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TOP EVENT, BOTTOM LINE
Melia White House at Regents Park
London, U.K.
9 September 2004
View Press Release: ACTE Executive Forum Focuses On Corporate Travel's Pace of Change
To view presentations, click here
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Over hundreds of ACTE members from around the globe met at the Sol Melia White House in London last week at a sold out Executive Forum to discuss topics crucial to travel managers, suppliers and corporate buyers, and prepare the group's constituency for an intense international conference, scheduled 17-19 October, in Stockholm, Sweden.
Topics hot on ACTE's agenda at the Times's sponsored London forum included looming GDS deregulation in Europe, changes to the antiquated IATA regulations governing ticketing and payment, and the impact of online travel management firms to the traditional corporate agency business model.
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Discussions on the those subjects will be greatly expanded upon at the Stockholm meeting, where ACTE will call on its members from the US, Canada, Asia Pacific and EMEA to sign a commitment letter that will be sent to the European Commission urging it to update IATA regulations.
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In preparation for the Stockholm meeting, and in conjunction with CTAG, ACTE has launched a letter campaign to Europe's highest governing body protesting the current rules. ACTE will report on its delivery and the Commission's response in Stockholm. The issues raised in the letter sent by ACTE on behalf of its membership will be reviewed by the Commission at its 18 October meeting in Brussels. The Commission is subsequently expected to generate a feasibility study that will be used to create an alternative to IATA. The feasibility study is slated for release on 25 November.
ACTE members present at the forum cited a need for a single billing settlement plan, known as BSP, as a chief reason to update the current IATA regulations. However, attendees noted that the Commission's feasibility study could prove useful in areas outside of the narrow body of IATA, such as how to address the impact of airline mergers.
"Our goal of the forum is to update each member on the role each can play on these important issues and return to those subjects in Stockholm," said Nadine Dewart, ACTE's EMEA Regional Chair.
Forum attendees also honed in on the impact of deregulation of the global distribution systems in Europe. Deregulation would end the mandatory participation requirement, which compels the airlines to display equally their inventory in each GDS. Unlike in the US, where all airlines have divested their interest in the four GDSs, in Europe Amadeus is still owned in part by Air France, Iberia and Lufthansa. Opponents of deregulation in Europe argue that a deregulated environment where one GDS is still airline-owned could result in inventory bias, thereby preventing TMCs and corporations from gaining equal access to carriers' products. ACTE is working closely with members to develop a White Paper that will examine the effects of deregulation on all segments of the travel industry, and will call on the European Commission to review the Paper's findings before making its decision.
ACTE is preparing the White Paper in conjunction with Cranfield University, based in the UK. The Paper's findings will be based in part on the analysis of hundreds of comments collected during the London Forum, as well as member input received in Stockholm. Dr. Fariba Alamdari, Cranfield's Head of Air Transport Group, who is a keynote speaker at the Stockholm conference, will release the results of the comments she collected last week during a lively tête-à-tête between senior representatives from the airlines, GDSs, TMCs and corporate buyers.
Speaking during the final session in London, Dr. Alamdari noted it is imperative for all of ACTE's members to come together in order to face the tough issues before them. "Everyone, the airlines, GDSs, TMCs, corporations' needs to put their differences aside and work together if there is going to be any solutions to these issues," said Dr. Alamdari. Her comment struck a tender chord with attendees, as sounds of applause resonated in the jam-packed ballroom.
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Attendees at the Stockholm conference will have another chance to participate in discussions led by Dr. Alamdari, among other notable speakers. "ACTE is determined to build value for our members on both a global and local level, and raise awareness of the issues that affect our industry," said ACTE President Garth Jopling.
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