“Economic Forecast and Its Impact on Business Travel” was the theme of an Executive Forum hosted by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) in Paris on 17 September that drew 120 French delegates, with nearly 60 percent corporates by company - all seeking new strategies in light of the current global economic crisis. The ACTE educational event was presented in partnership with TopResa, the leading travel trade show in France.

“The decision for ACTE to partner with TopResa was an important and strategic one,” said Christine Dunton-Tinnus, ACTE Regional Director, Western, Southern and West Central Europe. “The success of this event can be attributed to ACTE’s strong partnerships with suppliers within the business travel industry, as well as the excellent community of travel managers and buyers we have built in France over the past year.”

“With the high number of corporates representing some of the top companies in the world, the Paris event showed a significant change in the perception of ACTE by buyers and travel managers,” said Jerome Drevon-Barreaux, ACTE Europe Regional Chair and Group Travel Manager, Capgemini Service Paris. “The level of interaction produced extremely fruitful exchanges. It was the highest number of participants ever for an ACTE Paris event, and we look forward to next year and repeating this success.”

The impact of the economy on the business travel industry was discussed during the opening general session. Speakers included Patrice Pourchet, Director MSGAI, ESSEC Business School; Marie Poulain, Director, ESCAET MBA Specialise Management du Tourisme, and Brigitte Jakubowski, JK Associates Consulting. The conclusions reached by the panel were the increasing importance of procurement departments related to travel services, and the additional functions a travel manager/buyer needs to fulfill such as risk and audit management.

In the last year, ACTE has been working with ESSEC and ESCAET, and student groups from the colleges have attended the association’s global and regional educational events in Europe. One of ACTE/s initiatives is to ensure and support the development of necessary knowledge and skills for the next generation of international corporate travel professionals and thereby supporting the process of talent management for its members.

A student group from the University of Lugano (USI), Switzerland, pursuing masters degrees in International Tourism, will attend ACTE’s Global Education Conference in Rome, 5-7 October.

A significant degree of expense is outside the control of business travel managers, and innovative strategies and negotiation skills are now required to maximize cost control. The session, “What can I really negotiate?” gave attendees tips on how to negotiate car rental, airfare and hotel contracts more effectively. Speakers included moderator Matthieu Gufflet, Fondateur et directeur du cabinet, EPSA, and panelists Abdelaziz Bougja, Charge de Mission, Veolia Environnement; Lucien Isnard, Travel Manager, EDF and Arnaud Lambert, Purchaser, Altran.

In a first-time corporates only session, the new SNCF (The national railway of France) pricing model was the focus of a roundtable discussion offering corporates insight into the SNCF pricing strategy, and the exclusive opportunity to discuss opportunities and challenges.

“The ACTE sessions were really travel sourcing-oriented, and the agenda was focused on operational issues connected with our day-to-day concerns as travel managers,” noted Emmanuelle Jaouen, Travel Sourcing Manager, Direction des Achats. “The large audience and the extensive exchanges between delegates were also a good sign of the high level of interest in the presented subjects.”