BTA Industry Partner Newsletter - April

INDUSTRY PARTNER UPDATES

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Act For Sky ANA – All Nippon Airways, JGC, REVO, JAL and 12 other Japanese companies have come together to establish “Act for Sky.” With the need for reducing global CO2 emissions becoming increasingly urgent, this organisation will fast-track the creation of a domestic supply chain for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and work towards the decarbonisation of aviation in Japan.

ANA Wins Premium Air Experience of the Year ANA was presented with the award for Premium Air Experience of the Year at the TTG Luxury Awards ceremony on 4 March.

TTG judges said: ‘We applaud the airline’s commitment to improving career prospects for women as well as its market-leading efforts on carbon emissions and single-use plastic.’

ANA Unveils Air Japan, A New Brand for Medium-Haul International Routes New airline Air Japan is scheduled to launch in the second half of FY 2023. By focusing on medium-haul international routes, the ANA Group will be better equipped to meet emerging trends for international travel at a competitive price.

‘Fast Track’ Now Available at Tokyo Haneda and Narita Airports The ‘Fast Track’, a pre-travel quarantine clearance service, has been introduced at Haneda Airport, Narita Airport, Chubu Centrair International Airport, Kansai and Fukuoka Airport. The Fast Track service allows passengers to send their travel credentials to the Japanese Quarantine Station prior to their trip.

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Amadeus partners with Microsoft to redefine the digital workplace for business travellers.

New Cytric integration with Microsoft 365 takes a first step in the companies’ vision to provide an immersive and collaborative travel and expense experience.

In recent years, online collaboration and hybrid work environments have been critical to the continued success of businesses.

Despite these changes, travel and expense for corporate travel hasn’t moved with the times. Travellers must use and switch between multiple platforms and apps to log-on, search, book, pay and expense.

What if everything could be simplified and in one place?

Today, Amadeus, in partnership with Microsoft, is taking the first step in their joint vision to redefine corporate travel: Cytric Travel & Expense, the Amadeus online booking and expense management tool, is now embedded in Microsoft 365 introducing Cytric Easy. Users can plan trips and share travel details with colleagues without ever leaving their day-to-day applications such as Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft Teams.

Booking business travel will be faster and easier than ever before!

Find out more about our partnership using the link below or contact James Keyte, james.keyte@amadeus.com to schedule a demo or discuss our solutions for your business.

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HotelREZ have over 1200 hotels worldwide in 51 countries. Take a quick look at these 3 very different independent hotel/s, ideal for your clients.

View Hotels is a hotel group that provides three distinct accommodation experiences in three of Australia's most vibrant and dynamic cities: Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne. All three are a great choice for a business traveller and ideal for staycations.

View Sydney Let the waterfront serve as your wake-up call.

Exceptional amenities, tailored service, and a room created just for you. Contemporary cool with a touch of tradition.

Chain Code: HO - Galileo 9843, Worldspan NSHV, Amadeus SYDNOR, Sabre 23797 https://www.hotelrez.co.uk/australia/northsydney/view-sydney

View Melbourne Expertly designed rooms with inspired interiors to match the city below.

Chain Code: HO - Galileo 26003, Worldspan 2578, Amadeus MEL050, Sabre 23819 https://www.hotelrez.co.uk/australia/melbourne/viewmelbourne

View Brisbane A curated experience from the moment you check in. 90 elegant rooms right along the river designed with the traveller in mind.

Chain Code: HO - Galileo 47230, Worldspan AU576, Amadeus BNE576, Sabre 37534 https://www.hotelrez.co.uk/australia/hamilton/viewbrisbane

All HotelREZ hotels follow COVID Protocols.

HotelHub forecasts surge in virtual card use and shift to offline bookings following SCA enforcement Corporate buyers and TMCs can expect to see a surge in the use of virtual cards to pay for hotel accommodation now that Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) has been enforced as part of the EU’s Payment Services Directive (PSD2), according to HotelHub, the leading hotel technology solution in the corporate sector.

The practicalities of SCA in the business travel environment will also mean travel arrangers are likely to move away from using online booking tools for hotel transactions and instead contact their travel management company (TMC) to make the booking offline, HotelHub forecasts.

