TRAVEL MANAGEMENT

Six months after his launch on the north american marketBCD Travel's TripSource application is now available in France for business travellers. We are currently waiting for the Enterprise version of the tool, aimed at travel managers.

On 17 June, Egencia celebrated the inauguration of its new European headquarters in the Tour Egée at La Défense. The group's new European HQ now employs 400 people, and houses its Research and Development (R&D) centre. This is a new nerve centre for the business travel specialist, which intends to use it as a working tool to pursue its development in France and internationally.

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.

International SOS will be celebrating its thirtieth anniversary next year, against a backdrop of growing demand for health and safety assistance solutions dedicated to business travellers. As part of their duty to protect, companies of all sizes are now turning to the technological solutions and human expertise of assistance providers such as International SOS. Dr Arnaud Derossi, Regional Medical Director, Assistance and Aviation for the CEMA zone, looks at the challenges and changes in the profession, linked to new forms of business travel and ever more advanced technological solutions. Interview.

On 13 May, the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau published its 9^th The Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau published a report on convention activity in Paris and the surrounding region, highlighting a record 1,055 conventions and 752,300 participants.

Alongside the hotel and airline budgets, companies are now paying particular attention to 'secondary' expenses. This interest is supported by the emergence of management tools dedicated to business meals and taxis. But mentalities still need to change if these fringe costs are to be integrated into an overall mobility policy...

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.

Kayak has published an international study on the connectivity offered in hotels, noting that 90% of establishments worldwide now offer WiFi access. However, the booking site points out that this does not necessarily mean that a connection is offered in the room: free access in the lobby is enough to be included in this "free Wi-Fi" category.

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.

In conjunction with the GIBTM (Gulf Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings Exhibition) summit held in Abu Dhabi on 25 March, the ICCA has published a focus on the region, showing that the number of international events in the Middle East has tripled over the last ten years.

Almost a third of French business travellers (28%) miss home, according to a new global study published by Regus.

A study published by HRS analyses the differences in breakfast prices charged to business travellers in different countries. Singapore is the most expensive destination. French hotels rank twelfth.

The world of European business travel is getting a new player: five leading associations - including the AFTM (Association Française des Travel Managers) and ACTE (Association of Corporate Travel Executives) - initialled the birth certificate of the European Network of Associations for Corporate Travel (ENACT) on Monday 3 March. The stated aim is to "influence the European debate on all issues relating to the organisation and management of business travel". Duly noted. 

Without being catastrophic, 2013 did not provide the boost expected by hoteliers after an already complicated 2012.

The French branch of the GBTA (Global Business Travel Association) has just celebrated its first anniversary, and passed the one hundred member mark at the the KDS Now 2014 event.

The KDS Now event held on 29 January in Paris brought together over 800 guests at the Salle Wagram to present the new features of the KDS Neo tool. On the programme: voice recognition, integration of urban transport, and above all KDS Neo Expense and KDS Neo Receipt, two new intuitive expense management tools.

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.

The Travel Leaders Group has attempted to anticipate the major trends in the world of business travel for 2014. Its forecasts are optimistic in terms of the volume of business travel planned by US companies, which cite flight delays as the main concern for business travellers.

Although contactless payment has not yet reached the world of business travel, the dematerialisation of corporate payment solutions is proceeding apace. Following in the footsteps of the stored-value card, the virtual card is now making its mark, particularly for hotel expenses.