BTN Expert Q&A

Africa in recent years has become a growing focus for development by major international hotel companies. While North Africa long has been the primary focus in such development, many hotel companies now are turning more attention to sub-Saharan Africa. Lagos-based research firm W Hospitality Group earlier this year reported... Keep Reading

Berlin - The Global Business Travel Association during its annual GBTA Europe conference here last week announced a charter committing airlines to continue serving the needs of corporate clients as they remodel their pricing and distribution strategies to further personalize the offers they make to travelers. The catalyst for... Keep Reading

New York - JetBlue Airways on Wednesday opened its new international arrivals hall extension at John F. Kennedy International Airport's Terminal 5 here. While JetBlue's international service from New York primarily includes such leisure markets as the Caribbean and Mexico, airline president Robin Hayes said the expansion... Keep Reading

Atlanta - As part of its tightening relationship with joint-venture partner Delta Air Lines, Virgin Atlantic recently began service to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport here, taking over one of Delta's three daily flights to London Heathrow. During an event inaugurating that route, Virgin Atlantic CEO Craig Kreeger and... Keep Reading

New Orleans-Southwest Airlines vice president and chief marketing officer Kevin Krone on Oct. 7 took the hot seat at The Beat Live here, answering questions from attendees and The Beat readers. Among the topics were Southwest's growth plans, an update on its new reservations system and the carrier's distribution strategy. An... Keep Reading

Since launching its Paris-Newark service this summer, all-business-class carrier La Compagnie has met its share of skepticism, given the failures of the model by most prior transatlantic entrants. Co-founders Frantz Yvelin—who also founded L'Avion, the only all-premium-class transatlantic carrier launched during the last... Keep Reading

IHG Owners Association president Eva Ferguson—who has been with the association for 30 years, including nine in her current leadership role—spoke recently with Business Travel News senior editor Michael B. Baker about some of the most recent initiatives facing owners that affect both the look and design of hotels, as well as... Keep Reading

BCD Travel this month appointed 10-year company vet Craig Bailey to serve as president of its North America operations (encompassing the United States and Canada), overseeing "client management, contracts, budgets and relationships with all other regions," according to the travel management company. His role was created in... Keep Reading

Los Angeles - Accor Hotels senior vice president of global sales Carlo Olejniczak in late July discussed with BTN editor-in-chief Chris Davis the implications of the global hotel company's move to a Salesforce customer relationship management system, the state of corporate negotiations, business travel and meetings demand and... Keep Reading

Los Angeles - The Hertz Corp. executive vice president of sales and marketing Bob Stuart late last month sat down here with Business Travel News editor-in-chief Chris Davis to discuss the car rental company's strategy in dealing with the corporate market, its approach to corporate pricing, the state of corporate demand and... Keep Reading