To meet, or not to meet – that is the question for corporations

Corporations are large consumers of travel services, accounting for nearly 45% of all trips made globally. Yet, driven by the economic crisis, companies have been forced to keep budgets in control and the search to reduce costs has often ended in giving the travel budget as a huge budget in every large corporation, an "across the board"  haircut. But reducing travel cost on paper is one thing, implementing it is another - and not an easy task if we look at the cost drivers involved.

What about the actual time it takes to organise a meeting for organiser and participants as well as synchronisation of schedules, search and booking time, and post-trip administration? How about the cost of reduced working time if employees are travelling, or caught in delays? And let’s not forget carbon footprint emissions, work-life balance, and the cost of video hire if not already included in-house.

It’s clear that corporations need to take a holistic approach in organising meetings so travellers can make informed decisions without having to search for information whilst manually calculating travel cost involved.

We’ve listened to the needs of corporations and developed Amadeus Corporate Suite - a one stop shop solution to organise corporate travel and services that helps to optimise business meetings from start to finish.

Unlike self-booking tools or open booking initiatives solely focused on booking arrangements, Amadeus Corporate Suite will calculate the total cost of meetings. Comparing alternatives such as video conferencing, this solution focuses on cost saving beyond travel and confirms the most cost effective meeting option - including time and place - whilst complying with corporate travel policies and rules. This means Corporations can easily estimate total meeting cost before sending out invitations, Travel Management Companies have a new innovative offering to diversify beyond the pure bookings, providing new added value services, and the traveller can easily compare offers and prices for involving the meeting with travel and its alternatives.

Amadeus Corporate Suite is an innovative solution, easy adaptable to different market requirements and will be launched in the Benelux, France, Spain and United Kingdom in the third quarter of 2014.

Any questions? Let us know!