Welcome to the August 2009 Issue of Travology Today

One of the ways that Directravel stays current is through attendance and participation in trade shows. Last week, seven staff members attended the annual NBTA Conference in San Diego, including representatives from technology, sales and marketing and the executive team. The Conference, which hosted 5,600 total attendees, including 1,240 travel buyers, was comprised of educational sessions, networking lunches, dinners and events and an exhibition.

The team attended a variety of educational sessions on topics ranging from implementing global programs and enhancing your travel program to the latest technology and meeting management.

Some of the things we found of interest include:

• Clear objectives and metrics are of primary importance to the successful implementation of a global travel program
• Air transportation represents about 2% of global man-made emissions, the same amount as technology
• Government policies can change doe to audits, best practices and changing industry standards
• Mid-market accounts with less than $10m in air spend must coordinate with agencies who have a network of international locations to ensure consistency in reporting and operations
• The United States leads the global business travel market with 28% of the total spend for 2008
• Airline ancillary fees, including baggage charges, wi-fi and meals onboard flights are impacting travel spend, but not necessarily reflected in ticket prices

Global airline capacity is showing marginal growth for August 2009, the first month of positive growth for a year, reports OAG, the world’s leading aviation data business, as it released its monthly report on trends in the supply of airline flights and seats. The world’s airlines have 314.2 million seats on offer this month, a rise of 0.2% (472,839 more seats) over August 2008 levels.

David Beckerman, vice president OAG Market Intelligence, said, “After a year of capacity cutbacks, it is encouraging to see positive numbers in the year on year comparisons. August is traditionally one of the busiest months for air travel, and it will be interesting to see if the steady upward trend we have seen since May continues once the summer vacation season draws to a close."

Frequencies remain down compared to August 2008, however. The world’s airlines have scheduled a total of 2.53 million flights for August 2009, down by 2% (52,043 fewer flights) compared with the same month last year. Last month, the year on year global frequency figure was down by 3% and capacity was down by 1%.

International services to and from Europe are showing virtually no change in frequencies or capacity compared to August 2008. Flight schedules within the region are not holding up sowell, with 6% (37,689) fewer flights and 4% (2.8 million) fewer seats year over year.

Flight volumes and seat capacity within North America are showing a 6% decline (57,354 fewer flights and 5.02 million fewer seats), while international frequencies and capacity to and from the region also have dropped by 6%.

On the key long-haul routes, the OAG figures for August show continued growth between Western Europe and the Middle East, and between Western Europe and Africa, with upturns in capacity of 15% (443,000 more seats) and 11% (469,000 more seats) respectively compared to August 2008.

The transatlantic market between North America and Western Europe shows a 6% fall in capacity year over year, representing 481,000 fewer seats. London Gatwick airport is bearing the brunt of the capacity cutbacks with 124,000 fewer seats (33% decline), followed by Los Angeles and Amsterdam Schiphol, with 91,000 and 90,000 fewer seats between the regions. Frequencies are down 8%, representing 2,407 fewer transatlantic flights. For more information, click here.

The international hotel market is still feeling the effects of the tough economic climate according to the bi-annual hotel survey conducted by Hogg Robinson Group (HRG). Most regions are experiencing a decline in hotel room rates in local currency terms, with Abu Dhabi the only exception, recording average room rate growth of 5% in local currency. With occupancy levels continuing to fall and rates reduced, corporations continue to consolidate their travel policies and negotiate more favorable corporate deals.

Trends noted by HRG include:

• Moscow once again tops the chart as the most expensive destination for corporate travelers. However, for the first time since the city entered the HRG hotel survey in 2005, the rate saw a year on year decline (-14%)
• Abu Dhabi is now in second place and is the only city in the survey to have achieved average rate growth of 5% in real terms when measured in local currency
• London has seen a 4% decline in average rate in the first six months of 2009, down from the 3% growth over the same period last year
• Average rates increased in the Americas by 15% and rose marginally in Western Europe thanks to the strength of the US Dollar and Euro against the pound. However, when exchange rates are factored in, both regions recorded substantial average rate falls
• The top end of the market is holding up well, with the highest average rate increase seen in 5 star hotels (7.7%)

The results show that companies are traveling smarter as they look to control travel costs and maximize their return on travel expenditure. HRG has witnessed companies continually reviewing and consolidating their programs to secure lower hotel rates by delivering increased revenues to their preferred suppliers.

In addition to lower pricing, companies have been able to negotiate added-value items within their rates such as food and beverage discounts, free Wi-Fi access and reduced parking charges. Significantly, last room availability (LRA) is now considered by many as standard, having only been available at a premium prior to the slowdown in the market. However, as hotels are still managing to achieve high occupancy levels in certain cities and at peak times of the year, clients are advised to renegotiate favorable deals on a regular basis, ensuring adequate allocation in high volume locations.

For more information, click here.

Incheon International Airport (Seoul, S Korea) has been named World's Best Airport for 2009, in the World Airport Survey results published by Skytrax.

The most prolific World's Best Airport winner in recent years, Hong Kong International Airport, was moved into 2nd place by Incheon International, with Singapore Changi Airport ranking 3rd best in the world, according to the latest passenger satisfaction rankings. Skytrax reported that the final winning margins between these top 3 positions was the smallest ever known for such a large global project, and at one stage it looked possible there might be a dead-heat result between these top three airports.

