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CWT-Spotnana’s strategic alliance

CWT today announced an industry leading strategic partnership to provide Spotnana’s next generation Travel-as-a-Service platform to the market.

This partnership is an important step in CWT’s strategy to bring innovative solutions to customers looking to deploy pioneering technology, driven by the strength of CWT’s people and holistic, global approach.

More information...

Business Travel News Europe | NATM names sustainable travel award winner
Let’s unlock efficiency and sustainability gains through the full digital transformation of business says BT4Europe
BT4Europe, the European Network of Business Travel Associations, today launched a Position Paper on Digital Transformation in Business Travel.

 

BT4Europe, represents European buyers and users of business travel services, is urging EU regulators to promote the full digital transformation of business travel. The business travel industry, with millions of Europeans travelling on business every year, sustains thousands of jobs across Europe and is vital to our economies and our societies. Full digital transformation will unlock efficiency and sustainability gains.

This Position Paper, developed by BT4Europe’s Digital Transformation Working Group, urges EU regulators to ensure the forthcoming EU initiatives on passenger rights and multimodal digital mobility services (MDMS) to promote the full digital transformation of business travel. BT4Europe is also urging the EU to make use of the digital transformation to exempt business travel from the bureaucratic A1 cross-border social security form.

‘BT4Europe is arguing for nothing short of the full digital transformation of business travel to facilitate seamless paper free cross-border business travel. In our Position Paper we set out the key challenges to achieving the sector’s digital transformation, assess how they should be addressed and make recommendations for action. We invite the entire travel sector to support these recommendations and the EU to take action to implement them.’ says Patrick W. Diemer, Chair of BT4Europe.

‘The EU’s forthcoming initiatives on multimodal digital mobility services and passenger rights represent a timely opportunity to make sustainable, connected and automated multimodal mobility a reality. For instance by making it possible for passengers to buy a single ticket for multimodal and cross-border journeys. Smarter mobility will strengthen passenger rights and promote sustainable travel options and doing away with paperwork such as the bureaucratic A1 Social Security Form, will boost our economy’, says Dominic Short, Chair of the BT4Europe’s Digital Transformation Working Group.

Dominic Short concluded, ‘All stakeholders – business, citizens and the European Union must work together to seize the benefits of full digital transformation in the up coming EU proposals, to unlock efficiency and sustainability gains, to benefit business travellers, economy, and the environment.‘

Ramona Bouw (KPMG) wint de NATM Sustainable Business Travel Award 2022

Tijdens de jaarlijkse NATM Sustainable Business Travel Forum, die 22 november 2022 werd gehouden in IntercityHotel Amsterdam Airport in Hoofddorp, is de NATM Sustainable Business Travel Award 2022 gewonnen door Ramona Bouw, Services Manager Travel bij KPMG.

De organisatie heeft een duidelijk punt aan de horizon gezet en werkt eraan om op veel gebieden impact te maken. Zij hebben de kennis en ervaringen uit de pandemie-periode omgezet in een aangepast reisbeleid. Inzicht en rapportage zijn daarbij een essentieel onderdeel. Korte lijnen binnen de organisatie zorgen ervoor dat er snel actie kan worden ondernomen. En het allerbelangrijkste is dat de reiziger betrokken wordt bij het voortschrijdend inzicht op het beleid, dat zij het reisbeleid evalueren en dat ook de reisagent hierop wordt aangesloten. Het is opvallend en een goed teken dat deze aanpak gedragen wordt door het management. Dat is heel belangrijk voor de eigenaar van het reisbeleid en om een dergelijk reisbeleid te kunnen doorvoeren. Wij zijn blij met deze erkenning door haar vakgenoten en wensen Ramona veel succes bij het verder verfijnen van dit onderdeel van het reisbeleid,” aldus Odete Pimenta da Silva, voorzitter van de jury en managing director NATM.

De leden van de NATM konden tijdens het Sustainable Business Travel Forum op twee kandidaten hun stem uitbrengen. De nummer twee van de shortlist is Lisette Koning, Procurement Consultant bij ABNAMRO. Beide kandidaten hebben afgelopen jaar veel bereikt op het gebied van duurzaam zakelijk reizen. Ramona en Lisette waren initieel genomineerden van een grotere lijst deelnemers. De verkiezing bleef spannend tot het allerlaatste moment.

