Corporate travel agencies

American Express is adding a new asset to its technology portfolio: on 21 May, the business travel agency formalised an agreement with Sabre, enabling it to offer its TripCase business travel management tool.

The online shift has marked a turning point in the history of the major TMCs. These leading travel agencies have succeeded in adapting their organisation and their product at the cost of internal restructuring and investment in new technologies.

New technologies have changed business travel habits. Under the impetus of online agencies, traditional players are also turning to online booking. This trend has been accentuated by the "best buy" rationale, and could take on a whole new dimension if the likes of Google or Apple enter the market.

At Wednesday's Market Place, Egencia unveiled the results of its internal study "The Impact of Corporate Organisation on Travel Purchasing Behaviour": a global assessment of business travel management that differs greatly on both sides of the Atlantic.

Business travel agency BCD Travel has just launched its new TripSource application in the United States and Canada, with free access for TMC customers. The aim is to improve the mobile management of business travel and influence the behaviour of business travellers, in line with travel policy.

Philippe Quillien, Director of Business Travel at Selectour Afat, gives a promising overview of the network's various projects for the coming months. With the development of its online offering, a new mobile application, a 24/24 cell and the integration of the AeTM tool from Amadeus, 2014 promises to be a year full of new developments for the network, which intends to gain even more ground in the business travel market, including with key accounts. 

In a few weeks' time, 3mundi and Frequent Flyer Travel Paris will be launching a holding company to pool their resources and skills and strengthen their position in the French business travel market. Jordy Staelen, Managing Director of 3mundi, talks about the objectives of this project.

Business travel agency BCD Travel is expanding in Brazil via a joint venture with Avipam, a Brazilian agency with which TMC has already had a privileged relationship since 2007. By acquiring a stake in Avipam, BCD Travel is taking a new step forward in a particularly promising market.

One hundred days after his appointment as Managing Director France for HRG (Hogg Robinson Group), Rémi Bouysset looks back at the business travel agency's position in France, its values and its priorities. The roadmap optimised as part of the "Destination 2015" plan already seems to be bearing fruit, with double-digit growth (+25%) this year.

Jean-Marc Dandurand, Director of ATPI France, outlines the new French ambitions of the business travel agency (TMC), which is building on its specific expertise in the offshore market and its skills in the MICE segment.

TourCom Affaires will be holding its thirteenth annual workshop on 29 March. This is an opportunity for its Chairman Patrick Loison to look back on the event, and more generally on the situation of TourCom's business travel branch.

Agnès Benveniste, Deputy Managing Director of Meetings at CWT Meetings & Events, takes a look at developments in the MICE (Meetings, Incentive, Convention, Events) market, and how supply and demand are evolving in this fast-changing sector.

Jordy Staelen, Managing Director of 3mundi France, explains the business travel agency's philosophy, its ambitions, its strengths and its vision of the market.