ACTE was founded in 1988, through the vision of corporate travel
suppliers and buyers seeking to establish equitable representation
within the travel management profession. The day’s sole national trade
association within the United States chose to differentiate between
members, denying suppliers the right to vote or hold certain levels of
office. Despite this blatant injustice, these same supplier members were
often expected to sponsor educational programs, trade shows, and
legislative undertakings, placing an unfair financial burden upon them,
and leading to a further discrepancy and rift between members.
The ACTE founders foresaw a global organization in which corporate
travel buyers and suppliers were treated equally and could work
together in a mutual partnership, developing a unique and valuable
educational resource for business travel professionals. Joined by
progressive senior-level travel executives, their model called for an
international network, emphasizing smaller, more numerous educational
forums held not only in the United States, but also throughout the
world.
Free of a professional caste system, ACTE immediately attracted
some of the most powerful names in business travel management. As a
result, the young organization was able to systematically expand the
scope and breadth of its educational agenda
With offices in Africa, Asia, Canada, Europe, Middle East and the
United States, in addition to the professional staff residing at the
international headquarters just outside of Washington, DC, ACTE is able
to provide support to its members in over 100 countries worldwide. ACTE
has grown to host or co-host more than 70 events and reach more than
30,000 executives each year.
While ACTE also works with ministries and government agencies
throughout the six populated continents and analyzes legislative
developments concerning the corporate travel industry such as safety,
security, privacy, and customer service, it declines political activism
or political action committee and special interest fundraising. As an
international organization, ACTE cannot raise money for legislative
efforts that give an unfair, inequitable advantage to one nation over
another, nor can it support legislation in potential conflict with other
member-supported efforts. It is ACTE’s duty and responsibility to
advocate on behalf of all its members, to educate executives on the
issues, to foster an open dialogue, and to encourage fair and balanced
solutions.
Global in every sense of the word, ACTE’s international board
(with more than 50 percent of its members from outside the United
States) recommends an integrated approach to national culture, corporate
culture, and common objectives in proposing uniform corporate travel
standards. The association does not export one country’s interpretation
of travel management policies and systems as the "best practice" for
the industry worldwide. Rather, ACTE relies on the experience and
expertise of its members, leaders, and staff within each region and
nation to develop the most relevant and applicable programs and events.
Thirty years after its founding, ACTE remains the primary resource
for global corporate travel. Its vision and action has carried the
industry through economic collapse, terrorism, pandemics, and other
natural and manmade upheaval. The ACTE model has become the industry
standard, its vision and action driving the industry through an age of
uncertainty.