Carlson Wagonlit Travel has announced Bindu Bhatia will become the new managing director, Asia Pacific, from September. She succeeds Kai Chan, who will be leaving the company at the end of August after making significant contributions during her five-year tenure.

Carlson Wagonlit Travel has announced that Vipservice, based in Russia, will be appointed to join CWT’s Global Partner Network. It is expected that Vipservice will join the CWT Global Partner Network later this month, once the proposed sale of CWT’s wholly owned Russian subsidiary to Vipservice is complete.

Carlson Wagonlit Travel has announced the appointment of Julian Walker as head of market communications and PR. Based in London, and reporting into the strategy and commerce organisation, Walker will have responsibility for market communications, communications strategy and public relations.

Airbnb for Business has announced three new partnerships with leading travel management companies - American Express Global Business Travel, BCD, and Carlson Wagonlit Travel. The deal is viewed by the company as a significant milestone for Airbnb’s business travel programme, which has seen growing momentum in the corporate travel space.

Carlson Wagonlit Travel has announced that Kurt Ekert is replacing Douglas Anderson as president and chief executive, with immediate effect. In this role, Ekert will report directly to the Carlson board of directors. Under Anderson’s leadership, CWT became the industry leader in business travel and made significant advancement in technology, including the acquisition of WorldMate.

Carlson Wagonlit Travel has reported solid financial results for 2015 despite a continued challenging economic climate. CWT increased its new business sales to US$1.7 billion, while transactions were stable at 61.4 million. Overall sales volume reached US$24.2 billion, reflecting the significant curtailment in travel expenses by energy customers.