult and KEVIN MITCHELL tor fares, while an about 81 percent BTC chairman additional 15 persaid such tickets are cent are considering largely nonrefundtheir use. The small population of able, potentially diminishing any savconsolidator adopters said they use ings from a booking not followed by such purchasing options no more a trip. Further potential drawbacks than 10 percent of the time. to using such offerings, the survey Continued on page 18 Though many respondents said AVIS BUDGET DECLINES MAJORITY CAREY STAKE Avis Budget Group this month confirmed to Business Travel News that it has declined to increase its stake in chauffeured transportation provider Carey International to 80 percent from 45 percent. Avis Budget had one year to assume the majority stake following its initial $60 million October 2007 investment in Carey (BTNonline, Nov. 19, 2007). “Due to the challenging economic environment, we have chosen not to exercise our option,” an Avis Budget spokesperson said in a statement. Avis Budget officials had described the initial investment in Carey as a way to diversify its offerings to offer a complete ground transportation solution to the corporate market. Industry consultant Neil Abrams, president of Abrams Consulting, predicted the investment still would prove wise. “This is a combination of a very uncertain market for chauffeured transportation and a desire to be conservative,” Abrams said. “Avis and Carey still would be a formidable branding and operational initiative that will separate them from the competition.” INSIDE TRACK DOT TASK FORCE RECOMMENDS TARMAC DELAY PRACTICES A U.S. Department of Transportation task force established to evaluate extended delays on the tarmac in a report this month offered advice to airlines on how to handle such occurrences, but little in the way of binding law. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters in a statement this month said the task force “voted 34 to 1 in favor of a model contingency planning document that can be used by airlines and airports to develop their own individualized plans to deal with lengthy tarmac delays.”While airlines applauded the recommendations, Kate Hanni, a crusader for a Passenger Bill of Rights and head of flyersrights.org, called the task force report an “insult to passengers.” CONTINENTAL STILL PART OF SKYTEAM Though the close of the Delta-Northwest merger helps to free Continental of its SkyTeam obligations, the carrier is looking toward the end of next year to officially join the Star Alliance. “There’s still a number of things that have to occur before we can fully transition,” said senior vice president of sales Dave Hilfman. “As we get closer to transitioning from SkyTeam to Star, we’ll have discussions with clients on what that means and new agreements that could be moved over to Star, but today it remains business as usual.” HOTEL CHAINS FEEL THIRD-QUARTER PINCH PERCENTAGE CHANGE VS.THE THIRD QUARTER OF 2007 Net Income Choice InterContinental Marriott Starwood Wyndham Industrywide -6.5% -28.3% -28.2% -12.4% 21.3% NA Domestic RevPAR -1.6% 0.0% -1.0% -0.5% -4.2% -1.1% Worldwide RevPAR NA 1.6% 3.4% 3.5% -2.7% NA Average Daily Rate 2.7% NA 6.2% 6.1% NA 2.7% MARRIOTT TO OPEN CHICAGO REGIONAL SALES OFFICE Marriott International expects to open a new regional sales office in Chicago by year-end, building on the company’s initiative to centralize its sales process and give customers a single sales contact for all hotels in each region across its eight core brands. Marriott opened its first such regional office in the Washington, D.C., area about one year ago (BTNonline, Dec. 19, 2007). Marriott has said its eventual goal is to have about a dozen sales offices across the country. GETTHERE TO DELIVER ASIAN LANGUAGE VERSIONS GetThere next quarter plans to launch its first double-byte language version of the online booking tool with a client in Korea. Double-byte is computerese for Asian-language character texts. In contrast, English character texts are in single-byte. GetThere senior vice president Chris Kroeger said the tool’s first foray into double-byte enables it to adapt versions for other Asian points-of-sale. GetThere now offers site administration classes and training in foreign languages. Sources: Company earnings reports, Smith Travel Research Hotel company profits took a hit in the third quarter of 2008 amid declining demand and occupancy. Wyndham bucked that trend, thanks in part to increased revenues from acquisitions. Domestically, revenue per available room declined for most companies, although stronger performance internationally modestly boosted global RevPAR. Despite these difficulties, both Marriott and Starwood recorded more than 6 percent increases in average daily rate for the quarter. 4 Monday, November 24, 2008 www.BTNonline.com Business Travel News http://www.flyersrights.org http://www.BTNonline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Business Travel News - November 24, 2008

Business Travel News - November 24, 2008
Contents
Inside Track
Profiles In Travel Mgmt.
Forum
11th Annual Airline Survey
Aviation
Travel Management
Lodging
Payment & Expense Systems
Benchmarking Europe’s Biggest
Asia/Pacific

Business Travel News - November 24, 2008