See main story, "BCD Travel Plans Changes At The Top.")As BCD Holdings CEO Joop Drechsel announced he also would don the CEO hat for its BCD Travel subsidiary earlier this month, he spoke with Business Travel News editor-in-chief David Meyer and travel management editor Seth Harris about growth, customer relationships and the role of the company's major shareholder John Fentener van Vlissingen.BTN: From your previous position, you could choose to grow the business in a number of different ways. Does your new presence here suggest that you see real growth opportunities for BCD Travel?
Joop Drechsel: Not only from my previous position—where you could see more on the strategy and mergers and acquisitions side—but we also have great opportunities for growth currently on the table. This is not so much a business anymore where we are going to see, in our view, major takeovers and huge consolidation steps. Most of that, we have already seen. Success not only for our business, but also our customers, needs to come from natural growth, streamlining the organization and improving from within.
BTN: Where will the growth occur?
Drechsel: If you look at some of our developments over the past 18 months and you look at Scott Graf's business, Meetings & Incentives, where we've taken more of a global footing, or Mary Ellen George's approach with Advito, which is now part of our global business, you see all the new opportunities coming from there and we have just started. If you think about what we've done with TripSource and DecisionSource, and new technology investments there, that's where the future growth in this business will come from.
BTN: Will you be spending most of your time with customers?
Drechsel: Part of the strength of our organization has always been that we've had senior executives close to the customer. For instance, in the United States and Europe our regional presidents entertain very good relationships with our large customers. I want them to continue doing that. I will focus the team on the right topics and drive further globalization and effectiveness in the market and ensure the company, which has such great potential, grows its commercial power.
BTN: Is John Fentener van Vlissingen reducing his involvement in the company?
Drechsel: No. John is a great shareholder and very successful entrepreneur and this is very much the strength of BCD Travel, being a large global organization with such a committed shareholder. For strategy, mergers and acquisition and future directions, we have always had a very good team approach. John and I were involved because very much it was coming out of his wallet. It gives me the opportunity to have very short lines with my major shareholder. Therefore, decisions can be made very rapidly and we can execute very rapidly, and have access to the funding of that. That is quite an ideal situation. I'm quite sure John isn't going to retire in that sense and I don't want him to.