Press Release

For Immediate Release
16 March 2005

ACTE Calls for High State of Preparedness

Singapore -- - The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) made the state of preparedness the central theme at its recent executive forum on 10 March in Singapore.

ACTE has identified that a significant proportion of travel managers had expressed high levels of concern regarding the health, safety and security for their travelling employees. The 2004 incidents including the recent Asian tsunami disaster raised further concerns regarding procedures that manage risk exposure and crisis management among these executives. The topic was addressed by Grant Brown, Security Operations Manager, Asia-Pacific for International SOS's worldwide headquarters situated here in Singapore. Among his recommendations was the call to recognize some of the latest advancements in mobile telecommunications and integrate these into their risk management strategies. Companies today need to look at multiple channels to maintain communications with their travelling employees. With the advent of satellite global positioning system technology and other 'sci-fi' communications devices, a consenting employee could potentially be traced to within metres of his location. This could lead to a multitude of applications, including for example having biometric data communicated to medical support services, or having the location of a kidnap victim pinpointed on a digital map to assist in their recovery.

Grant also presented other recommendations:

* Making reviews of current crisis management plans to assess how "actionable" such procedures are in actual situations of crisis.
* Recognizing all stakeholders (families, company's employees, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, etc) and having a well-constructed process of communicating with each.
* Depending on the type of relationship between a corporation and a travel service provider the former may mandate a thorough examination of a travel vendor's security & safety capabilities in the vendor selection process. Suppliers continue to be an important piece of the security jigsaw which points to the need for close collaboration between customer organizations and vendors.

Finally, Grant discussed the readiness of organizations to cope with multiple crises. Whilst he acknowledged that it would be rare for an organization to have to deal with more than one major crisis at a time, he noted that companies with exposure in multiple markets could quite easily be subjected to a range of simultaneous contingencies. Such a scenario could easily overwhelm a multinational corporation that has exposure across a number of higher risk countries.
In a separate session still focussing on a state of preparedness the forum looked at the state of the airline industry, specifically the next direction airfares will take. Pascal Bordat, Director Associate Patrner of Corporate Value Associates looked at some of the macro pressures that would likely influence airfares. He cited the following as items to monitor:

* Disintermediation - GDS companies' fee charges - and its impact on the ticket cost - are coming under close scrutiny by airlines and corporations some of whom have contemplated a more direct transactional relationship. A deregulated distribution environment is likely to raise such questions. US airlines are already promoting the emergence of new generation distribution platforms. Major payment facilitators such as credit cards may also become part of the review process.
* Infrastructure - Privatization of airports and the cost relationship with airline operators. Air traffic control fees which follow little uniformity in this region should also be factored into airlines operating cost structure. Should movements in the way these infrastructure operators levy fees take place, corporations should expect some degree of air fare changes. Also the development of open sky agreements will create level playing fields for an increase of services and competition in the region, putting pressure on airfares.
* New entrants - The entry of low cost carriers (LCCs) have altered the shape of the industry. The extent to which their influence will be felt in the business travel segment will vary and depends on the response of both the corporate travellers and their companies. LCCs have shown how non-traditional distribution channels can provide both convenience and reliability.

In the final analysis the hot question that requires to be answered is where airfares are likely to be heading? Pascal Bordat offered his view, "The combined effects of these trends on the reduction of the cost of doing business, the increase of transparency in the airline distribution value chain and the fostering of more competition will result in overall airfare reductions."

ACTE will hold its next executive forum in Sydney on 14 April and these two topics will once again take centre stage. Australia's active role in fighting terrorism and its active role in recent natural disasters in markets where many Australian corporations have a deployment of employees makes it a relevant topic for discussion, The looming possibility of an open skies agreement may produce some alterations in the Australian and international airfares that will be of interest to corporations, travel management companies and other airlines. To find out more about the Sydney executive forum click on http://www.acte.org/events/sydney_041405/teaser.shtml

The executive forum series in Asia-Pacific is made possible through the support of global sponsors AirPlus International, Orbitz, TravelPORT and regional sponsors Business Travel International, Cathay Pacific, MasterCard International and Raffles International Hotels & Resorts

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Debbie Flynn
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London SW11 3BE England
T: 020 7326 9880
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