Amex: European Online Adoption Surges

American Express Business Travel is claiming a huge increase in online adoption by clients in Europe, with the United Kingdom leading the way. This time last year, Amex reported that 5 percent of the bookings it handled in the United Kingdom were online. Pearse Reynolds, Amex general manager for the U.K. and Ireland, said that figure dropped to 4 percent in December 2003, then shot up to 16 percent in July 2004 and 19.7 percent in August. The average for the first eight months of the year was 10 percent, Reynolds said.

Ron DiLeo, head of business travel for Amex in EMEA, claimed that all of Europe is now in "double digits," and adoption rates are accelerating faster in Europe than anywhere else in the world. Adoption in the United States currently stands between 30 percent and 35 percent. "The acceleration curve is faster in the U.S.," DiLeo said. "Europe started two years behind, but the gap is narrower now."

Reynolds said both existing and new clients are moving online. In the past, new clients tended to work with Amex offline before introducing a booking tool. "The big difference is there is greater confidence," he said. "Travel managers are seeing it is possible to go to Europe."