How do travel managers see the current economic situation?
Jérôme Drevon-Barreaux: Like everyone else, we believe that the current crisis has and will continue to affect business travel, but that it has also had an opportunity effect. General management is seizing on the situation to accelerate cost-cutting around the questions "Who is going where? "How?" "At what price? Some companies are going as far as the travel freeze, especially in US companies, but most are content to review travel classes. Where business class used to start with flights of more than 6 hours, we've moved on to 8 or 10, and so on.
What is the role of ACTE in this context?
J. D.-B. : Our role is to help travel managers find innovative solutions, to benchmark (in particular with what their competitors are doing) and to give them the tools they need to cut costs.
What is the point of a travel manager sharing a successful experience with a competitor?
J. D.-B.: There are very few companies where travel is a strategic sector. As a result, it's fairly easy to share best practice, and we all know that there are only advantages to be gained from this type of discussion.
How do you organise these exchanges?
J. D.-B.: The Association is extensive: 82 countries are represented, which we estimate represents a total of 12 million business travellers. For our members, contacts are made at global level - with two world conferences each year - and at local level, where meetings are generally held annually.
What are the participants looking for?
J. D.-B. : As well as databases on best practice, we have whitepapers covering all the issues involved in business travel. We are also launching toolkits that travel managers can draw on when putting together their invitations to tender.
What type of company do your members work for?
J. D.-B.: Of course, on a global level, we are of particular interest to travel managers from major accounts. It would be difficult for an SME to find its concerns in a global conference. On the other hand, we address all types of travel manager at local level. Our meeting last year, for example, was devoted to rail travel, a subject of particular interest to SMEs.
Does ACTE carry out lobbying operations?
J. D.-B.: Yes, particularly in the United States, where ACTE launched a campaign against the proposed tightening of security measures, which included the possibility of seizing travellers' PCs. We are also very active on the theme of Corporate Social Responsibility, which comes up at every one of our conferences. In 2004, we were the first to raise travel managers' awareness of environmental issues. We're trying to provide real information in a debate that all too often boils down to accusations against airlines.
Bio Express
Jérôme Drevon at 35
1999 MBA in hospitality management (Essec) then travel manager at Accenture.
2002 HSBC buyer.
2004 Group travel manager at BNP-Paribas.
2005 Group travel manager at Cap Gemini. President Europe of ACTE.
