BCD Recasts Consulting Unit As The Independent Advito

BCD Travel Consulting last week communicated to clients its new name, Advito, and its decision to seek independence from parent company BCD Travel, attributing the changes to client demand for unbiased advice. Advito, however, is not entirely divorced from BCD, as the consultancy will remain part of BCD Travel and will continue to use BCD client account information for benchmarking data. However, Mary Ellen George, general manager at Advito, said the consultancy is in discussions to broaden its database and expects to make a partnership announcement in the coming months.

George said the new unit would fulfill current customers' existing consulting contracts with BCD Travel. Meanwhile, Advito will look to contract new short-term and long-term consulting projects with existing, new and non-BCD Travel clients, she said. Currently, non-BCD Travel customers account for 5 percent to 10 percent of revenues for what is now Advito, which—under its new direction—is responsible for generating its own profit. "For the three- to five-year plan, we'd like it to be 30 percent of our revenues," George said.

The new division operates similarly to BCD Meetings & Incentives in the way that it is a separate business unit.

"We're taking a different position from American Express or Carlson in that they're forging more of a path to bring consulting services in as part of the TMC," George said. "We believe the independent approach makes more sense to really maximize any opportunity. That's what our clients have told us. They want the independence and we believe we're sending a strong message that that is the case by having the Advito brand."

As George acknowledged, the Advito consulting brand is not entirely new. TQ3 Travel Solutions Management originated the brand as a collaborative initiative with Deloitte Consulting. It was acquired along with the other assets of TQ3 that BCD purchased earlier this year.

The current consulting management team remains in place, albeit with a few title changes. In addition to George, it includes Mark Williams, vice president of global business development; Bob Brindley, vice president of the Americas; Maria Chevalier, vice president of global business intelligence; Victor van Tol, vice president of Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia/Pacific; and Torsten Kriedt, senior director of global practice development, who came to BCD from the TQ3 Advito unit.