THE BIGGEST BUSINESS TRAVEL SHOW EVER

I am delighted to be writing these words two weeks out from the 21st Business Travel Show. This year, will be the biggest in the event’s 21-year history. 252 exhibitors are currently confirmed for the event, including 89 new companies. The show’s feature areas are sold out and pre-registered visitor numbers are also up.  

The Business Travel Show has been getting progressively stronger over the last few years following a long period of sustained investment. As a result of this – plus the efforts of a truly passionate and dedicated team at Centaur – we have been able to ensure it continues to deliver the best possible sourcing, learning and networking opportunities for European buyers attending the show, and the best possible business opportunities for the suppliers who exhibit. We are incredibly proud to host a 21-year record breaking show and we’re looking forward to a brilliant two days in our new home at Olympia Grand.

Last year, 226 suppliers exhibited at the event, Europe’s largest for the corporate travel market, putting this year’s event 11 per cent ahead with 15 days still to go. Exhibitors include Carlson Rezidor, Airbnb, Hilton Worldwide, Hailo, Qatar Airways, FcM, Capita, Premier Inn, HRG, Carlson Wagonlit, Star Alliance, ATPI, American Express Global Business Travel, Amadeus, Evolvi, Click Travel, Cendyn Arcaneo, BCD, IHG, Egencia, Mastercard, International SOS and easyJet. Fredric the Rabbit, the star of easyJet’s first ever business-focused television advertising campaign, will open the show at a ribbon cutting ceremony.

The Business Travel Show’s 2015 feature areas are sold out:

• Sold out: The International Hotel Village, which launched last year, returns and has doubled in size. Exhibitors include Carlson Rezidor, Taj Hotels, NH Hotels, Millennium Hotels, The Doyle Collection, IberoStar, Rotana Hotels, Wyndham Hotel Group, Arora Hotels, Supranational Hotels, B-Aparthotels, O’Callaghan Hotels, Choice Hotel Group, The Big Sleep Hotel, Leonardo Hotels, House of Kooser and Global Hospitality Services.
• Sold out: Airline Pavilion Exhibitors include Kenya Airways, Gulf Air, Malaysia Airlines, Japan Airlines, bmi Regional, Air Astana, Oman Air, Air Berlin, LATAM and ACC Aviation.
• Sold out: GTMC Pavilion Back for its second year, the GTMC Pavilion features Royal Brunei, Purple Parking, Vietnam Airlines, Business Travel Direct, Portman Travel, One Transport, Norad Travel Management, Altour, Co-Operative Travel Management and, of course, GTMC.
• Sold out: The Responsible Travel Management Zone also returns for a second year and exhibitors include iJet, AXA, Travel Advice, red24, Aon, eConnect Cars, LoungeBuddy and Water to Go
• Sold out: The ASAP Pavilion of Serviced Apartment Providers returns for 2015, has increased in size and features Knightly Apartments, Apple Apartments, Frasers Hospitality, Dolphin Square, stayCity, Marlin Apartments, Cheval Residences, Shortlets UK, ESA, AKA Serviced Apartments, Dreamhouse Apartments, Cotels, Arlington House, Roomspace, Berkshire Rooms and ASAP.

A first class conference programme sponsored by Egencia, Macdonald Hotels & Resorts and Concur complements the exhibition. The programme features more than 60 sessions including speakers and panelists from Airbnb, Google, Amex, Nomura, Schott, AIG and Electronic Arts. The opening panel session takes place at 10:30 on Wednesday 25 February and is led by WINiT’s (Women in Travel) Michelle (Mick Lee) and four other panelists.

If you still haven't registered, I would urge you to do so now and avoid queues on the door. You will also receive a link to download our Corporate Travel Industry Trend Report. www.businesstravelshow.com/register 

GUEST BLOG: Duty of care and how TMCs can help

With recent unpredictable winter weather and the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, there is an increasing expectation for employers to deliver robust duty of care to employees when travelling for business. In turn there is an increasing reliance on TMCs to be available to assess and advise on any potential risks and monitor travellers' movements. 

