BTI Tests Global Mgmt. Tracking Tool
Business Travel International is piloting an automated client management system that helps multinational travel managers keep track of their programs on a country-by-country basis. Known simply as the Active Client Management System, it presents the client's business plan on screen with a traffic light system next to each item, such as implementation of an online booking system. Green indicates the item is implemented fully or close to fruition, amber denotes work in progress and red highlights a problem area. Travel managers then can drill down to find out what the problem is. "It is difficult to provide information quickly and in an easy-to-read way for travel managers with multinational responsibilities," said BTI director of account management Andrew Perolls. "This makes it simple to check progress in different countries in the same language and in a comparable style." BTI is trialing the system with three clients and expects to launch it fully early in the new year.
Wall Street Weighs In On 2002 Hotel Rate Negotiations
Salomon Smith Barney lodging industry analyst Michael Rietbrock, noting that travel buyers now have begun the RFP process leading to 2002 rates, speculated that overall negotiated rates will be somewhere between "flat and down 5 percent," compared with 2001 rates. Rietbrock said corporations will "clearly have the upper hand." He termed the flat to minus 5 percent rate estimates as conservative, and also noted that these rates would be the "worst result in history"—from the hotels' point of view, not the buyers'. At the same time, Rietbrock said corporations have cut back their travel spending beyond sustainable levels and that corporate profits are likely to recover before corporate travel policies relax.
TRX Tilts Transaction Model On Self-Booking
Atlanta-based TRX Inc. is on the verge of signing a new client for its ResAssist corporate online booking tool using a new advance-purchase approach to transactions. Large distributors and corporate customers, said chief technology officer Steve Reynolds, can pre-purchase their reservations on ResAssist at a "significant discount. There's probably more opportunity for a travel agency to save on this because they have more transactions. Our customers came to us with the idea, and part of the motivation is that some have seen industry transaction prices go up and there's a concern. Now, they can get set for a one-year term, where the higher the commitment in transactions earns a higher discount."
New York Hotels Predicted To See Major Rebound
If New York City hotels are a bellwether for the lodging industry nationally, brighter skies lie ahead for hoteliers. According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers forecast released late last month, Manhattan hotels will experience a rebound in occupancy and a record average daily room rate in 2002. Occupancy is estimated to be 80 percent for the year, which would be up 3.5 percent over the estimate for 2001. ADR, meanwhile, is estimated to grow to $222 in 2002, up from $219.50 in 2001. Unfortunately, the optimistic projections don't help a lodging market presently mired in the doldrums. In July, for example, Smith Travel Research said occupancies in New York fell 11.2 percent, compared with July 2000. Nationwide, occupancies last month were off 5 percent and room rates dipped to their lowest level in 10 years. Analysts said the continuing lag in business travel hasn't been helped by the seasonal surge in international visitors on the leisure side.
Airline Labor Update
The Allied Pilots Association, representing 11,500 American Airlines pilots, rejected a revised contract offer put forth by management, despite calling the baseball-style arbitration proposal "overly limiting" and also acknowledging a lost opportunity for an immediate pay increase. Initial negotiations began in July. American, however, came to terms on a tentative contract for 15,000 employees represented by the Transport Workers Union. Results of the ratification vote will be announced Oct. 5. Voting by the carrier's flight attendants on their tentative contract will conclude next week. United Airlines and its machinists union asked the National Mediation Board to start a 30-day cooling-off period to accelerate their contract talks. NMB instead this week will meet separately with the parties. At Delta Air Lines, 20,000 flight attendants petitioned NMB to allow a vote on unionization with the Association of Flight Attendants. AFA said it would be the largest such vote in the history of the airline industry. NMB is expected to make a decision late next month.