Eclipse, Abrams Find Common Ground

Rosenbluth International's technology unit Eclipse Advisors on Wednesday will announce a new partnership with Purchase, N.Y.-based travel consulting and research firm Abrams Consulting Group to provide a range of ground transportation services to corporate travel managers, including benchmarking, tracking and cost-reduction capabilities, as well as industry trend reports. The joint venture, called eAAbrams Travel Management Solutions, will use Eclipse Advisors' Dacoda GT car rental contract benchmarking product.

At the same time, both parties are releasing an April survey of 50 Fortune 1,000 corporate travel managers, in which 30 percent of travel managers said their car rental budget has increased in recent years, while only 24 percent have an international rental contract with suppliers. About half of those polled spend $2 million or less annually on domestic and international car rental.

According to Jon LeSage, vice president and director of research for Abrams Consulting Group's Abrams Travel Data Services--the group's market research arm--the services will roll out beyond car rental to address car services and fleet management. LeSage pointed out that at least two car rental companies also have fleet service branches, while the survey found that 24 percent of travel managers also have responsibility for fleet management.

Additionally, the new venture will conduct traveler satisfaction surveys for use by the corporation, LeSage said. "If there are certain issues, a company can bring that to the deal and leverage toward fulfilling those issues," he said.