|
Related Newslog Items July 21, 2010 NBTA called the Obama Administration "misguided" and USTA branded as "short-sighted" the White House's target for a 13 percent reduction in greenhouse gas pollution by 2020. President Obama had announced the conservation efforts would include employee travel, prompting the National Business Travel Association to say it was "concerned this unilateral action could undermine the slight recovery the travel industry is just now starting to experience." The White House statements, according to NBTA executive director Mike McCormick, "seem to imply that cutting travel is the goal. The goal should be to use travel as cost-effectively as possible to meet the needs of the United States. Instead of unilateral cuts, I encourage government agencies to reach out to the industry and learn how to properly manage travel and 'green' their travel system." The United States Travel Association issued a response indicating "this type of arbitrary and across-the-board approach will further economic decline at precisely the wrong time. We call on the Obama Administration to work with the travel community to promote sustainable business travel initiatives through incentives."
July 15, 2010 NBTA called on the U.S. Department of Transportation to "use its existing and common sense authority to direct the airlines to provide full transparency" on ancillary fees. According to comments provided by NBTA to a congressional subcommittee examining airline fees, "ancillary fees are ultimately part of the total net fare. It is imperative that airlines provide full transparency to the public, including corporate travel managers and travel agencies, with regard to all fares, fees and other charges related to transporting passengers and their luggage, as well as booking, ticketing, billing, and fulfilling those services." NBTA also wrote that it formed a task force to seek solutions for challenges related to ancillary fees. It includes representatives from AirPlus, Amadeus, American Airlines, American Express, ARC, Airilne Tariff Publishing Company, BCD Travel, Concur, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, MasterCard, Monsanto, Sabre, Thomson Reuters, 3sixtysourcing, TRX and US Airways. March 23, 2010 The Association of Corporate Travel Executives board appointed Angela Naegele treasurer-elect until May 19 when she is to begin a 19-month term as treasurer. The Reed Elsevier global procurement vice president and former ACTE board member agreed to serve as a volunteer officer following the resignations last summer of treasurer Brad Seitz and treasurer-elect Mary Ellen George, as well as two other officers, amid failed attempts to merge with the National Business Travel Association. March 11, 2010 Amadeus delayed the target date for general release of its Amadeus One agent desktop from the second half of this year to 2011. The company revamped the product's user interface, which it demonstrated as a prototype at last year's National Business Travel Association convention. "We will have our pilots running live bookings through Amadeus One by the summer of this year," said director of product management and support services Alix Arguelles, referring to two test environments including one at Travel Leaders Corporate. "Our goal is to complete the pilot by the end of the year so we can start implementation of new customers in early 2011." Amadeus altered the interface for easier navigation: "For instance, we have learned that agents are not keen on using the mouse; they really like keyboard more than the mouse, so we want to make sure that you can navigate through the application using the keyboard," said Arguelles. "We have had to change some controls in order to be able to do that." February 23, 2010 Thanks to an InterContinental Hotels Group sponsorship, NBTA dropped the annual $595 fee for unlimited use by members of its Managed Travel Index and Benchmarking Tool, developed starting in 2004 by consultants hired by the National Business Travel Association Foundation. The move is part of what NBTA is calling its "New Membership for a New Decade" program, which is "aimed at expanding the scope and value of benefits to members of the association. The program is set to deliver new and enhanced services to members during the course of the next 12 months and beyond." January 21, 2010 The Finnish Business Travel Association joined NBTA Europe. "The decision means that all four Nordic regions are now committed to the network," according to an NBTA Europe statement. January 7, 2010 The German Business Travel Association rejected NBTA's invitation to NBTA Europe and will continue to support the predecessor Paragon group, according to a VDR statement. NBTA and the Institute of Travel & Meetings announced the new NBTA Europe group on Wednesday. "The newly founded NBTA Europe will withdraw from the Paragon Partnership, a global alliance of business travel associations, and aims to portray itself independently as the European voice of the industry," according to the VDR statement, in which it also said Paragon's "influence is not to be underestimated. As a founder member of this association, the VDR will therefore continue to support Paragon and will refrain from joining NBTA Europe. We are closely monitoring the development of the new association and are maintaining a dialogue with the NBTA. However, we do not see eye to eye on the purposes and approach of the new NBTA Europe. We prefer to continue cooperating on a bilateral basis as appropriate and will therefore communicate regarding international topics. At the same time, we are considering a German-speaking alliance with Switzerland and the Austrian business travel association ABTA. The VDR intends to continue presenting international political topics in collaboration with Paragon. The VDR does not see any added value for the association and its members in founder membership of the new NBTA Europe. We want to remain independent and neutral, free of commercial interests." January 5, 2010 Sixteen percent of 152 travel managers polled by NBTA said their companies were "assessing" travel cuts following the Dec. 25 incident aboard a Northwest Airlines aircraft. Eighty-one percent of respondents said their companies would not reduce travel as a result, according to the National Business Travel Association. Forty-three percent said the attack "raised new concerns about the safety of air travel," while 42 percent said it did not. December 3, 2009 The Association of Corporate Travel Executives posted a job listing for its open executive director position, indicating that the appointed person would likely initiate his or her term in April. Susan Gurley resigned effective Dec. 1, but is available for another month to aid the transition to interim executive director Megan Costello. August 27, 2009 Direct members this week at the NBTA convention in San Diego elected three directors-at-large while allied members elected one. The new National Business Travel Association directors are Thomson Reuters travel services director Sharon Fogarty, Miller Coors strategic sourcing manager Pamela McTeer and Atmel Corporation travel manager Mark Ziegler (direct members each to serve a three-year term), and Concur senior director of segment marketing Christopher Juneau (an allied member elected for a two-year term). Running unopposed, Hilton Hotels Corporation global travel management director Craig Banikowski formally was elected president and Monsanto travel manager Jim McMullan became vice president.
|
|
|
retweet
share
share
share
share
share
share
