 1997 Winter ACTE Quarterly: President's Message | 1997 Pricing Outlook | Long-Awaited Travel Index PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE: WORKING IN CONCERT We've just finished two of the most interesting years in the history of travel management. As this issue's cover story suggests, we expect 1997 to be an interesting one too, as we struggle with some of the familiar challenges in our industry (how can we continue to improve travel management processes? will technology ever deliver its high-flown promises?) and some new issues as well. Will there be continued consolidation and partnering between airlines? Will the distribution of air transportation--and the whole reservations process, for that matter--change as dramatically as has been forecast? How is the travel manager's role evolving, with supplier "partners" and within their own organizations? Whatever the future holds, we're working together as never before. There never has been more communication and coordination among players in this industry. Airlines once competing fiercely for market share (BA and AA, for example) are cooperating with an unprecedented number of code-share and relating marketing alliances. Travel agencies are partnering more than ever with third-party software developers--the same ones that tried to make reservations totally "agentless." Even very close to home, ACTE has joined forces with NBTA to work on a joint project for the standardization of hotel folio data. I suspect that in the next two years we will see more co-developed solutions. While travel management strategies will remain relatively consistent, the tools we will use to accomplish those goals probably won't resemble what we use today. With candor and careful follow-through, however, the relationships we build today will be strong and lasting.
Earl Foster
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