PwC Buyer Challenges TMCs On Virtual Conferencing Support

We published a story this week in The Transnational about Mark Avery from PricewaterhouseCoopers and his virtual meetings program. One thing we didn't include was Mark's challenge to travel management companies. [more]Although the likes of American Express Business Travel and Carlson Wagonlit Travel have announced a variety of capabilities related to enabling remote conferencing, Avery said he was skeptical.
"I don't think it's their core business," he commented during an NBTA Europe event on telepresence by telepresence. "I think the management of meetings and video is different and requires a quality of service. The video needs an educational basis rather than a transactional basis. I'm not sure the TMCs have all cracked that. Some of these TMCs are thinking more like that; the question is whether they can move to that next level of being a one-stop shop facilitator. I challenge their skills at the moment."