Op basis van voortschrijdend inzicht en ervaring hebben we een wijziging doorgevoerd in het beoordelingsproces. Vorig jaar zijn we begonnen met het interviewen van de kandidaten in plaats van gebruik te maken van de input van de derde partijen die de genomineerden instuurden. De interviews geven een veel gedetailleerder inzicht in alles waar een genomineerde aan werkt om het bewustzijn rond duurzaam zakenreizen te vergroten. Op basis van het interview stellen we een volledig anonieme samenvatting op hetgeen we op de dag van Sustainable Business Travel Forum delen met de NATM-leden. Op basis van die input geven ze hun stem aan kandidaat 1, 2 of 3, het publiek weet dan nog steeds niet wie de daadwerkelijke kandidaten zijn. Dus kiezen ze op basis van het proces, de vaardigheden, hoe people, planet en profit worden toegepast. Het jury-oordeel telt voor 50 procent mee, de overige 50 procent ligt bij de tijdens de vergadering aanwezige NATM-leden. Dit maakt het spannend tot het daadwerkelijke moment dat de winnaar bekend wordt gemaakt.

“Zeer vereerd om genomineerd te zijn voor de Sustainable Business Travel Award en dan met een halve punt verschil te mogen winnen, geeft ook aan dat beide genomineerden aan elkaar gewaagd waren. Niet verwacht, maar zeker trots op het resultaat. Dit zou ik niet bereikt kunnen hebben zonder de goede samenwerking van het Travel team, Procurement, de afdeling CR en de korte lijnen met de board van KPMG. Together for better. Sustainability staat hoog op onze agenda, we blijven ons hierin verder ontwikkelen.” reageerde Ramona Bouw bij het in ontvangst nemen van de Award.

De jaarlijkse Sustainable Business Travel Award worden uitgereikt aan de Travel Manager die op het terrein van Duurzaam Zakelijk Reizen de meest onderscheidende bijdrage heeft geleverd. Het doel van deze award is om Duurzaam Zakelijk Reizen onder de aandacht brengen van en te stimuleren bij Travel Managers in Nederland.

Elke winnaar krijgt een jaar lang een wisseltrofee, na een jaar wordt de officiële wisseltrofee vervangen door een replica. Naast de trofee krijgt de winnaar een persoonlijke prijs, dit jaar vonden we Thalys zo genereus om twee retourtickets naar Antwerpen te sponsoren en sponsort Hilton Hotels een weekend voor twee in Antwerpen.

De Sustainable Business Travel Award is een partnership tussen NATM en Climate Neutral Group, waarbij betrokken partijen hun beschikbare kennis en kanalen op het gebied van respectievelijk Travel management en duurzaamheid zoveel mogelijk zullen inzetten.

 

                  

AppZen’s AI-powered spend auditing will natively integrate with Cytric Expense delivering new efficiencies for corporations and business travel agencies

Typically, companies only audit up to 10% of their employees’ expenses, to the vast number of work hours auditing expenses takes.  With this in mind, the value of an AI-powered platform allowing for 100% automation of expenses quickly becomes clear.

Amadeus has partnered with AppZen, to offer Cytric Expense customers a seamless expense-auditing experience. This unique value-add feature in Cytric, will streamline the expense auditing process in real-time, minimizing lost spend, non-compliance, and potential risk factors in the expense reporting and reimbursement process.

AppZen’s patented purpose-built Finance AI platform will integrate with Cytric Expense - Amadeus’ existing expense automation system used by companies and business travel agencies globally - to create a unique and first to market end-to-end ‘Smart Audit’ solution.

100 expenses can take up to 12 hours to be audited by even the most competent human auditor, but due to the AI technology, this time can be reduced to 19 seconds. Smart Audit will free up finance staff time re-focus their efforts on more strategic areas. Smart Audit audits 100% of spend in real-time, meaning the system can identify misuse and or detect risks prior to reimbursement, after which is difficult to recover the money.

“Our AI-powered auditing platform enables companies to audit every single expense,” says Anant Kale, CEO and co-founder of, AppZen. “100% of your expense reports are audited, including every line on the expense receipts and then auto-approved prior to payment.  This solution will highlight detected issues, saving time, resources, and money for a company. It’s a win-win on all counts.”

Smart Audit is expected to simplify as well as optimize the functions of procurement and finance teams given the automation and ease of use with same-day audit turn arounds. By supporting work from anywhere, it will help overcome the challenges of dispersed workforces cause by the pandemic, while improving the   implementation of business processes.

“Our vision is to empower companies with the tools to ensure the best experience for their employees, whilst also increasing their efficiency and satisfaction by making the most out of their day-to-day expense tool.  The best part about AppZen is the ease with which it integrates into Cytric Expense.  We’re delighted to be working with the experts in AI expense auditing and look forward to bringing this native solution to market.” adds Lydie Charpin, Vice President, Customer Solutions, Amadeus Cytric Solutions.  

