Toronto, ON (February 26, 2004) Corporations on the cutting edge of cost savings will target the merging of business travel and procurement, in an executive forum conducted by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives on March 10, in Toronto. Representatives from some of the largest companies in Ontario will participate in a discussion on this major shift in corporate purchasing. The unique nature of business travel and the stringent discipline of advanced corporate procurement raises several challenges to obvious benefits. In a session titled, "When Travel and Procurement Meet...," leading executives in the field will demonstrate how their companies are turning a new purchasing philosophy into a strategic advantage.

A supporting session will focus on the value proposition of hotel contracts in the face of changing distribution models. This discussion will focus on the need of hoteliers to avoid selling rooms below their costs versus corporate buyers need to secure the lowest possible room rates. At stake is the profit margin from a hotel industry in recovery and the corporate bottom-line for companies attempting to fund growth. A concluding discussion will provide travel executives with an assessment of their airline purchasing programmes, and an iron-clad measurement for maximum return.

This forum is significant as it interprets the impact of major shift in corporate culture, goes beyond previous methods of determining the value of accommodations, and provides companies with a true measure of their savings effectiveness in dealing with major carriers (the first step in considering the benefits of low-cost carriers). Members of the press are invited to attend and participate in the discussion.

The forum will convene at 8:00am, on 10 March 2004, at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel. To register, please click here .

Founded in 1988 as the research and educational resource for the business travel industry, ACTE has 2,500 members in 37 countries. The association is recognized internationally for it's statistics and studies on travel issues ranging from CAPPS II , to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act , to airfare reform .

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For more information, contact:
Jack Riepe
ACTE Communications Director
t: 610-719-8396
c: 610-256-0124
e: [email protected]

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