New Corporate Travel Council Meets In New York

Bechtel Group, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald's Corp. and Verizon Wireless are among the 15 founding members of a new benchmarking group for large-company senior travel executives run by The Conference Board Inc., a not-for-profit organization.

Meeting for the first time today in New York, the Corporate Travel Management Council charges $4,000 for an annual membership available only to senior corporate travel executives at companies that spend more than $25 million annually on travel and entertainment.

According to a Conference Board official, additional councils may be formed, in part, because members are allowed to reject the applications of their direct competitors. The Corporate Travel Management Council plans to meet three times annually, with topics of discussion including industry developments, corporate culture and travel policy mandating, organizational structure, travel policy compliance, cost savings and tracking, preferred supplier programs, best practices, benchmarking, online booking and other technology. Other current members include American Standard, CSX, Delphi, Lucent Technologies, Merck and Tyco International.