Meeting News - October 6, 2008 - (Page 14) Transportation & Services “There has never been a better time for meeting planners to start thinking defensively,” said Bill Connors, executive director and COO of the National Business Travel Association. This summer saw the collapse of Ottawa-based low-cost carrier Zoom and prior to its shutdown, SilverJet, MaxJet, and Eos Airlines all had already gone belly-up. Now, Italian national carrier Alitalia is facing collapse; at press time, rescue negotiations were at a standstill and some flights were canceled. Last-minute “out-of-business” signs and flight cancellations stranded passengers and rerouted planes. In Glasgow, a Zoom aircraft was on the runway and had been cleared for takeoff when word came that it would not be flying due to unpaid airport taxes. Passengers, with only an afternoon or an hour’s notice to rebook, were left with few options. While meeting planners surveyed by MeetingNews said that low-cost-carrier bankruptcies would not affect them directly because they did not book on those airlines, the threatened demise of larger airlines like Alitalia gives all business travelers pause and chaos. “Smart companies manage their travel and dumb ones don’t,” said Connors. “You have to consider evacuation services, risk management, cancellation contingencies. The mayhem in the airline industry is not over. Meeting planners should have strong travel management programs in place with major backup plans for all meetings that entail air travel.” Will there be light at the end of the tunnel? “My preference is to Edited by Terri Hardin terri.hardin@nielsen.com As Low-Cost Carriers Enter ‘No-Fly’ Zone, Could Bigs Be Next? Once considered the future of air travel, independents go bust while cancellations continue due to the fuel crisis think it will sort itself out,” added Connors.“You can’t blame the airlines for everything. The good news is that Congress and our presidential candidates are really concerned now with the energy issue.” Connors sees possible consolidation of airlines as the ultimate outcome. “Obviously, the NBTA is in favor of having multiple options for [air travel] buyers. But at this time, consolidation of some of the major airlines might be the answer, and it certainly looks like where we’re headed.” r —Gretchen Kelly Technology StarCite Unveils Hotel Rate-Analysis Service Meeting planners can project hotel rates in specific destinations up to one year in advance with a new service from StarCite. The Philadelphia-based company called Group Rate Advsor— its rate-analysis service that includes historical rate information and proposed rates—an industry first. “Meeting planners have never before had the ability to analyze hotel rates using forward-looking data,” said COO Keith Forshew, adding that Group Rate Advisor will let companies make more costefficient decisions based on better knowledge of how their rates com14 MeetingNews October 6, 2008 Edited by William Ng william.ng@nielsen.com management procedures, StarCite Express provides simple event invitation and registration applications, as well as a basic tool for the approval of meetings requests. StarCite Professional, for midsize companies with up to 300 meetings annually, provides greater control over events approvals and expenditures. It has additional functionality that enables planners to impose organizational policies and procedures. StarCite declined to provide pricing information for any of its new offerings, but more information is available on the company website, www.starcite.com. r —Marshall Krantz www.meetingnews.com pare with average rates within the StarCite community. The company accumulates data from the responses of suppliers to RFPs that planners send through StarCite’s online meetings procurement marketplace. Some 250,000 RFPs, representing approximately $7.5 billion in meetings business, were sent to more than 93,000 suppliers last year through the marketplace, according to the company. Once StarCite compiles rate data for customers, it provides a report on the rates offered in specific destinations by type of property and by the customer’s industry. Pricing information on individual properties is not revealed, and StarCite issues a report only if information from at least five properties in any given destination is available. In other StarCite news, pareddown versions of its meetingsmanagement software have been created for small and midsize firms. “Just like larger companies, midmarket businesses have much room for improved efficiencies and cost savings,” said StarCite chief executive Greg Dukat. For companies with light events volume and informal meetings- http://www.starcite.com http://www.meetingnews.com
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