18 May 2009

Travelport commits to CSR as downturn bites

Travelport sees stability ahead, despite a drop in earnings for the first quarter.

"We are seeing the low-point of the slump, but we can see the end," said Armin Meier, chief commercial officer. "We could do better, business travel is suffering, more than leisure.

He was speaking while attending the annual World Travel and Tourism Council summit in Florianopolis, Brazil, where Travelport is sponsoring the Tourism for Tomorrow awards - which promote the best examples of responsible tourism development across the globe.

"We want to put a new culture into the company," said CEO, Jeff Clarke when asked about the awards.

He also highlighted the year-old launch of Travelport’s Carbon Tracker tool - this measures the emissions of air and ground transportation on different routes.

Clark also stressed the fact that all of the company’s 5,500 staff are encouraged to take five days off to do ‘voluntourism’ each year.

"This programme has definitely been successful at the local level and is great for those people that are doing this," he explained.

The company that owns the global distribution systems Galileo and Worldspan, operating in 145 countries, has seen a 17% drop in net revenues in the first quarter, although the GDS business held margins throughout this period.

"People are more cost-conscious now," expressed Meier.

Looking forward, Clark stated that a drop in air travel "would hurt" the company since Travelport is a global player at the "macro-level."

There are some bright spots in the business including group travel from Japan, which is holding up since the Yen is strong, with a firm market for China travel. The group’s ‘epricing’ tool is also faring well.

"We need to be more relevant to our customer base…and reform our value proposition," said Meier. "We also need additional content."

Meier also highlighted India’s growth and that Travelport will want to have a bigger share of this going forwards.