Attendees at the Association of Corporate Travel Executives' (ACTE) Executive Forum, "Global Trends in Business Travel," held in Stuttgart, Germany on 8 May, were given clear directions on navigating the current challenging travel management landscape with new cost containment and control methods.

More than 100 delegates attended the event, with 48 percent of the audience represented by corporate buyers from Fortune 500 companies such as Daimler, BMW, Bayer, BASF and Bosch.

"ACTE has been developing the principles, programs and products that keep our members ahead of the business travel industry curve," Christine Dunton-Tinnus, ACTE Regional Director, Western, Southern and West Central Europe, said. "As the role of travel management grows, ACTE will continue to offer new ways to optimize cost containment, traveller productivity, and advice on how to keep programs aligned with corporate growth objectives."

Commented Bernd Burkhardt, Global Travel Manager, Daimler AG, "I thought the ACTE Executive Forum in Stuttgart was really high level and high quality. The speakers represented the right players and participants in our market and the content was excellent. After the event, the conversation continued which was proof of the interest in the event. It was valuable to me to take part in management discussions, and to be able to see the entire issue, discuss it with all the stakeholders along the value chain, and look for solutions. It was a very holistic approach."

He continued, "ACTE events are different from other events. While ACTE has a global approach, it also identifies regional challenges and offers global solutions. The regional approach is necessary, but a global perspective is absolutely key for being successful. That is why ACTE is a very valuable and quality brand in Europe."

The program addressed the issues of travel distribution and sales, hotel management and contracting, and environmentally-friendly business travel.

"The ACTE Executive Forum in Stuttgart was a successful event; the number and profile of the delegates was impressive as well," Ralph Ruckgaber, IBM Deutschland GmbH, Konzerneinkauf, General Procurement, said. "There is huge potential for ACTE and the business travel industry in Germany to benefit from ACTE's global knowledge."

"The ACTE Executive Forum in Stuttgart was an excellent event," noted Gerd Radomsky, Corporate Sales Manager Germany, British Airways Plc. "The educational value was high with a well-balanced ratio between corporate buyers/travel managers and suppliers.  The chosen topics and speakers linked well to actual market developments and resulted in very interesting discussions with good interaction with the audience."

In 2008, ACTE will host a series of educational events throughout the European region: Rome, London, Helsinki, Paris, Madrid and Milan.