ACTE Regional Summit

YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO MEET FACE-TO-FACE WITH YOUR
COLLEAGUES AND BEGIN RESHAPING THE FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY

RECOVERY - How do we get there?
The first ACTE Summit was conducted in San Francisco at Crowne Plaza San Francisco on Thursday, October 4. There were 60 participants representing virtually all segments of the business travel industry.

Major Themes

1.	--	Cost reduction trends
		There were many cost reduction trends in the marketplace prior to the tragedies of September 11. Early in 2001 many corporations had tightened up travel policies, more aggressively pursued technological alternatives to travel and reexamined the use of travel as a business communication tool. In 2001, corporations were seeking to reduce short-term costs in response to an economic slowdown, but were also taking the opportunity to secure longer-term cost and employee productivity benefits. In other words, many initiatives and policy changes were intended to be permanent. Events of 9/11 served to accelerate these trends in part because a U.S. economic recovery was presumably pushed further into the future. With less visibility to earnings recoveries, many corporations are seeking additional cost savings opportunities. Some new considerations were added to corporations' decisions regarding travel activity levels. Traveler safety and security in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 are having greater impact travel policy decisions at many companies. For many, security concerns will remain a major influencer of travel policy in the months ahead.

2.	--	Employee response to 9/11
		One corporate travel manager, who had recently finished a series of internal travel seminars, reported employees were "afraid" to fly. Other travel / purchasing managers reported that this was not the case at their companies. In general, Summit participants felt that concern about personal security was not a significant cause of reduced travel after 9/11.

3.	--	Smaller, more costly industry
		There was strong consensus that the travel industry--on a pro forma basis--will emerge from this crisis smaller. It was also acknowledged that air travel will become more costly due to higher costs airlines will incur for security, insurance and other items, and due to fewer airline competitors. It is assumed by most that not all domestic U.S. carriers will survive the coming months and that barriers to new airline entry will become even higher that in past years.

4.	--	Balance security and inconvenience
		A view emerged during the meeting that, despite best efforts to tighten security, our aviation system, as well as other U.S. systems, is porous and that terrorist attacks can be expected in the future. Americans will need to become accustomed to this new environment. The group felt that Americans will need to find an appropriate and acceptable balance between security and inconvenience.

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