Certainly traveller safety and security, offering the systems and infrastructure to arrange alternative travel plans on demand, and the efficiency and expertise to manage travel plans at both a local and global level are all essential elements of a duty of care package. Having a full service TMC in place ensures there is a 24-hour support team available to ensure any problems such as security threats or healthcare requirements can be managed using specialist knowledge. In fact, a TMC can give clear guidance on possible risks before they happen. 

Employee traveller tracking is another service offer available so that businesses can monitor the whereabouts of employees in high risk areas or emergency situations and provide recommendations on their movement to a safer area when required. Indeed it is no longer regarded as an optional extra – it is now necessary for business travellers across all sectors. 

This post was written by Adam Knights, group sales and marketing director, ATPI Group. For more information please visit www.atpi.com. ATPI will be exhibiting at stand number B445 at the Business Travel Show. To register for a free pass please visit www.businesstravelshow.com/register 

NDC - STILL TWO THIRDS OF BUYERS DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON

NDC - New Distribution Capability) has been on the news agenda for at least 18 months and we’re just months away from seeing the first airlines implementing IATA's proposed NDC standards, and yet nearly two thirds of European business travel managers still don’t feel informed enough about NDC, what it is and how it will affect them, to decide whether they are for or against it.

In response the question "Do you support NDC?" 63% of respondents to the Business Travel Show survey of 179 travel buyers (three quarters from the UK, rest from mainland Europe) said they still were not informed enough to make a decision, 17% answered "yes" and 20% "no".

Other tech questions from the survey were answered as follows:

Do you have a social media policy for travellers:

Yes – 30%
No – 62%
No, but we plan to in the next 12 months – 7%

Are you using big data to help plan and manage your travel programmes?Yes – 19%
No – 50%
No, but we plan to in the next 12 months – 17%
I don’t know – 14%

To read more about NDC and this story, please visit TNOOZ.

The Business Travel Show takes place 25-26 February 2015 at Olympia Grand in London. Please visit www.businesstravelshow.com to register for a free visitor pass for both days AND access to Travel Technology Europe, which takes place at the same time. 

GUEST BLOG: Perfect pairing: serviced apartments benefit bleisure travellers

Just as leisure travellers admit they are always working – 43 per cent of international travellers always take their professional mobile devices with them on holiday or weekend trips*– business travellers are beginning to extend their stays to include a leisure component. This blurring between business and leisure travel, dubbed ‘bleisure’, was identified as a major trend in the recent Skiftmagazine Megatrends Defining Travel in2015.

For many business travellers worldwide, bleisure is already a way of life, with data from BridgeStreet Global Hospitality’s 2014 Bleisure Report indicating 83 per cent of respondents use time on business trips to explore the city they’re visiting.

Most annual travel is for leisure, with business travel making up less than 30 per cent, and according to BridgeStreet's survey, nearly half (46 per cent) of business travellers add personal travel days to business trips. Having surveyed more than 640 recent guests, BridgeStreet’s original research reveals an overwhelmingly positive sentiment toward bleisure as the latest business travel trend.

While a desire for ‘bleisure’ is growing amongst employees, the majority of businesses have yet to incorporate the concept. Nearly 60 per cent of respondents indicated their company does not have a policy on bleisure, with an additional 27 per cent unsure of any policy. But bleisure is about more than rest and relaxation; these trips can actually impact employee satisfaction. Seventy-nine per cent of recent BridgeStreet guests indicated that adding leisure trips to extended business travel (3+ weeks) adds value to an assignment, while 73 per cent feel that the opportunity to take bleisure trips benefits them as an employee.

With 95 per cent of travellers more than or equally likely to take a bleisure trip in the next five years, business could benefit from implementing policies surrounding this trend. Employees feel bleisure opportunities benefit them and add value to work assignments, contributing to higher job satisfaction and loyalty.

