Business Travel News - May 18, 2009 - (Page 4)

NEWS China Eases TMC Restrictions BY SETH HARRIS has offices in Beijing, Guangzhou Chinese tourism and travel agency and Shanghai, has obtained its own regulatory authorities this month wholly owned international ticketlifted some restrictions on foreign ing license and applied for its wholownership, capital startup invest- ly owned travel agent license in rement and outbound bookings, mak- sponse to the new regulations, ing it possible for foreign travel man- according to executive general management companies to own more ager of Greater China David Fraser. than 51 percent of a Chinese travel “We plan to open additional ofagency and open local branches. fices in our existing cities and exThe new rules significantly reduce plore growth into other major cities,” entry capital requirements to oper- said Fraser. “This is a different stratate at the Chinese point of sale, mak- egy than some of our competitors, ing it easier for foreign agencies to who often see centralized call cenacquire international ticketing li- ters as the future. We will continue censes, but they still are mostly pro- to put offices, teams and staff closhibited from owning to our customers.” For the latest breaking news, er The changes in Chiand operating domessee btnonline.com/bn tic ticketing licenses. nese regulations are In most cases, foreign TMCs must part of China’s December 2001 acmaintain some level of a joint ven- cession agreement to the World ture with a local partner to fulfill do- Trade Organization that first opened mestic ticket requirements, but the Chinese travel agencies to foreign market opening lets foreign-owned investment in 2002. TMCs test the new frontier. Chinese travel agencies now can FCm Travel Solutions was the first engage in outbound travel bookings to publicly make a move. The Aus- if the agency has been operating for tralia-based TMC announced an in- two years without infringements. crease in its ownership stake in its Foreign-owned agencies still are promainland China partner to 95 per- hibited from engaging in outbound cent. FCm purchased its joint ven- booking, except as provided under ture share of China Comfort Travel the Closer Economic Partnership in 2004, which FCm said was the Arrangements governing trade remainland’s third-largest agency at lations between mainland China and Continued on page 52 the time. The company, which now SABRE STRIKES LUFTHANSA CONTENT DEAL, ADDS OPT-IN INSIDE TRACK Sabre and Lufthansa this month announced a four-year global distribution agreement, effective July 1, extending an arrangement reached in May 2008 and set to expire June 30, through which Sabre subscribers were shielded from the carrier’s Preferred Fares surcharge. Sabre said protection from the €4.90 surcharge comes at the expense of a €1 per-segment Efficiency Plus opt-in fee for GDS subscribers in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Lufthansa’s Preferred Fares Program imposes a €4.90 per-way surcharge, in addition to value-added tax, on fares booked GDSs in those countries, though Sabre and Travelport have negotiated for their subscribers to be shielded from the fee. Amadeus, the dominant GDS in the German market, has yet to come to new terms with Lufthansa to shield subscribers form the surcharge. Greg Webb, Sabre Travel Network chief marketing officer, said the agreement with Lufthansa does not extend to its Swiss subsidiary, which operates a similar program by charging 8 Swiss francs per segment for preferred fare bookings in those markets. AMERICAN EXPRESS TO MAKE FURTHER CUTS American Express last month announced during its first-quarter earnings call plans to implement further cost-reduction initiatives in the second quarter of 2009. Global corporate travel sales decreased 37 percent from 2008 to $3.4 billion in the quarter. Overall U.S. T&E spending is down 20 percent, far ahead of a non-T&E or retail spending decrease of 12 percent, according to executive vice president and CFO Daniel Henry. Amex is on pace this year to reach the $1.8 billion savings target it announced in October (BTNonline, Oct. 30, 2008). Amex at the time said it planned to cut 7,000 jobs, about 10 percent of the global workforce. In the first quarter of 2009, expenses were down 22 percent compared with the first quarter of 2008. ORBITZ FOR BUSINESS COO SIVLEY LEAVES FOR TRAVEL GUARD Orbitz for Business senior vice president and COO Dean Sivley will leave the company at the end of May to become president and CEO of travel insurance provider Travel Guard. Sivley, who joined Orbitz for Business—then Travelport for Business—in 2004, also runs Orbitz Worldwide’s alliance marketing business segment, which includes partner marketing and Away.com. At Orbitz for Business, Sivley oversaw the brand’s multinational deployment (BTNonline, Dec. 8, 2008), integration of former Travelport booking tool products and development of a full-service travel management company with the launch of such offerings as onsite agent services (BTNonline, Aug. 15, 2007). Databasics Debuts Mileage-Audit Tool BY MICHAEL B. BAKER Expense reporting software tool supplier Databasics recently announced new capabilities to assist corporations in reporting and reimbursement for mileage. Databasics now has an automatic mileage calculation tool as a part of its hosted expense reporting service. Integrating technology by AOL/MapQuest, the tool checks mileage reimbursement claims with objectively determined distances to ensure mileage claims are accurate, according to the company. “Mileage reimbursements have long been a soft spot in travel management controls,” Databasics CEO Alan Tyson said. “Reliance on employee good faith and approvers’ route knowledge simply does not work well.” Some companies have instituted policies requiring travelers to include printouts of Web-based mileage calculators in order to verify mileage claims on expense reports. Including such capabilities within the expense tool simplifies that task, according to Databasics. “It saves time and effort and closes a gap in the reimbursement and audit processes,” Tyson said. ■ mbaker@btnonline.com ■ CHOICE CEO REVIEWING OPTIONS FOR UPSCALE TIER ENTRY Choice Hotels International president and CEO Stephen Joyce told investors this month that he is interested in adding an upscale or upper upscale brand. “We’ve got capacity and we’ve got money, and we are hoping to see some buying opportunities either for collections of hotels that can go under existing brands or other brands to help add to the portfolio,” Joyce said. “I don’t think you’ll see us in luxury, but the full-service conversion business would be a great complement to our leisure-oriented set of brands because of the business transient component of that.” Choice launched its upscale Cambria Suites brand about two years ago (BTNonline, May 7, 2007), but Joyce said he would like to have a higher-tier brand and the company is weighing opportunities in the upscale extended stay tier. 4 Monday, May 18, 2009 www.BTNonline.com Business Travel News http://www.btnonline.com/bn http://www.Away.com http://www.BTNonline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Business Travel News - May 18, 2009

Business Travel News - May 18, 2009
Contents
Inside Track
Profiles In Travel Management
Forum
Aviation
Lodging
Meetings Today
Destinations
Silver Anniversary Celebration

Business Travel News - May 18, 2009