New Corporate Travel Council Stages First Meet In Manhattan
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 operated by The Conference Board Inc., a not-for-profit organization.
Meeting for the first time last month 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. Unlike the Association of Corporate Travel Executives or the National Business Travel Association, the council was formed to serve as a closed-door forum for participants to talk shop and compare notes.
"It's not for suppliers, it's not for the press," said Daniel Kahn, a consultant at Marketing Solutions Network LLC, who helped create the council. "It's a closed-door session to discuss issues and get answers. It's for benchmarking, best practices, etc. The goal is really to share information."
CTMC 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. Kahn, who formerly was American Express vice president of global corporate travel, expects to grow the council to about 25 members. Members in July and October will convene in Chicago and Houston, respectively, and next February the Council will hold a meeting in Boca Raton, Fla. In the meantime, members can communicate through a Web site that is "accessible by only the individual members," Kahn said.