Like other heavyweights in the business travel industry, BCD Travel is going Brazilian. The business travel agency (TMC) recently concluded a joint venture with Avipam (Agência de Viagens Internacionais, Passagens Aéreas e Marítimas), one of the five largest business travel agencies in Brazil. Founded in 1947, the Brazilian agency had already entered into a partnership with BCD Travel in 2007, with BCD Travel now taking a majority stake in the company. This joint venture will enable BCD Travel to increase its presence in Brazil, where TMC intends to mobilise a 300-strong team to support business travellers in this booming market. "The joint venture will result in improved service delivery, with more live information and greater availability to customers," the agency said in a press release. "Latin America, and Brazil in particular, is an important emerging market," says Valérie Sasset, Managing Director of BCD Travel France. "Increasingly, our customers are also travelling there on business. To be able to serve them better and offer them local support, particularly in the event of disasters, we are investing in a majority stake and strengthening our presence there," emphasises Valérie Sasset.
