Farrell Moves Up To Int'l Business Travel Assn. Presidency
Glyn Farrell has stepped up from the post of vice president of the International Business Travel Association to become its president.
Farrell, personnel travel and facilities manager for Lloyds Bank of the UK, was elected at IBTA's National Leaders meeting in Luxembourg earlier this month. He will serve an 18-month term in the worldwide organization of travel managers.
His former role was taken by Pat Haygarth, Vancouver-based travel coordinator for Deloitte Touche in Canada, who was elected to the board for the first time.
The new president replaces E.J. Hewitt, travel manager of Libby-Owens-Ford in the United States, who stepped down last month. Hewitt had taken the presidency in late 1994 when a disagreement over strategic direction led to the entire IBTA board being replaced.
Farrell joined Lloyds Bank International 23 years ago and has been involved with the bank's business travel arrangements since the early 1980s. The international division of Lloyds merged with the main corporation in 1987, which was when Farrell took charge of business travel at the bank. He is now based in Haywards Heath, Sussex, where he also has day-to-day charge of facilities such as messengers, catering and engineering.
Farrell became actively involved in IBTA five years ago through his membership in the United Kingdom's Institute of Travel Management. Asked whether IBTA was keeping pace with the rapid developments in corporate travel, he said: "It is, but we still have a long way to go. We must have a long-term business plan, which is something I have talked about to the board.''
Farrell said the plan, covering the next three to five years, examines what both members and the trade want from IBTA and how the association can react quickly to the market and be progressive.
Inevitably, Farrell regards technology as the dominant issue that concerns travel managers at present. He is anxious for IBTA to address ticketless travel and to further its dialogue with the International Air Transport Association on cross-border satellite ticket printers (see story, this page). Other subjects currently under his microscope are corporate intranets and the changing relationship with travel management companies.
Farrell also wants to expand IBTA into more countries, starting by welcoming German travel managers back into the fold. After disputes with IBTA, the Germans resigned a few years ago, but Farrell believes they will soon return. In fact, two of them attended the Luxembourg conference that followed the National Leaders meeting.
Farrell has been contacted by travel managers in Korea, and he wants to push back IBTA's frontiers in Eastern Europe. "We need to look at other European countries as they become involved in business travel,'' he said. "Even if there are only one or two travel managers in the country, it would be good for them to know where they can come for advice.