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. Travelers 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:

  • One app: Search, compare, or book a hotel, flight, or car rental – without ever leaving Microsoft Teams
  • Easy to share: The only travel and expense tool embedded into Teams with the ability to share trip information. Share in Teams chats to book the same trip as your colleagues
  • Time saving: Minimize the time spent discussing trips with colleagues
  • Collaboration: Share trip components with colleagues and enjoy connecting and collaborating on trip

Coming soon, Outlook calendar invites will populate relevant data before starting the search process, such as preferred departure location, destination based on meeting location and dates. Flight search results will show recommended options based on flight convenience, price, and users’ preferences (for example, stop-over airports to avoid). The shortest, cheapest, and greenest options will be highlighted. Teams will send users prompts to visualize unassigned receipts, complete their expense reports, and file them on time. All of this will be done using Microsoft’s Single Sign-On service across your workplace ecosystem to access all travel and expense needs.

This all means less disruption to the user’s workflow, and less hassle logging in and toggling between apps, the traveler just needs to login to Microsoft and they’re ready to go.

“Working with Microsoft this past year, our focus has been to reinvent corporate travel.  With Cytric now embedded into Microsoft 365, toggling between applications will become a thing of the past, leading to improved productivity, and easier compliance with travel and expense programs. Most importantly, this collaboration with Microsoft simplifies decades’ old processes that impact departments across finance, procurement, and travel. This is just the first step in our joint vision to transform the travel and expense experience” says Rudy Daniello, Executive Vice President Amadeus Cytric Solutions.

“The integration of Cytric into Microsoft 365 will make the traveler experience more fluid. The ability to book plane tickets or manage travel expenses without leaving everyday collaborative applications will help make the process smoother for users, making travel easier and eliminating some of the usual booking challenges" said Eric Bailey, Global Travel Director for Microsoft.

The ambition of the partnership between Amadeus and Microsoft is to reimagine travel, including the way users meet, collaborate, or claim expenses. The two companies will continue working together to foster collaboration and empower employees with a new hybrid way of working.

Climate Neutral Group merges with Anthesis
Climate Neutral Group merges with Anthesis to deliver a complete Net Zero offering to meet the needs of the decisive decade

Aligned in their response to the climate emergency, on delivering positive impact and in their purpose through B Corp accreditations

19 January 2022 - Anthesis, the sustainability activator and the largest group of dedicated sustainability professionals globally, announces a merger with Climate Neutral Group, a Net Zero authority on emissions analysis and reduction, offsetting, and certification programmes. This merger is in response to the climate emergency and the transformational thinking businesses need to adopt during the decisive decade to limit the rising of global temperatures as outlined in the Paris Agreement and recently at COP 26.

Headquartered in Utrecht, Netherlands and with offices in Belgium and South Africa, the 50-strong firm is led by Managing Director René Toet, who will become part of Anthesis’ leadership team. Building on almost 20 years of climate solution innovation and expertise, Climate Neutral Group has supported more than 3,000 businesses with Greenhouse Gas footprinting, reduction, and offsetting initiatives since its establishment in 2002.

In addition, its ‘Climate Neutral Certified’ label, which verifies if a company or product’s CO2 emissions are reduced in line with the Paris Agreement, is becoming a market standard to help organisations report their ongoing Net Zero efforts transparently and visibly to consumers. This Climate Neutral Certification Standard appears on 30 million consumer goods and is used by food multinationals like Ahold Delhaize Coffee Company and Arla Foods NL.

An important milestone in Anthesis’ growth strategy following its investment from Palatine last year, this merger strengthens Anthesis’ full-service Net Zero offering from avoidance and reduction strategies to the provision of high-quality carbon offsetting, technology innovation, extensive project development capabilities and certification. In addition, this merger enables Anthesis to extend its international reach by entering the Benelux and South African markets. For Climate Neutral Group, its clients will have access to Anthesis’ full suite of Net Zero, ESG and sustainability services and experts across its global network.

Aligned with Anthesis’ commitment to driving impact, Climate Neutral Group has completed more than 3,750 carbon analytics and reduction programmes and offset more than 12 million tonnes of CO2e through impact-led climate projects that meet VCS or Gold Standard and contribute to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These projects include reducing deforestation and protecting biodiversity in the Maisa forest in Brazil to South Africa’s first AgriCarbon programme which pays farmers for the carbon credits they generate from their sustainable land management practices. By operating as one team, Climate Neutral Group’s projects will now support Anthesis’ ambitions of removing 3GT of CO2e for its clients by 2030.

