BTN Europe In Conversation With..‪.‬ BTN Group

Fred Stratford, CEO of travel management company Reed & Mackay, tells BTN Europe's editor-in-chief Andy Hoskins about the TMC's acquisition by TripActions, what's new in the first four months under its ownership, and the need to provide clients with both top tech and strong service in the current environment.
Stratford also discusses the wider TMC landscape, potential industry consolidation and his hopes for the business for the business over the remainder of the year and into 2022.

The Accor hotels group's chief commercial officer for Northern Europe, Karelle Lamouche, tells BTN Europe's Andy Hoskins about the group's early observations on business travel recovery, the resilience of the SME sector, the return of small meetings, and how staff shortages are affecting the hospitality sector in the UK.

Lamouche also talks about the group's approach to negotiating new deals with corporates, having previously rolled rates over from 2020. "In 2021 we will be most probably going back into renegotiation of rates and RFPs with many corporates. We can see some further re-engagement and a sort of 'back to normal'," says Lamouche. With a lack of meaningful data, however, she cautions that volume and rate commitments will "be a big unknown, made with lots of assumptions. There will be some interesting exchanges." 

Corneel Koster, chief customer and operating officer at Virgin Atlantic, discusses how the airline's return 'home' to Heathrow Airport's Terminal 3 marks an upturn for international travel some 450 days after its closure.

The carrier – which operated 11 passenger flights and eight cargo flights on its first day back at T3 – is tripling its schedule to the Caribbean this summer but desperately awaits the lifting of travel restrictions to the United States, says Koster, who also talks about new Covid-related safety protocols at the airport, in lounges and onboard, and addresses concerns around security and immigration queues at Heathrow as international travel volumes return.

David McNeill, AVP global corporate sales EMEA and Asia-Pacific at Enterprise Holdings, discusses car rental's role in post-pandemic business travel and corporates' keener interest in ground transport as employees get back out on the road.

He talks about behavioural change among users – including longer rental periods and how SMEs are proving more agile in their return to travel – and how the company is combatting vehicle shortages and prioritising corporates customers if necessary.

Central to most business travel conversations currently is the subject of sustainability, and McNeill explains the challenges involved in promoting and providing electric vehicles. "At the moment what I'm seeing is more questions than genuine demand, but it's starting to come," he says.

Glenn Hogben, chief executive of the Air Charter Association (ACA) tells BTN Europe editor Andy Hoskins how the sector is faring, how business jet usage is only 6% down on pre-pandemic levels, and the trends we can expect to see as we emerge from the crisis.