Capgemini global travel manager Jerome Drevon-Barreaux last month assumed the chairmanship of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives' European region, and said he will focus on increasing corporate travel buyer involvement during his two-year term.
"We need to make sure there is the right balance with corporate buyers and suppliers," he said. "We should change to make sure that corporates find their own interests for participating in ACTE."
One approach will be the implementation of buyer-oriented education and research. "We need to make sure the research is not all done by suppliers," he said. "I would love to see more exchange with benchmarking with corporates and not just suppliers saying, 'This is how it works.' "
Drevon-Barreaux's diverse professional background and his position on the need to bridge the relationship between buyers and suppliers made him a prime candidate for the role, ACTE executive director Susan Gurley said. "He has a very transparent and collaborative view," she said. "It goes into our partnership themes. We focus more on actions and words, and he feels that there needs to be a mutual dialogue."
Philips International global commodity manager Peter Sijbers previously served as regional chair for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region since 2005. ACTE in May decided to split the Middle East and Africa from Europe into a separate region, but has not yet announced who will head that region. Until the open seat is filled sometime in the next three months, Drevon-Barreaux also will represent the Middle East and Africa, Gurley said.
Drevon-Barreaux manages †320 million in total travel spending at Capgemini, where he recently implemented the KDS online booking and expense management tool in France. Drevon-Barreaux said the next developments in his program will come after the European Commission completes its talks to deregulate global distribution systems
(BTNonline, June 7).A 10-year industry veteran, he previously served as the global travel manager at BNP Paribas for a year and held buyer positions at Accenture and HSBC. Drevon-Barreaux also worked on the supplier side at the former BTI France.