Commenting on the merger, Stuart McLachlan, Anthesis Group’s CEO said “2021 set a new pace for change, with organisations and communities recognising the urgency and importance of the decisive decade. With Climate Neutral Group joining Anthesis, we can support our clients more comprehensively along their Net Zero journey by building on emissions avoidance and reduction efforts to applying climate finance for mitigation. Our alignment as B Corps is a strong indicator of our shared values and focus and I look forward to welcoming the whole team to Anthesis.”

Climate Neutral Group’s Managing Director René Toet added “We’re proud to be joining Anthesis, a great team of dedicated sustainability professionals who share our mission to fight climate change as well as our values and commitment to the B Corp way of working. By joining Anthesis not only do we gain access to a global platform to present our Climate Neutral certification, project development and offsetting initiatives, but our clients benefit from the global Anthesis network and access to its industry leading experts. The size and ambition of the Group will create development opportunities for the Climate Neutral Group team and accelerate the impact of our work, something that is so urgently required in this decisive phase of the  climate emergency.”

Tristan Craddock, Impact Partner at Palatine commented “We’re delighted to see Anthesis Group continue its great start to 2022 with its second strategic M&A announcement of the year.  Climate Neutral Group adds complementary expertise in carbon offsetting and geographical reach to Anthesis’ capabilities to help it support the acceleration of the pace of change towards Net Zero at this critical time. Supporting Anthesis’ ability to deliver its mission by accelerating its reach in new markets and services through strategic and value-enhancing mergers is a key element in our post-investment plan we are working closely with Anthesis’ leadership team to identify further mergers to complement its impressive organic growth.”

United through their B Corp ambitions, the collective offering brings Anthesis Group to 800 sustainability specialists with offices in 20 countries, driving sustainable performance for more than 2,600 clients across the world. Recognised as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the UK and Europe, Anthesis’ ambitions for 2022 are to build on its position as the market leader in sustainable performance and attract the best talent to deliver meaningful impact with the world’s largest and most influential organisations globally.

This is the 15th merger and acquisition  for the Anthesis Group since it was established in 2013, and the second deal announced this year following the acquisition of Provision Coalition Inc. With this merger, DOEN Participaties, the largest impact investor in sustainable start-ups and scale-ups in the Netherlands, sells its shares to Anthesis. DOEN Participaties has been involved with Climate Neutral Group since 2002. Financial terms of the deal were not announced.

Lufthansa Group airlines and TripActions shape the future of corporate travel

• New innovative and market-leading solution targeting small- and medium-sized enterprises to enhance their corporate travel experience

• Increased reach of most attractive Lufthansa Group offers and added customer value via TripActions’ industry leading technology

The Lufthansa Group, one of the world’s leading airline groups and industry pioneer in the area of New Distribution Capability (NDC), and TripActions, the only
all-in-one travel, corporate card, and expense solution, today announced an enhanced strategic partnership to shape the future of corporate travel. Jointly, a
customer-driven solution has been developed that allows small- and medium-sized enterprises to enjoy all the benefits they experience from the airlines of the
Lufthansa Group, covering the carriers Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Lufthansa and SWISS via the tech forward user experience of the TripActions travel platform.

While the key focus is to put the customer in control of every part of the corporate travel experience, the solution matches the rich corporate offers and programs of
the Lufthansa Group airlines with the innovative and user-first intuitive solutions of TripActions to relieve the multiple pain points of corporate travel.

“Lufthansa Group is firmly committed to delivering superior customer experiences along the entire travel journey, also for our small- and medium-sized corporate
customers”, says Tamur Goudarzi Pour, Senior Vice President Channel Management at Lufthansa Group Network Airlines and Chief Commercial Officer
SWISS. “Jointly with our strategic partner TripActions, we take a big jump towards cutting edge digital airline corporate retailing all the way from intuitive corporate
trip planning to speedy servicing. With this industry leading concept, I am very excited to grow our successful partnership with TripActions in the interests of our
Corporate Partners."

Customers will be able to book work trips using an industry-leading solution, enabling a new level of travel management that includes policy and profile
management, duty of care, sustainability solutions, real-time reporting, 24/7 customer support, and centralized billing. The partnership will enable corporate
members of Lufthansa Group PartnerPlusBenefit program to earn and redeem PartnerPlusBenefit points directly through the booking tool, with enhanced
functionalities being launched at regular intervals.

As a first step, the solution will be launched in Lufthansa Group airlines’ home markets in early 2022. Following this and over the course of the year, both teams
will work together to add enhancements to the solution, including additional redemption benefits, corporate products, and multiple languages, as well as
expansion into new markets.

