The
Global Business Travel Association has completed its acquisition of certain
assets of the former Association of Corporate Travel Executives, which shuttered
in April as an early business travel industry casualty of the coronavirus pandemic.
According
to late October court documents that detailed the liquidation of ACTE's assets,
GBTA agreed to purchase ACTE's "copyrights, domain names, social media
accounts, patents, trademarks, logos, designs, trade names, slogans, brand
names, fictitious names, corporate names, or other indications of origin, trade
secrets, know-how, software, together with any registrations therefor and all
other goodwill associated therewith, and all other intellectual property and
proprietary rights" in a $35,000 transaction. The purchased assets did not
include customer lists or customer information, according to the documents.
GBTA's
ambitions to leverage the ACTE brand seem to go far beyond simple asset
acquisition. In addition to assets, GBTA has reached into the volunteer pool of
the former association, naming to its board of directors American Airlines
chief experience officer Alison Taylor and Tesla senior manager global travel
and events Steve Sitto. Both formerly served on the ACTE board of directors,
while Taylor additionally served on GBTA's WiniT (formerly, Women in Travel)
strategic advisory board.
Taylor
will serve the remainder of the vacant Allied Leadership Council vice
presidency. Sitto will serve the remainder of the vacant Direct Member At-Large
term. Both terms will be completed at the time of the GBTA Convention, slated
for July 2021 in Orlando.
GBTA
has also created a new committee to re-activate and integrate the ACTE brand
within the larger scope of the organization. Former ACTE executive director and
current Digitravel Consulting SVP Greeley Koch and current GBTA chairperson
Christle Johnson will co-chair the committee, which will work with GBTA staff and volunteers
to determine how an integrated organization can best serve members, according
to the GBTA press release.
Current
GBTA board president Bhart Sarin posted on social media that "more
exciting news about the integration will be announced at the December 7th
virtual annual meeting." He thanked Koch and GBTA interim executive
director Dave Hilfman for realizing what he called a "long-time
dream" of bringing the two organizations together.
ACTE
and GBTA (then, NBTA) flirted
closely with a merger in 2009 in the wake of the 2008 economic crash, but
it didn't result in a match. It ended with the resignation of several ACTE board
members and some soured relationships on both sides. Especially given the
industry's economic hardships at the time, suppliers seemed largely the supportive
of the combination and urged the two organizations to reconsider. This time
around, ACTE's financial straits cleared the way.