Twelve education seminars dealing with crucial subject matter are presented by seasoned practitioners and experts. ACTE’s innovative approach to professional education, by offering varied formats, is designed to increase the educational value by expanding opportunities for attendees to interact with presenters.

Compliments of:

W101 FUNDAMENTALS OF MANAGED TRAVEL: Procurement and Programme Development
If you were new to travel, you did not want to miss this session. This unique programme was designed especially for executives who are new to the business. A seasoned business travel professional defined the travel management process and the building blocks essential to an effective programme, which included the development of a policy that supports the business mission, available tools and the importance of integration, and performance measurement. If you attended this session you gained invaluable insights on the key principles and best practices that will enhance your ability to manage your travel spend, improve your relationships with suppliers and return value to your company.

W102 RISK OF PROCUREMENT IN TRAVEL: The Other Side of the Coin
Procurement-related processes are currently viewed as one of the central strategies in progressive business travel management. Strong financial advantages and benefits of the discipline have been hailed across many corporations. This session focused on what were the risks accompanying a ?traditional? procurement approach in the category of business travel products and services? How do you capture savings from your supply chain without sacrificing value? How best to balance cost vs convenience and quality of service? What risks do TMCs and supply partners anticipate in this new environment? How will the procurement function?s emphasis on transparency affect both buyers and suppliers of business travel? This session had it all.

W103 EMERGING MARKETS: The Middle East & Gulf Region
Despite the dominance of oil in many of the economies of the Middle East and Gulf, numerous countries in the region are making significant investments in private sector development as they continue to diversify and grow their economies.   The region is also increasingly engaged on the larger international economic stage as exemplified by Saudi Arabia’s accession to the WTO, after 10 years of negotiations, at the end of last year.  These developments have given rise to a growing demand for managed travel programs.   This session explored the top travel management challenges in the region, including the shift to a zero commission environment, the tradeoffs between “local” and “global” account management and the related MIS issues, the future of SBTs in a market where agencies currently handle over 90% of transactions, and security and crisis management challenges unique to the region. 
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W202 SUCCESSFUL COMMUNICATIONS: Managing Change and Relationships Across Cultures
For all the logic of globalising travel policies, enormous hurdles exist. Corporate cultures aren’t consistent country to country, never mind region to region. Neither is policy, and often for good reason. Laws and informal local practices prohibit standardisation of certain mandates, such as those involving the use of charge cards. Even how people respond to being “managed” varies—in some countries, employees openly flaunt guidelines; in others, they’re followed to the letter.  Pressure is mounting to communicate change effectively and to promote adaptations to policies allowing travel programme-flexibility to suit local needs. W202 offered tips on how to create a successful communication strategy and influence compliance for your travel program whether your corporation’s culture supports mandates or not.
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W203 ONLINE SECURITY BREACH ALERT: Do You Have a Leaky Online Solution?
While online booking tools and automated expense management systems offer numerous benefits—from operational efficiencies, cost savings and better MIS capabilities, there are also potential risks involved in transferring your company’s profile data and travel patterns electronically.  Do you know what happens to your data when it leaves you?  Do you have adequate data control policies in place?  This session explored all those subjects and provided advice for corporate purchasers on what they can do to protect their company’s vital information.
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T101 MOBILITY AND BUSINESS CONTINUITY: Travel Managers’ Latest KPI?
As businesses continue to globalize, whether through market expansion, trade liberalization or outsourcing, employees are increasingly “in motion.”   But travel and time away from the office, while essential to the conduct of global commerce, still presents a significant disruption in work flow, communication and productivity.   What role, if any, should travel management professionals play in mitigating these losses?   This seminar examined the opportunities for travel management beyond the traditional portfolio of T&E cost management and explores ways in which various industries are defining and applying performance measurement standards in this arena.      

T102 NEGOTIATIONS WITH LOW COST AIRLINES: How to Get Maximum Value?
CANCELED

T103 SUCCESSFUL GLOBAL PROGRAMMES, PART 1
Implementing a global travel management programme is a common goal for many multi-national corporations and promises significant payoffs in terms of supplier leverage, cost savings and better MIS capability. This seminar examined the variety of definitions and approaches to establishing a global programme, given the myriad of corporate structures, requirements and supplier capabilities that abound.   What are the prime benefits of globalizing?   What challenges and compromises should travel managers expect to make in terms of planning, implementing, negotiating, measuring and gaining buy-in from both senior management and employees? 
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T 201 NEGOTIATIONS WITH HOTELS: Optimizing Your Spend in a Seller’s Market
According to hotel industry analysts, average daily rates per occupied room in most major markets worldwide will continue to rise throughout 2006.  This will especially impact travel budgets wherein hotel spend typically accounts for 30-40% of a corporation's total travel spend.  Optimizing hotel spend is a challenging task due to the fragmented nature of the expenditure, the volatility of the market itself along with the traditionally uncontrolled behaviours of travellers in this area.  Travel managers and hotel revenue management experts shared their tips for how to create an intelligent hotel management programme and improve savings and satisfaction for all parties. 

T202 PROCUREMENT TRENDS: Managed Travel's Contribution to Other Categories of Indirect Spend
The emergence of the procurement function into prominence is a phenomenon that transcends national boundaries and industry lines.  As a result, breaking down silos and coordinating activities across business functions is becoming increasing important.   This seminar provided insight on the current status and future trends of managed travel among other categories of indirect spend.  Experts offered their perspective on the following issues: How does managed travel rank in strategic importance against other categories of spend?  Are there unique skills and processes which are inherent in business travel procurement that can be assets to other categories of indirect spend and vice versa?  What is the importance of personal relationships and what are appropriate performance metrics for services procurement as compared to manufacturing/commodity purchasing?  What are the current trends in BPO (business process outsourcing) for indirect spend categories and what affect might these have on the procurement of travel? 
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T203 SUCCESSFUL GLOBAL PROGRAMMES, PART 2
The second part of this seminar presented the framework to manage the technical, data, and human resource requirements in a global environment that is dynamic and unpredictable. Delegates learned best-in-class techniques and practices in applying these assets to obtain optimal results globally and locally, including the viability of global agreements across various supplier categories such as airline alliances and hotel chains.
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