BCD Travel, the world’s third-largest global travel management company, announced that it has expanded its European operations by acquiring an ownership stake in current Austrian partner TUI Reisecenter Austria Business Travel GmbH, headquartered in Salzburg.

TUI Reisecenter, which operates in the Austrian corporate travel sector as BCD Travel and has its main business travel centre in Vienna, serves a range of industry-leading corporate customers, with annual sales nearing US$24 million (18 million Euros).

Dr. Klaus Pumpel, CEO of TUI Austria Holding GmbH, said: “We are excited by the decision to forge a strategic partnership with BCD Travel. In today’s global marketplace, we appreciate the value of further aligning ourselves with a company that understands the importance combining global reach and purchasing power with local expertise and flexibility for its customers.” TUI Reisecenter has been ranked among Austria’s top five travel management companies since 2001, and has been a driving force in assisting BCD Travel customers with multinational implementations for regional accounts.

Ilona De March, BCD Travel’s president for EMEA, said: “This move sends a strong signal to the European and international markets that as a global player in the corporate travel management industry, BCD Travel is committed to being where our customers need us to be, with owned presence in key markets, and uniformly excellent service in all of them.”

BCD Travel simplifies and streamlines the corporate travel process, helping companies manage and control the movement of its people, information and resources. The company focuses on implementing an integrated, seamless technology platform throughout all global locations to provide full access to and analysis of travel data for these clients.