“The B2C mechanics of SCA don’t work well in the business travel sector and card providers still need to find a workable solution. Hence, we believe the business travel industry will see a significant increase in the use of virtual cards particularly for hotel payments, to overcome the challenges bookers will face if they continue to use the traveller’s individual card,” explains Eric Meierhans, Chief Commercial Officer, HotelHub. “Virtual cards are exempt from SCA because they are considered to be secure as the card is for a specific amount and one-time use.

“Those travel arrangers who need to continue using the traveller’s personal card to make a booking, will increasingly turn to their TMC to make the booking offline, as this will be deemed a MOTO transaction and won’t require SCA,” said Meierhans.

“SCA is definitely going to push more bookings offline and cause a reverse trend, because until now the corporate’s objective has usually been to drive OBT use for hotel bookings in order to keep transaction fees down.”

PREMIER INN CONTINUES TO EXPAND

From booking to bed, we’re here to help you rest easy. Not only are we everywhere you need to be for your business at 800+ hotels, we’re giving you a choice of rooms to suit your needs. These are just some of the reasons we’re one of the most-loved hotels in the UK and beyond. What’s more Premier Inn continues to expand across the UK, Ireland and Germany. Take a closer look at how we’re expanding.

Germany Premier Inn has over 30 hotels open in Germany across key cities which include Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich, with many of our hotels situated in city centres or close to exhibition halls. We have a committed pipeline to open more than 40 hotels, which will also be well placed for convenience and all business needs.

Ireland We’re delighted to announce that Premier Inn is expanding further into Ireland. Our first city centre hotel in Dublin South Great George’s Street is now open! Dublin is becoming a rapidly growing market as more and more major financial companies are migrating their offices from London. We’ve secured an additional four city centre locations in Dublin, and we have plenty more on the way.

All our hotels can be accessed using your standard Direct Connect API or GDS connection. If you have any questions around this, please reach out to your Premier Inn TMC Manager for more information.

Sabre appoints new UK country director and expands team to help drive growth in the country Sabre's new strategy for the EMEA region places a clear focus on growth in the UK, and there has been considerable investment into expanding the team. This includes the appointment of Nisha Botevyle as UK country director. Together with her team, Botevyle is responsible for acquiring, consulting and supporting customers in the UK. In addition to Botevyle’s appointment, last year Sabre added three experienced sale professionals to its UK team to handle new customer acquisition and account management. Madina Ibrahim and Ruth Scaife joined Sabre as Sales and Account Manager and Senior Sales and Account Manager respectively.

As part of the focus on the partner ecosystem, Sabre also appointed Neil Morgan as Senior Sales Executive, dedicated to Agency and Partners.

Ibrahim, Scaife and Morgan join existing senior members of the team, Fiona Sarno and Niclas Lundquist – who between them have more than 16 years’ experience at Sabre.

Botevyle is also currently recruiting for additional headcount to further strengthen the UK&IE team.

In addition to continuing to strengthen the UK team, investments will be made in marketing activities, the expansion of relevant travel content and a focus on the leisure segment.

Virgin Atlantic are back to all the US cities they love, with more flights, capacity, and routes.

It’s been a while coming, but we are thrilled to say Virgin Atlantic are now flying back to every one of our pre-pandemic US destinations. And with travel getting easier by the day, passengers can enjoy re-connecting with transatlantic colleagues and friends.

We have increased our services to New York, San Francisco, and Atlanta and are now flying five times a week to Seattle and Washington Dulles. This month we welcome the third daily service to Los Angeles and from 25th May, we launch our new direct service from London Heathrow to Austin, Texas four times a week.

Onboard, you’ll find everything you need to make business travel a pleasure. There’s WiFi, plenty of space to work, inseat charging, and even exclusive social spaces in Upper Class to chat to colleagues or spread out a bit. Of course, if you need to relax, we’re great at that too – with fantastic food and drink, hours of entertainment, and lie-flat suites.

Virgin Atlantic partner with Delta Air Lines to provide an expansive network including over 200 gateways in the U.S. This industryleading partnership offers rewarding opportunities, luxurious travel experiences and helpful tools for seamless navigation.

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