Clear and fair guidance around ‘bleisure’ trips will likely help foster trust between companies and their employees as well as motivate them, make them more productive and create a positive attitude toward the work/life balance. With the proper implementation, who knows, ‘bleisure’ travel may even have a positive effect on a company’s bottom line. 

  

To learn more about the rise of bleisure travel and view the complete Bleisure Report visit http://www.bridgestreet.com/bleisure.

* 2013 Orbitz trend report

BridgeStreet is exhibiting at the Business Travel Show on 25-26 February, Olympia Grand, London. Register for a free visitor pass now www.businesstravelshow.com 

BUYING BUSINESS TRAVEL INTERVIEWS GEORGE BLUES

Buying Business Travel is the official media partner to the 2015 Business Travel Show and online editor Tom Newcome interviewed George Blues, travel manager at Scotch whisky makers Edrington Group and also one of the show's advisory board members. 

You have returned this year to continue your role on the BT Show advisory board, why is the board important and why did you decide to come back?

I feel the advisory board is important in order to ensure the Business Travel Show, and especially the associated conference programme, remains an important, relevant event in travel managers’ diaries. I returned to the board as I thoroughly enjoyed our discussions, idea sharing and exchanges with like-minded individuals sharing the same day-to-day challenges. Also, visiting the show, witnessing its success, and knowing you had input into the programme is quite rewarding.

What are the top issues facing travel managers at the moment?

Managing the fiscal demands of the business against individual traveller expectations never goes away. Corporate manslaughter and bribery legislation are issues being raised more and more frequently, and can be a real headache.

Technology is extremely beneficial but must fit with corporate requirements rather than the other way round. New, younger travellers see many processes as outdated or even obsolete. Balancing, and indeed implementing, some of this fresh thinking, against those of seasoned travellers can be an interesting discussion.

Predictions of any disruptive products/people/services etc. in the managed travel sector for 2015?

• British Airways. Firstly, terminal moves at Heathrow – why? – I thought terminal changes for connections from Scotland (and the north of England) were to be a thing of the past when the bright new dawn of Terminal 5 arrived. And, secondly, the return of its monopoly on some UK domestic trunk routes.
• Probable continuation and increase in industrial action at specific airlines and countries, which have destroyed traveller confidence in the product and connections at airports/stations affected. The additional cost and administration of trying to reclaim it afterwards leads many to avoid them, even if it means a higher initial fare.
• NDC – a great unknown, but is sure to be controversial.

What do you expect to be the main concerns of travel managers in 2015?

• Ensuring travellers remain as safe and secure as possible in an increasingly dangerous world.
• Managing travel within budgets, which can be set months in advance and are, more often than not, based upon out of date fares/rates.
• Airline alliances/mergers/codeshares – in my experience these do not offer corporates the benefits claimed as they do not appear to work as closely behind the scenes as you would expect.  

What topic, session or speaker are you most looking forward to hearing at the show?

There are actually quite a few sessions and masterclasses I am looking forward to attending – technology, pricing and compliance based mainly. The Forecasting Forum at midday on Wednesday is always an interesting session and I’m keen to attend Let’s Talk Policy Compliance and The Secrets of Airline and Hotel Pricing.

The Business Travel Show is Europe’s largest exhibition and conference for buyers and managers of business travel – 25-26 February 2015 Grand Hall Olympia London

GUEST BLOG: Addressing the challenges and debunking the myths surrounding electric vehicles

The main concern I’ve found people have about electric vehicles is range. The feeling that an electric vehicle or EV can only travel a limited amount of miles before requiring a charge puts people off. It’s a bit like boot space. The number of hatchbacks sold in the UK is higher than most countries, as we want to cover all eventualities, such as moving that large piece of furniture or carrying all our children’s gear as they head off to university. If an EV can work as a taxi (which it can very successfully), then surely it can substitute a petrol or diesel engine car in most situations and certainly the second car in a two car household.

The good news is that there are now more EV charging stations in London than conventional fuel stations. More rapid chargers are coming on line at motorway service stations all the time and there are websites and apps readily available which pinpoint the locations.

