December 05, 2005
Destination management companies expect to see increased revenue from corporate meeting planners next year, according to a survey by Washington, D.C.-based Global Events Partners released last month.
December 05, 2005
American Express in the first quarter of 2006 plans to launch an electronic auction tool for corporate meetings negotiations to help customers comply with procurement policies and automate the bidding process, according to Amex executives in an exclusive interview with Meetings Today. The tool will be powered by Philadelphia-based meetings technology provider StarCite Inc.
December 05, 2005
Many companies have yet to effectively leverage combined meetings and transient volume with vendors, despite an increasing number of firms bringing their meetings departments under travel management's purview and that many meeting buyers said they use their transient counterparts to source events, according to an exclusive Meetings Monitor survey.
November 14, 2005
Construction projects at Japan's three largest international airports Tokyo's Narita, Kansai in Osaka and Central Japan International in Nagoya, the country's newest airport are major works in progress.
November 14, 2005
Buyers managing inbound and outbound corporate travel for the rapidly growing business market in India face several challenges, ranging from high prices for sparse hotel rooms and airline seats to limited corporate card acceptance.
November 14, 2005
Dubai's business and political leaders are continuing the expansion of a city-state that, they predict, within five years will be home to more quality hotel rooms than New York City.
November 14, 2005
Most companies still remain conscientious about the costs of executive board meetings, though both corporate demand and the prices hotels charge for them are on the rise. Yet, many firms are finding ways to heighten the level of amenities offered to their most senior executives.
November 14, 2005
Corporate meeting planners shopping around for golf sites will find a lot to choose from these days, as the number of new and improved golf courses continues to increase in resort destinations. At the same time, there are good values to be had, especially for events held during the middle of the week.
November 14, 2005
Meetings technology provider Arcaneo Inc. last month announced that it has partnered with TRX, which offers transaction processing and online booking solutions. The two companies will combine Arcaneo's Metron meetings management solution with the online booking solution ResX, provided by TRX. "Meetings travel represents a significant opportunity to increase the adoption of online travel booking tools, like ResX," among major companies, said Shane Hammond, TRX executive vice president of sales and client services for North America, in a company release. Under the partnership, the two companies will co-market the systems to customers. Dale Beckles, president and CEO of Arcaneo, said the relationship allows Arcaneo to focus on its role as a pure technology provider. "Clients do not pay Arcaneo any fees if they require integration with their online travel booking solution," Beckles said. Integration between ResX and Metron is facilitated via XML Web services, the standard for interoperability between systems, according to the release. "This means that every single piece of data in any of Metron's thousands of data fields can be easily exchanged with systems like ResX," Beckles said. "The embrace of open standards by both solutions provides our clients with the potential to enjoy greater functionality and allows them to leverage their investments in legacy systems."
November 14, 2005
Delta Air Lines plans to roll out an automated group-booking tool in early 2006 to replace the groups and meetings department it eliminated nearly one year ago. The carrier eliminated group and zone discounts as part of the fare-simplification strategy it announced on Jan. 5 (Meetings Today, Jan. 17). Bob Somers, director of corporate sales for Delta, said the tool would let meeting buyers directly book group seat blocks on the carrier's Web site.