For a complete list of the award winners, click here.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano announced the expansion of the Global Entry initiative—a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) pilot program that streamlines the screening process at airports for trusted travelers through biometric identification—to 13 additional airports across the United States.

Global Entry expedites the customs and security process for trusted air travelers while helping DHS ensure the safety of all airline passengers," said Secretary Napolitano. "Expanding this vital program allows us to improve customer service at airports and concentrate our resources on higher-risk travelers."

Starting Aug. 24, new Global Entry enrollment centers and kiosks opened at 13 additional international U.S. airports in Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Honolulu, Las Vegas, Newark, N.J., Orlando, Fla., Sanford, Fla., Philadelphia, San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Francisco and Seattle.

Global Entry allows pre-approved members an alternative to regular passport processing lines. At the kiosk, Global Entry members insert their passport or lawful permanent resident card into a document reader, provide digital fingerprints for comparison with fingerprints on file, answer customs declaration questions on the kiosk’s touch-screen, and then present a transaction receipt to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers before leaving the inspection area.

Global Entry applicants may complete their interview and biometric data collection at enrollment centers at any of the expansion sites, while approved members can use kiosks at any of the expansion sites to complete their CBP processing upon arrival from international travel.

To date, approximately 16,000 members have enrolled in Global Entry, which began on June 6, 2008. Global Entry kiosks have been used more than 51,000 times at the seven existing locations in Atlanta, Chicago (O’Hare), Houston (Intercontinental), Los Angeles, New York (JFK), Miami and Washington (Dulles).

Global Entry reduces average wait times by 70 percent, with more than 75 percent of travelers using Global Entry processed in under five minutes.

For more information on this or other CBP trusted traveler programs, or for an application to enroll in the Global Entry pilot program, please visit www.globalentry.gov.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Continental Airlines announced the expansion of the Paperless Boarding Pass pilot program at San Diego International Airport. The program will allow passengers to receive boarding passes electronically on their cell phones or PDAs, which will then be scanned by TSA security officers at the checkpoint and eliminate the need for a paper boarding pass.

"The deployment of the paperless technology signifies TSA's ongoing commitment to develop and implement new technologies while enhancing security," said Mike Aguilar, TSA Federal Security Director for San Diego. "We are pleased to be able to partner with Continental Airlines to expand this program that will help our officers validate authentic boarding documents."

Each paperless boarding pass will display a two-dimensional bar code along with passenger and flight information that will identify the traveler. TSA travel document checkers will use scanners to validate the authenticity of the paperless boarding pass sent to Continental passengers. The new technology heightens the ability to detect fraudulent boarding passes while improving customer service and reducing paper use.

TSA created the concept of how to scan the paperless boarding passes and Continental Airlines developed an implementation plan that involved encrypting the paperless boarding pass to ensure authenticity. Continental is the first U.S. carrier to test paperless boarding passes and now offers the service at 18 airports.

"We are pleased to expand our pioneering mobile boarding product that provides enhanced security and customer service for our passengers," said Mark Bergsrud, Continental Airlines Senior Vice President, Marketing Programs and Distribution. "Continental Airlines is committed to innovation and leveraging technology to the benefit of our customers."

The TSA paperless boarding pass pilot is currently operating at 22 airports including San Diego. The pilot is consistent with the global standard of the International Air Transport Association for bar coding of passenger boarding passes. TSA will continue to expand the use of electronic boarding pass scanners at the pace of participating airlines.

For more information, click here.

American Airlines reached a major milestone this week with its Gogo Inflight Internet service. The Wi-Fi service is now available on 100 MD-80 aircraft, which is two-thirds of the 150 Gogo installations scheduled to be completed by the end of 2009. …Continental Airlines announced changes to its checked baggage policy for customers traveling between Europe and the United States, including U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Customers who purchase certain economy class tickets for travel on or after the effective date will be able to check one bag for free and will pay $50 for a second checked bag. Customers checking in and pre-paying for bags at continental.com receive a $5 discount. The new policy takes effect immediately for tickets purchased Aug. 27, 2009 for travel on or after Sept. 15, 2009…Delta Air Lines announced the expansion of BusinessElite service from New York. The airline has added full-flat beds to all flights between New York-JFK and London-Heathrow, and in September will begin to introduce new BusinessElite service on transcontinental flights between Delta's JFK hub and Los Angeles and San Francisco.… US Airways announced it will match the $20 first checked bag and $30 second checked bag fees put into place by other carriers earlier this summer. In addition, US Airways announced it will also match a $50 second checked bag fee on its trans-Atlantic flights, a change recently introduced by some competitors. The new trans-Atlantic second bag fee will apply to all European destinations served by the airline. To encourage customers to continue choosing self-service tools at usairways.com and to cover the additional expense associated with checking bags at the airport, the airline will continue to charge a $5 airport service fee per checked bag. The fee changes will become effective on tickets purchased for travel on or after October 7.

in June '09 decreased to 76.1%, down 2.8 points vs. the running 12 month average of 78.9% and down 4.4 points from May’s 80.5%. To view the USDOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics' (BTS) Air Travel Consumer Report, click here.

The United States Government has posted recent travel advisories and warnings for Algeria, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Georgia, Haiti, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Lebanon, Madagascar, Mali, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.