FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Caleb Tiller, 403-503-0431 Ext. 3, ctiller@caobt.com
Leading Corporate Travel Benchmarking Providers Announce Results of Canadian Online Booking and Agency Study
Calgary, Alberta (June 27, 2005) -- The Canadian Alliance of Business Travel, an education and research association providing Canadian benchmarking data and educational exchanges for corporate travel executives, and Runzheimer International, a leading provider of travel program, policy and cost benchmarking information, today announced key findings from a joint benchmarking survey of Canadian corporate travel managers regarding online booking practices and travel agency relationships.
“This survey verifies what travel managers across Canada have been telling me about online booking,” said Canadian Alliance President Tanya Racz. “Corporate use of online booking tools is low but growing fast. In fact, more respondents plan to implement online booking tools this year than already have online booking in place. The continued development of online booking will be a key area for travel managers to drive value within their organizations over the next few years.”
President of Runzheimer International, Greg Harper, said, “The data show that travel managers are managing agency relationships in order to maximize value for their companies. Although 70 percent of companies use only one travel agency, seventy-eight percent have made some change to their agency relationship within the last two years in order to improve the quality of agency services provided.”
Here are some key findings from the Canadian Alliance of Business Travel/Runzheimer International Agency Relationships and Online Booking Tools report:
- Nineteen percent of respondent companies use online booking tools.
- Twenty-three percent plan to implement online booking tools this year.
- Of those respondents with online booking tools, the median adoption rate is 31 percent, and the mean is 36 percent.
- Seventy percent of respondents use one travel agency for corporate travel services, while 30 percent use more than one agency.
- Seventy-eight percent of respondents changed agency relationships within the last two years, changing financial arrangements, changing agencies, adding agencies, or making other changes in order to improve the travel services provided to the corporation.
The report is based on 33 responses from organizations of various business classifications, sizes, and geographic regions. Two thirds of respondents reported their companies have global operations. Members of the Canadian Alliance of Business Travel can obtain a free copy of the report at www.caobt.com. Other travel professionals interested in the report should contact Tanya Racz at tanya@caobt.com or 403-503-0431 Ext. 1.
Members of the media can obtain a copy by contacting Caleb Tiller at 403-503-0431 Ext. 3 or ctiller@caobt.com.
About the Canadian Alliance of Business Travel
The Canadian Alliance of Business Travel is a not-for-profit Canadian education and research association dedicated to providing an educational environment for corporate travel executives to exchange best practices and collectively foster strategies for success within the business travel industry. We are committed to provide integral benchmarking data and educational exchanges for companies in Canada and abroad. The Canadian Alliance is the Canadian affiliate of the U.S.-based National Business Travel Association.
About Runzheimer International
Founded in 1933, Runzheimer International serves 60 percent of the Fortune 500. Recognized for providing innovative solutions relating to employee mobility, Runzheimer is a global leader in employee-provided business vehicle reimbursement programs, employee compensation and relocation, and travel management. Runzheimer’s Travel Management Network (TMN) provides up-to-date travel prices and costs, as well as other travel-related benchmarking information for US and Canadian travel managers on the web.
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