As a consequence, range anxiety in the context of a proportion of the car buying market should be of little concern. However this is not the full story and there are more significant arguments that need to be debated and improvements implemented to address range anxiety in the context of different types of user.

Firstly, a better method for communicating expected range should be provided to consumers. Yes the EV manufacturers will say their vehicle has a range of 120 miles, but in practice you will only get 90-100 miles per charge in the summer and perhaps 20% less in the winter. In addition, range is heavily impacted by driver behaviour so perhaps there needs to be a matrix of figures presented to consumers to help inform their choice.

Range anxiety is not a pure EV issue. How often does your conventional petrol engine match the manufacturer’s miles per gallon specification? Recent research suggests that actual performance is on average 30% less than stated on the specification sheets of new vehicles.

Secondly, consumers should get a choice of battery size. As with lots of things EV, Tesla is already leading the way in this with their Model S, which comes with either a 60 kWh battery or a 85 kWh battery depending on how many miles you want your car to be able to travel on one charge. I expect other car manufacturers to follow suit. For example, the iconic design of the VW Golf is already available with a choice of drive train (diesel engine, petrol engine or electric motor) and in future, in a similar way to you choosing the size of your engine, I expect you will be able to choose the size of your EV battery.

Thirdly, the recharging infrastructure has to mature. For most early adopters of electric vehicles, the main recharging point is at the home where a 7 kw charging point, installedwith the help of the Government subsidy, allows you to recharge your vehicle in approximately 4 hours. This has since been enhanced with the increasing number of motorway rapid chargers for the longer journeys plus ‘top up’ chargers available in town in case you forget to charge the car up overnight.

This current situation is appropriate for the EV market of today, just. However, for the EV product to go towards mass market adoption, including commercial fleets, the infrastructure does require substantial enhancement for the following two main reasons:

(1) Not everyone has off street parking for home charging.

(2) Commercial fleets require an enhanced level of security of supply.

The first issue is most apparent in urban centres where the move from car owners to car users may mitigate the problem. These car users are more likely to use car clubs or taxis. For the reducing number of car owners, housing developers are now providing fewer assigned car parking spaces. However these spaces are more likely to have the capacity to charge vehicles overnight as electrical points are mandated for a certain proportion of spaces. In addition some developers are also allocating space for rapid chargers to supply those vehicles parked on street.

The second issue is more pressing as it is the commercial fleets that perhaps offer the best opportunities for EV adoption and their consequential reduction in local air pollution. However without the knowledge that the fleet vehicles can complete their duty cycles and have access to charging infrastructure if and when they need it, then they will not make the switch.

The needs of the commercial fleets need to be fully understood by the local authorities and I expect rapid charging stations (much like today’s petrol stations with café facilities) will be required in city centres. These charging stations will have the capability to charge a multitude of vehicles at any one time and cover all charging methods (like petrol stations offer unleaded and diesel).

This is very different to the current proposals seen in cities such as London where the boroughs plan to install up to five or six rapid chargers in five to six different sites around the borough. This dispersed model may well supplement the top up charging currently available and provide an option for residents without off-street parking, but it will be insufficient to convert commercial fleets to any large extent.

Conclusions

There are so many exciting developments on the horizon and choice and innovation are becoming important drivers for green technologies. To some extent, these technologies and EVs need to co-exist to optimize their benefits which is one of the reasons why I think it is so important to back the uptake of EVs.

Part of the ideas and concepts behind eConnect cars is to prove the case for continued investment in electric vehicles and to demonstrate how they can work effectively. This will encourage further research and development into battery technology, re-charging options (such as wireless dynamic induction charging) and the development of other products and services based around EVs.

  

This post was written by Alistair Clarke, Managing Director and Owner of eConnect cars. Visit eConnect cars at www.econnectcars.com and follow the conversation on Twitter - @econnectcars. You can also visit them at the Business Travel Show Stand B564 - RTM Pavilion on 25-26 February 2015. Register now for a free pass at www.businesstravelshow.com.