GTMC boosts business
Members of the influential Guild of Travel Management Companies have reported a 13% increase in business in the first half of this year, thanks to a growing recognition of the range of professional services they can offer.
The Guild’s latest Quarterly Transaction Survey shows the UK’s top travel management companies made nearly 7.2 million bookings on behalf of their clients in the first half of this year, compared with more than 6.3 million in the January-June period in 2006.
Although the number of hotel bookings once again showed a double-digit percentage increase, the big surge in GTMC members’ business came in rail bookings (up 24 per cent) and in “other” transactions (up 28 per cent).
The latter category includes such business trip elements as airport car parking, chauffeur-drive transfers, and passport and visa services.
During the first half of 2007, GTMC members booked more than 3.6 million air tickets, nearly 1.5 million rail tickets, and over 200,000 rental cars. Guild members also made nearly 1.6 million hotel reservations.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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