<B> InsideTrack</B>
<B>NBTA Forms Strategic Partnerships</B>
The National Business Travel Association this month announced strategic partnerships with the Australian Business Travel Association, the Canadian Business Travel Association and the U.K.'s Institute of Travel Management. The agreements give travel managers in all three organizations access to some of NBTA's information products on a trial basis for one year and the opportunity to join NBTA through a special introductory offer. NBTA and ITM will cosponsor an Into the Millennium Conference in March in London. NBTA plans on holding two seminars with ABTA in Australia and two with CTBA in Canada next year. NBTA also will launch an electronic daily news service for ABTA members. NBTA executive director Norman Sherlock said NBTA's relationship with the International Business Travel Association has "no bearing on these other partnerships. We are continuing our membership and have not withdrawn." NBTA formed these alliances because "all the companies in the United States are probably in the same kind of situation--everyone is expanding globally," said NBTA president Cyndi Perper. "We are trying to answer some of those needs."
<A NAME="2"><B>Swissôtel Tries Extranet Links, ACTE Discount</B>
Swissôtel is testing extranet links to two companies, one based in London and one in the United States, that will go live in 2000. Senior vice president of sales and marketing Chris Riga said both companies have substantial IT resources and one is a bank. Riga, who noted that net rate use has grown so much that 50 percent of his business customers now use them, said Swissôtel in February will begin a one-year offer, extending agent rates to Association of Corporate Travel Executives buyer members.
<A NAME="3"><B>Wyndham Mulls Telephone Threshold Fee</B>
Wyndham International is considering joining Hilton and Starwood in rolling out a telephone "threshold fee," charging guests for access to toll-free numbers beyond a period of time. Hilton has been charging 10 cents per minute after a 30-minute threshold, while Starwood this month upped its grace period from 20 to 60 minutes following customer complaints (<I>BTN</I>, Nov. 1). All three chains cited the need to move Web users, who tie up phone lines for hours, onto the new high-speed Internet lines they are rolling out. But Wyndham's Internet plans seem to go far beyond threshold fees. At last week's reopening of the newest Wyndham resort, the historic Casa Marina in Key West, Fla., chairman and CEO Jim Carreker told BTN that the chain is within 30 days of launching high-speed service that's "different from the competition. My sense is that the technology is shifting from being a tool to being a distribution channel--and then to being a revenue stream," said Carreker. "I think generationally, we have to look at using the Internet as a portal."
<A NAME="4"><B>Onex Withdraws Air Canada Bid</B>
Following the ruling of a Quebec judge, Onex Corp. withdrew its proposal to purchase Air Canada and merge it with Canadian Airlines. The judge said the plan would violate the 10 percent ownership cap on a single shareholder. As a result, Air Canada canceled last week's shareholder's meeting, which would have included a vote on the Onex bid, and said it will move to buy its rival. Canadian stated it was "disappointed" in the Onex withdrawal, but at press time had yet to respond officially to Air Canada's offer.
<A NAME="5"><B>Big Apple Agencies Join Forces</B>
New York-based agencies Advanced Travel Management and Tzell Travel Specialists launched a joint venture last week, forming parent company Advanced Tzell, owned by ATM managing partners Michael Share and Frank Kogen and Tzell Travel owner Barry Liben. Tzell will leverage ATM's proprietary software; ATM will enhance its leisure offerings. And with combined air volume of nearly $300 million they will negotiate airline deals, leverage back office, GDS, human resources and benefits and jointly operate 24-hour service. Share stressed that Advanced Tzell is a separate company and that the two agencies still will be autonomously run: "We focus on corporate onsites of $10 million to over $100 million globally. Theirs is small corporate, under $10 million, independent agents, leisure travel and group business.