U.K. companies increasingly are splitting required travel management
services into separate tenders for such categories as hotels and rail,
according to hotel booking agency BSI.
Managing director Trevor Elswood told BTN at the Business Travel & Meetings Show in London on Tuesday
that his company in 2010 participated in 34 tenders for hotel business, each totaling
more than £1 million. Of those, 22 buyers for the first time put their travel
business out to tender through a series of category-by-category RFPs rather
than a single, full-service contract. Elswood said just under half resulted in the
client dividing business between at least two different
category providers.
Outsourced services specialist Capita Group in December 2010 bought BSI for £42.5 million. Capita also owns full-service travel management company Capita
Business Travel and rail booking tool provider Evolvi. Capita director of
travel and conferences James Parkhouse, who oversees all three businesses, told
BTN his company bought BSI because
Capita Business Travel was "underperforming on hotels and meetings.”
Parkhouse pointed to Royal Mail, which last year gave to BSI the hotel
and events business that had been served by Capita Business Travel, leaving Capita
to provide only air and rail services. He also cited German energy company
E.on, which until last year was a Carlson Wagonlit Travel client before switching
its air and rail business to Capita Business Travel and its hotel business to
BSI.
According to Parkhouse, hotel booking agencies do a better job handling
accommodation than full-service TMCs because they have superior expertise and
technology and a dedicated focus. “HBAs have proprietary technology, whereas
TMCs have to spread their IT investment wider," he said.