For Immediate Release
1 March 2010
Brussels, Belgium --
A joint educational endeavor between the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) and the Belgian Association of Travel Management (BATM) opened to a “sold-out” crowd, on 22 February 2010, at the Van der Valk Hotel Brussels Airport. One hundred twenty-one business travel management executives — 60 percent of whom were corporate travel buyers/managers — convened to get the latest assessment on global distribution system developments (GDS), the most current approach to controlling unbundled/ancillary fees, and to evaluate the most effective strategies for traveller security.
“Whilst the official theme of the event was, ‘Eyes Wide Open: Facing Uncertainty in Business Travel,’ the mood of the participants was anything but uncertain,” said ACTE President Richard Crum. “After 18 months of uncertainty in the global business travel sector, the delegates of this event were a force majeure in the strictest sense of the definition, with the ob
The event began with a welcoming address from Corrado Simontacchi, Manager, Corporate Purchasing Goods and Services, Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Asia Pacific, for Huntsman who was also the moderator of the event; and from Pascal Struyve,Global Travel, Fleet & Meeting Services Director, Trane - Ingersoll Rand, and President of the BATM.
The agenda opened with a Keynote Presentation ti
The keynote presentation was followed by an interactive discussion on unbundled and ancillary fees. These issues, and more accurately how to deal with them remains one of the most pressing common challenges shared by business travel managers around the world. The second part of the program covered security issues, in a session ti
“I thank and congratulate the event’s planning committee and BATM for their vision and boldness in addressing these issues together with ACTE ,” stated Christine Dunton-Tinnus, ACTE Regional Director, Europe. Committee members include:
Suppliers also found this recent event fertile ground for investment, as it provided a buyer-to-supplier ratio that was nearly double the industry average, but fairly standard for ACTE events in Europe. “Thumbs up and a big thanks for a great event in Brussels.” stated Jeroen van der Velde, Commercial Director, Carlson Wagonlit Travel. “Top speakers, great preparation, good crowd, excellent work.”