The Business Travel Magazine Oct/Nov 2019

THE REVIEW
T H E L O W D O W N
IN BRIEF
Reed & Mackay move
Travel management
company Reed & Mackay
has acquired Business
Travel Direct (BTD), a
division of Ickenham
Travel Group, as part of its
global growth strategy.
The company’s latest
merger follows its
takeover last year of
Hillgate Travel and its
more recent acquisition
of the Concierge Travel
Group in Australia, and
takes its combined
turnover to more than
£750million.
Learned friends
The Southern Universities
Purchasing Consortium
(SUPC) has named Clarity,
Click Travel, Diversity
Travel, Key Travel,
Selective Travel and STA
Travel as its new travel
management partners,
handling an estimated
£700million in university
spend across the UK.
The arrangement, which
covers staff travel and
some student group travel,
runs until August 2023.
GBT sails with Kanoo
American Express Global
Business Travel (GBT) has
acquired a controlling
stake in Kanoo Travel, one
of the leading travel
management companies in
the Middle East.
Kanoo Travel has been a
member of GBT’s global
travel partner network for
many years, and operates
in the United Arab
Emirates, Saudi Arabia,
Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.
GBT will hold 65% of the
new joint venture,
headquartered in Dubai,
and assume control of
the business and its
500-plus employees.
Gray Dawes snaps up
rival Amber Road
THE Gray Dawes Group has continued on the acquistion
trail by snapping up rival TMC Amber Road – it's ninth
purchase since 2015. The deal pushes the company’s annual
turnover to more than £200million and increases its
workforce to around 300.
Gray Dawes Group bought Manchester-based INC Travel
Group nine months ago, and the latest purchase – for an
undisclosed fee – further bolsters the TMC's presence in
the north of England.
The TMC’s CEO, Suzanne Horner, says: “Contrary to
expectations we weren’t necessarily looking to make any
acquisitions in 2019 but the opportunity to acquire a highly
respected business such as Amber Road Travel was a
prospect too tempting not to explore.”
BUSINESS TRAVELLERS ARE LEARNING TO
EAT BETTER AND EXERCISE MORE WHEN ON
TRIPS, ACCORDING TO CWT RESEARCH.
OVERALL, 38% SAID THEY ATTEMPT TO
EAT MORE HEALTHILY, WHILE HOTEL GYMS
AND SWIMMING POOLS ARE THE MOST
POPULAR WORKOUT SPOTS
ITM UPDATE
Scott Davies
Chief Executive, ITM
At ITM we’re often asked how
travel buyers and suppliers
should address and corral the
so-called 'millennial traveller',
as if this mercurial generation
is a different species.
That said, half of the global
workforce will be within this
category by next year and so
it does make sense to
consider their tendencies.
Firstly, they have a shorter
attention span than previous
generations. They have more
stuff coming at them; and this
means communication and
interactions need to be
punchy. No 12-page travel
policies here, please.
Secondly, they do everything
via their phone. So
anything meaningful you do
or say must be mobile-driven.
Thirdly, millennials think
that if you have to be shown
how to use something, it’s
rubbish. Think booking tools.
If you need a webinar or
lunch to learn how to make a
booking, it probably hasn’t
been designed well enough.
Finally, this generation blurs
the lines between work and
play. When they travel, they
have a greater appetite to
meet locals, and will certainly
compare how it feels to travel
with one employer versus
another. In competitive
industries this is key to
attracting and retaining the
very best talent.
THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.COM
47