A row has broken out between what were until yesterday the joint-venture partners of global travel management company Business Travel International over whether the BTI name can be used in the future. BTI manages travel for a large number of multinational clients, including GlaxoSmithKline and HSBC.
BCD Holdings and Hogg Robinson announced yesterday they have ended their joint-venture agreement
(BTNonline, Jan. 3). BCD will merge its existing corporate travel assets, including U.S. travel management company WorldTravel BTI, with two forthcoming acquisitions: the parts of TQ3 Travel Solutions previously owned by German travel giant TUI, and the independent British TMC The Travel Company.
Hogg Robinson is managing partner of BTI and owns or controls the BTI partners in 21 countries. Yesterday, it said it would continue to trade as BTI for the "foreseeable future." Informed sources have suggested Hogg Robinson eventually will use the name Hogg Robinson for its share of the BTI network.
BCD has given no indication as to what the name of its newly combined corporate travel interests will be. However, today BCD chairman John Fentener van Vlissingen told
BTN that BCD will drop both the BTI name and the WorldTravel name, and that it demands Hogg Robinson also drop the BTI name within six months.
"The BTI name was owned by us both," he said. "Since we own 50 percent of the brand, it can only continue to be used with our consent and we will not consent to the future use of a name that we will not trade under." Asked how long BCD is prepared to let Hogg Robinson continue to use the name, van Vlissingen said: "Six months sounds like a reasonable period."
A Hogg Robinson spokesperson flatly contradicted van Vlissingen's view on naming rights. "To say the BTI brand name is to disappear is absolutely not true,' she said. 'We have the right to use it until we say otherwise."
BCD chief executive Joop Drechsel, who will be chairman of BCD's new travel company, revealed that its headquarters will be located in either London or Amsterdam. "The headquarters will not be in the U.S.," he said. "Being a global company, we felt it was important to position them in Europe."
BCD considers its newly expanded size and coverage—currently standing at 23 countries—will be sufficient to meet the needs of its clients. However, van Vlissingen did acknowledge the need to establish a stronger presence in the Far East and told
BTN an announcement on this matter can be expected before the end of March.