ITM Creates Organization To Address Crises

The United Kingdom & Ireland's Institute of Travel & Meetings announced at its annual conference today that it has created an organization to improve communication between suppliers and buyers in times of crisis.

Prompted by lessons learned from last month's volcanic ash crisis, ITM chief executive Paul Tilstone said The Phoenix Group would be "a conduit for information and guidance at times of crisis and a central point for government and the media to interact with the corporate travel industry." Tilstone said it also could be used as a forum for travel managers to lend each other support, such as jointly chartering aircraft to repatriate travelers.

The group will be led by ITM chairman Jamie Hindhaugh, who is head of logistics sourcing for the British Broadcasting Corp. and head of production for the BBC's 2012 output covering the London Olympics and other events.

British Airways has pledged its support to Phoenix, the first project for which will be creation of a white paper on lessons learned from the volcanic ash crisis.

The ITM also announced yesterday that it has appointed Advito, the consulting division of BCD Travel, to provide it with request-for-proposals and other unspecified templates and resources for its members. The ITM said the output from Advito initially will be aimed at buyers new to travel and small and medium enterprises, but eventually it hopes to promote the tools as a series of standards for the entire travel management industry.