The impact of outside influences on the future of the business travel industry is headlining the agenda of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives’ ( ACTE) forum to be held in Frankfurt, Germany, on 27 September, 2006. The five-session program will cover issues from pricing trends to fuel spikes, and from consortium purchasing to the centralization of travel services, concluding with an analysis of the current state of globalization.

Industry leader Patrick W. Diemer, CEO, AirPlus International will drive an animated audience participation session to create a multidimensional expectation picture of the travel management profession in a presentation titled “Business Travel Trends Analysis and Roundtable.  This session will include a poll that will be compared to a larger survey group and be part of the final analysis, based on participant experience.

Renowned authorities like Peter Schmid, Business Travel Consultant at Brain Net Switzerland, will explore the benefits and pitfalls of consortium buying in a session titled, “Is Consortium Buying A Trend or an Exception.” Issues such as a monitoring, supplier performance, and guaranteeing value will constitute the basis of this presentation.

The centralization of travel services continues to be a major step in the corporate cost savings agenda. A special session addressing this issue will focus on how cultural change management can diminish costs in the centralization process. This presentation will rely heavily on case studies and the professional experience of a select panel of business travel managers who have successfully centralized their travel services.

The final session, “Globalization is a Journey, Not A Destination,” will be conducted by Sandro Reinhardt, Purchasing Specialist for DaimlerChrysler AG - International Procurement Services. The objective of his presentation is to examine a corporation’s initial globalization plan, then to study changes made to the program throughout implementation. This approach will offer great insight into developing realistic globalization objectives and a back-up plan incorporating local programs that may be left intact.

“The ACTE Frankfurt forum represents a cooperative effort between our membership and our education team to develop an agenda that addresses an immediate need, while identifying evolving industry trends,” said ACTE Executive Director Susan Gurley. ” Topics covered by this forum will run to a logical conclusion at ACTE’s Global Education Conference in Barcelona, 22 - 24 October 2006.  An international education program has commonality with a global travel program. Both evolve to meet demand. Both require constant monitoring. And both must be flexible enough to deal with the unexpected. That’s why ACTE has developed an ongoing educational program that links today’s issues with tomorrows’ solutions and next week’s trends.”
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