“Thanks to the partnership with TripActions, we are pleased to now also provide a solution to our valued corporate customers who have previously booked via our
airline websites and have long had the desire for a suitable solution and associated enhanced functionalities,” says Stefan Kreuzpaintner, Senior Vice President Sales
for Lufthansa Group Network Airlines and Chief Commercial Officer of Lufthansa Airline. “This unique offering expands the available TMC offers in the market for
corporates, adding to the current solutions offered by our other TMC partners.”

"Providing an amazing user experience through industry leading technology has always been TripActions' top priority,” says TripActions Chief Travel Officer, Danny
Finkel. “We're excited to further our partnership with Lufthansa Group with this industry-first joint booking platform that will provide deeper technical integrations
and the unique ability to offer integrated loyalty. It’s the best of both worlds, marrying Lufthansa Group passenger experience with TripActions' user-first
experience.”

The Benelux Corporate Travel Symposium 2021

The launch of a unique collaboration between business travel associations and Breda University is a fact.

NATM, CORTAS, BATM and BUas launch The Benelux Corporate Travel Symposium 2021

More information: click here.

“Focus on the new reality”

The Dutch business travel associations NATM and CORTAS and their Belgian counterpart BATM will organize a corporate travel symposium in collaboration with the Breda University of applies sciences (BUas). The theme of the event is ‘Focus on the new reality’ and will take place on November 10 at Breda University.

The Dutch Association for Travel Management (NATM), the Corporate Travel Association (CORTAS) and the Belgium Association of Travel Management (BATM) organized their own annual business travel event prior to COVID19. The same applies for BUas, which traditionally organizes its business travel and aviation symposium in June. The regular (online) meetings of the individual business travel associations will continue to take place separately.

Collaboration by strengthening each other

”To serve the interests of the traveling business community and its organizations in the Benelux, the travel management associations CORTAS, BATM and NATM join forces and organize a corporate travel management symposium for the Benelux in collaboration with BUas. At NATM we look forward with great enthusiasm to a full-day program with inspiring speakers, interaction and networking opportunities. The focus on the new reality travel management is facing will be addressed from the perspectives of all stakeholders.”

Odete Pimenta da Silva, managing director NATM

“For the Belgium Association of Travel Management (BATM) it is important that we find new ways to provide our members with extra content and networking opportunities to support them  in achieving their goals within their organizations. A joint event with CORTAS, NATM and BUas is therefore a great opportunity for us. Collaboration by strengthening each other is more important than ever before.”

Pascal Struyve, President BATM

“In these unprecedented times it is essential to support each other and to join forces. That is why we organize this unique Symposium in cooperation with NATM, BATM and BUas. Education, knowledge sharing, and networking are important spearheads for the Corporate Travel Association (CORTAS). We therefore see these components as a guideline for this Benelux industry event. We look forward to the partnerships and to a great collaboration!”

Stephanie Smook, managing director CORTAS

“We are pleased that the Breda University of applied sciences (BUas) will be the venue for a symposium, organized by different stakeholders from the business travel industry. It shows a fine and fruitful cooperation between education and the business travel industry.”

Erik Feld, Lecturer Aviation Management BUas

 

Who
NATM (Nederlandse Associatie voor Travel Management)
CORTAS (Corporate Travel Association)
BATM (Belgium Association of Travel Management)
BUas (Breda University of applied sciences)

Where
Breda University of applied sciences in Breda

Delegates
Corporate Travel Community

When
10 november 2021, from 10 AM to 4.30 PM, followed by a network reception

Why
New times require new insights, special circumstances call for special partnerships

RE2019 was een succes!

REset your brain by 1 day of Education, Inspiration and Views @RE2019

'RE: the Toddler’ at the 'RE' @B-Buildings Amsterdam.

'RE' is one event of its kind.
'RE' is different from any other industry event.
‘RE’ is where innovation meets real business need.
‘RE’ is where conflict is good.
‘RE’ is where we celebrate the benefits of frictions because this is what drives our industry forward.
‘RE’ is where you will be immersed in a creative (and unexpected) environment.
‘RE’ is where you will look closely at the components of the business travel ecosystem and consider the changes that have happened and those yet to come.

'RE'-dress: Strictly casual/feel at home. We are gathering to create so feeling comfortable is a must. Think start-up and industrial.
'RE'-peat?: It’s all in English language, there’s no translation and no need to speak Dutch.

Follow #REinventBT2019 on social media and contribute to the wind of change!