In the shadow of the major accounts, which generate the highest transaction volumes, the pool of SMEs is attracting a growing number of travel agents, who are aware of the growth potential of this segment. American Express GBT is going on the offensive: the TMC has just unveiled a new offer designed specifically for small businesses, even though American Express naturally intends to cater for as wide a range of customers as possible. Antoine Delesalle, Sales Director France at GBT, rejects the size criterion in the business travel agency's reasoning: " We are thinking less in terms of company size and more in terms of complexity of the travel programmehe explains.
According to information released on Monday, this new product, called "Business travel, quite simply is " particularly suited to companies with more limited travel management resources, or looking for rapid deployment and return on investment. They benefit from preferential ratesof simplified reservationsof reporting and a 24/7 assistance. Travellers, for their part, benefit from a travel inventory wider, from attractive ratesmaintaining loyalty programmesa automatic reservation system and multi-channel personalised assistance before, during and after your trip ".
The new American Express GBT offer includes simplify implementation of the tool, to convert small businesses that might fear an overly cumbersome process. The agency is therefore focusing on " simplified deployment to generate rapid savings" and proposes " support for the implementation of the solution by buyers to ensure its effectiveness and adoption by users" .
For Julien Kauffmann, Managing Director France, Benelux and Southern Europe at GBT, " Travellers' needs are the same in a local company as they are in a multinational: security, simplicity, availability... Meeting these needs should not depend on the size of the company or its travel budget. Bringing our full value to companies of all sizes is what this new offer will enable us to do more simply. ".
