For Immediate Release!
December 17, 2003
ACTE Links Changing Travel Management Role with Future Challenges at London Forum
(London, 17 Dec.) - The changing role of the travel manager took its place among future challenges under scrutiny by business travel management experts, convened for a day-long forum in London by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE), on 4 December, 2002. The event drew industry travel executives from Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland -- as well as a home-based contingent in the United Kingdom -- for an interactive workshop that spanned a new philosophy for meeting higher cost-containment expectations, cross-cultural issues and a stronger awareness of the travel management contribution to overall corporate objectives.
ACTE President Cheryl Hutchinson opened the meeting with an overview of the association's agenda for 2003 -- three initiatives covering traveler security (Registered Traveller), airfare rationalization, and The Changing Role of the Travel Manager. "The last of these is especially significant to European travel managers, as it works well with different corporate and national cultures, builds influence within a corporation, changes the way your company reviews your effort and helps to align the travel program with corporate objectives," said Hutchinson.
The workings of the initiative were presented as an industry perspective by Pearse Reynolds, head of corporate travel for UK & Ireland for American Express. The crux of the presentation, which included survey results and an analysis of corporate expectations, is that travel managers cannot hope to meet greater performance expectations with dated thinking and tired practices, but must rely on outside-the-box strategies and new approaches to corporate goals.
"This forum represents the start of serialized educational presentations in Europe," said Hutchinson. "While it offered excellent 'stand-alone' points to be incorporated in a strategy or travel program, it's part of a much larger picture. It's a great starting point and will be referenced throughout other forums next year."
For more information, contact:
Jack Riepe, ACTE Communications
1-610-256-0124 or [email protected]
Founded in 1988, the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) is a member-driven organization wholly dedicated to the science of business travel management with an international constituency. ACTE membership totals more than 2,400, including business travel executives in Asia-Pacific, Canada, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Latin America and the United States. The organization is headquartered in Alexandria, Va., with regional offices located in Brussels, and Singapore. ACTE's web site is www.acte.org.
