As Int'l Travel Rebounds, Agencies Seek To Extend Reach

Sending employees abroad has remained a necessity for many domestic and foreign-based businesses, although agency executives said international business travel volume may be off by as much as 19 percent from last year. Travel management companies reported that global business travel remains a priority for buyers, a fact reflected in agencies' moves to expand global services.

Steve Powers, general manager of corporate travel for American Express, said demand for global support remains strong and that international travel volume, while still down from 2000 levels, is on the mend. "Some of the technology companies are picking up their global travel already," Powers said.

In April, American Express beefed up its presence in Japan through a new partnership with Nippon Travel, and the company also just reached an agreement in China with the main official travel agency, CITS, to offer services to its customers based in or traveling in China. American Express also has some franchise agreements with agencies in such countries as Argentina, comprising a travel network with offices in more than 130 countries around the world.

Powers said American Express will be rolling out globally its Travel Bahn travel management data backbone in 2002 and 2003. Travel Bahn tracks travelers and manages travel programs through the use of an independent computer network, Powers said, which ends the company's dependence on the global distribution systems for hardware and connectivity.

American Express also expanded its Interactive Travel Group internationally to offer CTO and RezPort, along with its e-fulfillment services, more effectively to customers outside of the United States. This is a new service that is just beginning to roll out this year and gradually will be available to most major markets during the course of 2002.

Hal Rosenbluth, chairman and CEO of Philadelphia-based mega agency Rosenbluth International, demonstrated the importance of global business travel when he said his company recently landed "new business from all over the world. Sixty-five percent of our business is multinational," he said. "We're growing very rapidly in Europe, and we're making a very big push into China."

Although his travel management company has been doing business in parts of Asia for a number of years, Rosenbluth reported that his agency "just became the first American travel company to get a license to do business in China." Beginning this year, Rosenbluth will be opening up joint venture offices in 27 Chinese provinces. They will be operated in partnership with China-based travel management firm China Comfort.

"We expect a tremendous amount of new business in China as a result of that country becoming a member of the World Trade Organization," said Rosenbluth.

Safety and security are current watchwords of global travel management, said Dee Runyan, executive vice president of Atlanta-based mega agency WorldTravel BTI. Runyan told BTN that her agency's latest global offerings feature a crisis management system, which includes closer tracking of global travelers and the placement of pre-trip reports on specialized Web sites.

"Our U.S.-based clients can access global pre-trip information over the Web," Runyan said, adding that the online reports in 2002 will be rolled out to overseas WorldTravel BTI clients. "We also put airport issues on the Internet," she said. "We're constantly updating that online information."

Runyan said WorldTravel BTI also has a new global hotel rate management product, called Hotel Checker. "It checks international properties against the client's preferences and agreements," she said, allowing for better management of overseas housing for business travelers.

Thom Nulty, president and COO of Englewood, Colo.-based Navigant International, said his travel agency is expanding its global travel program following its June acquisition of SatoTravel. "Most companies in today's business environment have some international connections," Nulty said. "When we picked up Sato, we acquired the tools to service those needs more effectively. We already had offices in Brazil, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, but now we have operations in 19 countries around the world."

Nulty said Navigant does a lot of international travel management for government and military accounts, but that it is angling for corporate business by beefing up overseas support.

"Navigant has agents on the ground in most of the countries where we have operations," he said. "We have over 100 associates working for us in Germany." Nulty would like to extend his company's presence in other global markets next year, citing Australia, Hong Kong and Mexico as likely targets.

"Global travel is trending fairly strong with some corporations," Nulty said. "In 2002, we're going to offer globalization opportunities to existing customers, and we're going to land new global customers." Navigant's international service platform is called GlobalPlus.

Liliana Frigerio, executive vice president of global sales and account management for Carlson Wagonlit Travel, said CWT currently has operations in more than 144 countries, between wholly owned locations and partnerships. "In 85 percent of the commercially important markets," Frigerio said, "CWT's agencies are wholly owned."

Carlson Wagonlit Travel's goals for extending global services in the future include increasing the number of wholly owned offices in Asia and Latin America.

Mike Koetting, senior vice president at TQ3 Maritz Travel Solutions, said, "Global travel buyers are interested in more comprehensive reporting for safety and security reasons. They've made policy changes since Sept. 11." Koetting said his company has expanded options available to buyers for more comprehensive traveler profiles.

Travelers served by TQ3 Maritz have access to more than 1,300 offices globally, the vast majority of which operate under the TQ3 Travel Solutions flag. Koetting said Maritz will continue to work with its TQ3 partners overseas to provide support for international travelers in 2002.