CWT Sees EMA Growth

CWT Sees EMA Growth

By Amon Cohen

Carlson Wagonlit Travel doubled its income in Europe, the Middle East and Africa between 1993 and 1997, claims Hervé Gourio, the company's president for the region. Nearly all the gains came from new business and increased activity by existing clients rather than acquisitions.

Curiously, Carlson Wagonlit is the largest travel management company in only three of the 24 countries it covers in the region. However, it is among the top three in all of them, with the exception of Germany, where it is number five, but still half the size of the market leader.

This strength across the board rather than dominance in individual countries reflects Carlson's attempt to position itself as a truly pan-European company, thus tapping a fast-growing sector of travel management. "Our focus is clearly on pan-European implementation," said Gourio. "We are beginning to see plenty of consolidation across Europe."

Gourio also attributed the agency's growth to the increasing demand for proper account management. However, he still maintained that European companies lack the sophisticated understanding of travel management that is found in the United States. "There is plenty of room for improvement. European companies are still two to three years behind U.S. companies," he said.

Carlson also is working on numerous projects both to improve its consultancy skills, such as expense management systems, and to take costs out of the reservation process. One option under development is self-service bookings; the other is consolidation of its business travel centers across Europe by the end of 1999. "We will be very careful as we migrate customers from local to larger facilities. There will be good economies of scale," said Gourio.