Consistent with other indicators and reports, the numbers that have come out of the new American Express/CFO Research Global Business & Spending Monitor indicate that business (granted it’s the “new normal”) is rebounding. The survey of 479 senior finance executives from the U.S., Europe, Canada, Mexico, Asia, and Australia, shows that they're upbeat about economic growth. And better yet, many are planning to increase spending in areas that will support revenue growth -- like meetings.
There is startling news from American Express' "Managing Travel in the New Normal" survey that was released this week. I say startling because, on one level, it shows increasing sophistication around meetings management, yet I'm dismayed by other findings about the lack of movement on some very basic principles.
First I'll focus on the sophisticated.
Southwest Airlines ranked first on Glassdoor.com's list for 2010 of the
50 best places to work, "selected by the people who know these companies best--their employees," according to Glassdoor. Fellow travel industry companies Continental Airlines placed eighth and Marriott snuck in at 50th.
For years airlines have made statements that the merchant fees that they pay when they accept cards as a form of payment were ‘next on the list’ of distribution costs that would be in focus. And more recently we are beginning to see evidence that this is true with examples such as United Airlines' reported change of policy when it comes to [some] travel management companies' use of their merchant agreement and KLM’s announcement of a credit card surcharge of EUR 7.50 being debated.
Every fall, Amex surveys the business travel and meetings scene and predicts where spending and pricing will go in the coming year -- usually in time to help travel and meetings managers who are creating and finalize budgets. And this year, there's some great news to be extracted from the firm's Global Business
Travel Forecast.
The Beat's readers named Southwest Airlines the 2009 Supplier Of The Year, ProMedia.travel announced Wednesday during The Beat
Live.
Polled this summer, readers of
The Beat were asked which company in each of six supplier segments they "most admire for its policies, management style and service for business clients." Those who voted for their own company were disqualified.
Other winners included:
• American Express for most admired payment system
• Hertz for most admired car rental company
• Marriott International for most admired hotel company
• Concur as most admired technology provider
• Continental Airlines as most admired airline
• BCD Travel as the most admired travel management company
(from left) ProMedia.travel CEO Tim Reid, Southwest Airlines corporate sales and distribution director Rob Brown and The Beat founder Jay Campbell
(from left) The Beat founder Jay Campbell, Concur director of travel and industry relations Suzanne Fletcher and ProMedia.travel CEO Tim Reid
You are invited to the "live music capital of the world" for The Beat
Live, a travel business conference rocking Austin, Texas Sept. 21-23, 2009.
Register here.
On top of noting that card delinquencies were stabilizing and that in his view,
American Express is relatively protected from new card legislation because of lower dependence on revolving consumer credit cards, American Express chairman and CEO Ken Chenault this week emphasized the company's "power alleys" of premium, reward and co-brand products as well as corporate services. Here are some of his other comments at Wednesday's Keefe, Bruyette & Woods conference:
