Newsmaker: Hildebrand Joins HTU
<B> Newsmaker: Hildebrand Joins HTU</B>
By Amon Cohen
Newly formed German travel giant HTU has proclaimed its intention to be one of the top three travel management companies in the world and promised major expansion in the crucial U.S. and U.K. markets. It has immediately signaled the seriousness of its intent by poaching one of Europe's brightest young stars from Business Travel International to be joint managing director of HTU Business Travel, its corporate travel division.
Marc Hildebrand, 30, had been with BTI and its partner agencies since it was formed in 1990. Most recently, he had been director of global products and consulting from July 1998, although he served for five months last November as managing director of BTI's German partner BTI Euro Lloyd.
HTU is owned by the vast German conglomerate Preussag AG and was formed out of a merger of Hapag-Lloyd and TUI, making it Germany's largest player in both corporate and leisure travel. Although yet to be fully created as a legal entity, HTU Business Travel is a merger of HTU's business travel interests, principally Hapag-Lloyd, and First, which HTU acquired in December 1998. Hapag-Lloyd and First are the country's first and second biggest business travel agencies, respectively. Their respective managing directors, Wilhelm Schaab and Dr. Jöerg Rudolph, join Hildebrand as fellow managing directors in the new HTU Business Travel.
With Hildebrand only having joined officially on Sept. 1, a strategy has not yet been mapped out. However, there clearly will be implications for members of U.S. agency consortium Hickory Travel Systems, which is the North American affiliate for the First Travel Management International agency network. Hickory owns 17 percent of FTMI but HTU effectively holds 49 percent, the rest of the ownership being dispersed among 10 other agencies.
"'We are going to develop a whole new global network and brand," Hildebrand said. "It has been indicated by HTU that we want to move into the top three globally. One thing is for sure: If we want to be in the global league, we have to be strong in the U.S. and the U.K. That is where it is all happening and we will consolidate our position in those countries."
Although the brand will be substantially reworked, Hildebrand said the global name will remain First. He also confirmed that money was available for acquisitions, but said First would not necessarily be wholly owned by HTU. "It is our intention to have control in key countries but ownership is not always the answer," he said.
Hildebrand also firmly ruled out any links with Thomas Cook, in which Preussag owns a 50 percent stake, and with Carlson Wagonlit Travel, whose parent Carlson Cos. has a 25 percent share in Cook. "The relationship with Carlson is purely on the leisure side in the U.K.," he said.