A British FCO Spokesman

By Amon Cohen

There are times when it pays to be European, as American Express discovered recently when sacked from the U.K. travel account of Burmah Castrol.

The oil firm left Amex and moved its 3 million U.K. business to British-owned Hogg Robinson in January. Burmah Castrol made the move after receiving a letter from Amex saying it could not arrange travel to countries on the U.S. government's blacklist, which includes Cuba, Libya, North Korea, Iran and Iraq.

Even though Burmah Castrol does not do big business with countries on the U.S. blacklist, services manager Chris Trafford was not pleased by the news.

"Amex started to impose conditions not in the contract," Trafford said. "I queried the matter with them because the principle was important, and in the end we said, 'we're not having this.' "

Why Amex chose to inform Burmah Castrol about these conditions in January-a month after the two companies renegotiated their contract, which was scheduled to run until the end of 1997-is unclear.

Amex refused to comment on the case. Ironically, Burmah Castrol was previously a satisfied client of the European-owned Thomas Cook, which was bought by Amex in September 1994.

However, the U.S. government's long-standing ban on U.S.-owned companies handling travel to blacklisted companies was not news to Burmah Castrol. "It's a mystery to me," commented a U.S. diplomatic source in London, when asked to suggest the sudden move from Amex.

The episode poses some interesting questions for European travel managers who send travelers to unusual or controversial destinations. For them, the conclusion may well be that a U.S.-owned agency is of no use to them.

It also provides insight into the question of global travel management. Many large multinationals are looking to consolidate with one travel management company worldwide to cut costs and obtain comprehensive management information. The U.S.-owned or part-owned mega agencies-Amex, Rosenbluth International and Carlson Wagonlit Travel-are automatic contenders for any such global short-list.

What the Burmah Castrol story suggests is that one agency cannot necessarily answer all of a multinational's needs because demands, expectations and legislation vary so greatly from country to country. The problem for U.S. agencies is that Europeans do trade with and travel to countries on the U.S. government's blacklist.

Cuba, for example, cannot be booked on a U.S.-owned computer reservations system. The country does not have the pariah status in Europe that it does in the United States, and there are direct flights to Havana from Madrid, Paris, Stockholm, Dusseldorf, Moscow and Ireland.

Another example is Lebanon. U.S. travel agents are forbidden to arrange travel there for U.S. citizens (with certain exceptions). They are, however, allowed to book for non-U.S. citizens, but only after cutting through much red tape that creates a high nuisance factor for the client.

According to a U.S. Department of Transportation regulation issued September 26, 1995: "Effective October 25, 1995, any U.S. travel agents and carriers making a sale to non-U.S. citizens must: a) obtain a statement signed by that person that he or she is not a citizen of the United States and b) a photocopy of traveler's passport showing the name, nationality and passport number and a photocopy of the entry visa that the person has obtained for entry into Lebanon."

The story is different in the United Kingdom, from which two British airlines-British Airways and British Mediterranean Airways-operate to Beirut, as does carrier Middle East Airlines. Until the recent troubles in Lebanon, business on the route was booming as U.K. contractors moved into the country to help rebuild its infrastructure and economy.

British citizens are permitted to travel wherever they wish in the world, even if worldwide economic sanctions are in force, such as in Libya and Iraq.

However, there is a list of countries to which the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises citizens not to travel under any circumstances. These are Afghanistan, Algeria, Burundi, Iraq, Liberia, Montserrat, Somalia, Tajikistan, Western Sahara and the Jammu and Kashmir regions of India. The FCO also advises against traveling to Angola, Bosnia, Congo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Zaire unless on essential business.

"You would be very silly to travel to these places and you might end up dead but, unlike in the U.S., it is part of our constitution that you cannot be banned from traveling anywhere," explained an FCO spokesman.

Despite the difficulties, it is important not to exaggerate the problems they can cause. For a start, few corporates, even in Europe, travel to the blacklisted countries. For those who do, the solution seems to be to use other agencies when your main U.S.-owned agency cannot help.

That's what David Henderson, travel manager for Independent Television News, does. When an employee had to go to Cuba, ITN's agency, American Express, put ITN in touch with one of its representative agencies in the U.K.

Another travel manager who uses an American-owned agency uses a travel agent in Malta to handle company travel into and out of Libya, which amounts to $1 million a year.

U.S.-owned agents are reluctant to discuss the situation. All that a Rosenbluth spokeswoman would say was that the company would serve its clients in any legal way it could.

A statement from Amex said: "When we tender for a company's business travel account, we make a detailed investigation of the company's travel profile and advise if any key destinations are likely to be affected by U.S. sanctions. We understand from the feedback received from our client base that our service offering to them is unaffected by these restrictions."

Like it or not, however, the news from British travel agents is that they are combing the Amex client list to see which accounts they can pry away as a result of the Burmah Castrol affair.

Richard Lovell, managing director of Carlson Wagonlit Travel in the United Kingdom, said his company was reviewing its accounts in light of Burmah Castrol to see what can be done with the few clients who fly to U.S.-blacklisted countries. Because of its half-French, half-American ownership, Carlson Wagonlit is unsure whether it is affected by U.S. prohibitions. "But if one takes the ban on U.S. companies or companies with substantial U.S. interests dealing with banned territories as the letter of the law, most international companies are affected," he said.