ACTE And ITM Abandon Merger

The Association of Corporate Travel Executives and the United Kingdom and Ireland's Institute of Travel Management have scrapped the proposed merger they announced in February.

A press statement cited "operational difficulties." However, BTN understands the underlying reason was cultural incompatibility. For its part, ACTE found it could not fit ITM comfortably into its global structure and processes. ITM, on the other hand, felt the merger imposed more standardization from ACTE's U.S. headquarters than originally was anticipated, such as the degree of autonomy it would have in communicating with members. However, both sides insisted they remain genuinely committed to a close partnership on issues where there are strong mutual interests, most notably education and political lobbying.

ACTE president Greeley Koch said the original intention to reorganize ITM as a semi-autonomous U.K. region of ACTE was one of the problems that had not been resolved. "We already have an EMEA region, so splitting the U.K. out from that would have presented challenges, such as when we talk to the European Commission about issues," he said. "Tom [Stone, ITM chairman] and I sat down and came to an agreement that we could accomplish our needs by remaining separate organizations."

Sources told BTN that ITM concluded that a merger with ACTE would deprive it of too much control locally and too many benefits valued by its membership. The success of ITM's most recent conference in April also gave it more confidence in its financial ability to remain independent.

However, Koch was keen to defend ACTE's record on meeting local needs. "We have shown that we recognize local nuances," he said, citing Asia as an example.

The two organizations said they will work together as a partnership, including sharing expertise, research, speakers for industry events and lobbying on industry issues. "The ITM and ACTE boards have mutually agreed to set aside the merger for the foreseeable future," said Stone in the official statement. "This new cooperation agreement will allow ITM to fulfill its members' educational, networking and career development needs even more effectively, and will increase ACTE's profile in the U.K., without affecting either organization's core values."

ACTE's recently appointed executive director Susan Gurley said: "This is a good relationship and continues to be one."

The suspension of the merger means ITM will be able to go ahead and name its new executive director in the next seven to 10 days. A candidate was chosen six weeks ago, but uncertainty over the merger left the official appointment in limbo.