Maiden-voyage.com is a social network aimed specifically at corporate female business travelers. The free, secure site is used globally by professional women from all types of profession to enable them to connect up and meet for dinner or other social engagement whilst they are away on business. The site is unique in a number of ways, firstly, all members are personally contacted to ensure their authenticity and to ensure they are female, the site provides regularly updated travel and safety tips and recommends personally vetted female friendly hotels that are not only safe but add those extra touches of comfort and luxury that female guests appreciate.

The site has been extensively featured in the global press including the New York Times, CNN, The Media Guardian, Management Today and the BBC World Service and as a result the member base is extremely diverse. See http://www.maiden-voyage.com/Feedback.aspx

Top 5 Benefits:
1) Safety. Many travelers are nervous about traveling to a new city alone; they may not be aware of which areas are safe to visit and may be intimidated by venturing out alone after their business meetings. Maiden-voyage.com facilitates the option for ladies to meet up with either local ladies wishing to socialise or other business travelers providing a feeling of ‘safety in numbers’ whilst they explore the area or simply dine out. In the coming months, maiden-voyage.com will be made available to large corporates and other ladies networks so that their members can network within their own peer groups.

2) Convenience. Deciding where to stay in a new city can be time consuming and whilst many travel review sites provide generic hotel information, maiden-voyage.com vets hotels from a female friendly perspective. Hotels which pass the stringent criteria can be found on the site. However as we are inspecting hotels all the time we also share, on request, inspection sheets of hotels who have failed to meet our high standards. Furthermore, if ladies are looking for a hotel in an area where we have not inspected, we will contact local members to ask them for hotel recommendations.

3) Cost. Maiden-voyage.com is free to use. In addition we are working with all our female friendly hotel partners to provide discounts and offers to our members. These include free spa treatments and ‘hard’ room discounting. These offers also benefit our advertisers because they can monitor the take up from maiden-voyage.com

4) Usability maiden-voyage.com is intuitive and simple to use. Members simply register a profile and enter their networking dates. There is a 24x7 email helpdesk and where problems cannot be solved by email, members are contacted and assisted by a ‘real person’. As there are a large number of Latin American members, the maiden-voyage.com team is boosted by a fluent linguist who speaks both Spanish and Portuguese.

5) Pleasure Although maiden-voyage.com is aimed at the corporate traveler; it is all about pleasure and not about business. The member profiles are based around leisure interests, such as dining out, sight-seeing, visiting the theatre or visiting clubs and bars. All advertising on the site is tailored around travel and women’s interests, namely fashion, beauty and experiences.

Set for a full launch on January 1, 2010, Truphone Local Anywhere (TLA) is a single-SIM, multi-country mobile service that business executives keep their international lifestyle without ringing up a humongous phone bill. Truphone Local Anywhere lets you be local anywhere.

Truphone’s smart-SIM service abolishes the need for 2nd phones or SIM swapping. Truphone users can now make and receive calls via a local number at a local price, in any Truphone country. Whether the user is a jetsetter with enough frequent fliers to last a lifetime, or a person working abroad during the holidays, Truphone offers several entry points to fit every international need. Truphone Local Anywhere is set to change the way you use your mobile phone when you travel overseas.

TLA is a full service true GSM solution on one efficient Truphone SIM. Users can access local rates and local numbers in all Truphone countries, and fair roaming rates in other locations (pennies as opposed to dollars). Truphone’s innovative VoIP offering is not lacking in features as the full mobile service includes voice, SMS, and data. The service will also offer number portability, so customers will be able to transfer existing mobile numbers across to the Truphone Local Anywhere service.

Upon launch TLA will be available in two affordable packages: Truphone Local Anywhere SIM Pack and the Truphone Local Anywhere UK-USA Starter Pack. Botth offers come with the Global Roaming SIM Card and L10 in prepaid credit but the Starter Pack is more of a contract model. Both SIM card plans will work in any unlocked phone.

Mobile users can now make and receive calls on local terms in Truphone countries. Mobile revenue is forecasted to go from L23 billion in 2008 to L41 billion in 2013, and Truphone’s service aims to save their users from anymore unnecessary fees. As the trusted global communications provider with award-winning applications, Truphone has designed a far-reaching Smart-SIM option for the global based businessperson.

Top 5 Benefits:
1) One Truphone SIM for multiple countries. A single GSM solution without needing to switch phones or swap SIMs makes working abroad and dealing with international clients affordable and easy to manage. It is a simple one SIM one-service model, that is an attractive alternative implementing the best of VoIP to solve the age old problem of inefficient international calling. Truphone’s established existing customer base and award winning mobile application is a promising launch point for this disruptive multi-number SIM service set to revamp global communication.

2) Local rates in Truphone’s country network. When abroad TLA makes calling and receiving calls stem from a local number that saves time and simplifies transactions. Starting January, TLA will be available in UK and the USA, and throughout 2010 TLA will add new countries. As new countries are added, TLA customers have the option of adding say an Australian number with a +61 calling code to their existing UK/USA plan. The company can then operate in the US, UK, and Australian markets and keep a local presence with local mobile fees. With the advent of VoIP and truphone’s new offering, users can remain local wherever they travel.

3) Bypass roaming rates in Truphone country network, lower cost roaming around the world. When in a Truphone network country, TLA users bypass international roaming rates and with either the Starter or SIM Pack can save up to 80% or roaming rates. Even when customers travel to locales outside the regions, because of Truphone’s VoIP system users get reduced roaming rates worldwide.

4) Mobile solution that works across multiple platforms. What’s great about Truphone has always been a commitment to compatibility. Truphone even created an application for iPod Touch users to make and receive calls. With TLA, users are not only signing a mobile plan but now have access to a multi-platform growing network. Access is granted through Wifi, APSL, GSM, WIMAX on mobile phones, the PC, the iPod Touch, or games consoles. The TLA SIM card will work in any unlocked phone upon launch.

5) Multiple entry points for a variety of users. If a user is a jetsetter constantly on the go he or she may need multiple phone numbers to keep up with multiple countries. TLA helps users avoid the punitive costs associated with this global lifestyle. However TLA also helps for the person going on holiday needing to reduce their roaming bills by having say a UK number that will forward to France when away for a fortnight. TLA is the premier international option for both cost savings and calling convenience.

This year, Egencia introduced the first single-source meetings management solution for strategic Meetings & Incentives programs. Combined with Egencia’s full-service management team, the offering helps companies more easily identify savings opportunities and make policy adjustments. Eliminating the need for travelers to book via two separate platforms (business trips and meetings) is unique to Egencia and helps companies identify savings opportunities and make policy adjustments.

The first solution of its kind in the industry, Meetings & Incentives Self-Booking platform combines online registration, attendee management, travel booking and reporting with Egencia’s experienced team of meetings professionals, including expertise in procurement services and event planning, program optimization and analysis.

Egencia Meetings & Incentives combines professional full-service expertise and market-leading technology, giving companies complete oversight and control over planning and spend. By combining meeting managers and market-leading technology into a single solution, Egencia can deliver smart consolidation and cost management opportunities to clients in a time when such issues are more crucial than ever.

Top 5 Benefits:
1) Expert Support: Clients benefit from expert support for all their meeting needs, whether for small meetings, large and complex corporate events or creative incentive trips. Egencia’s in-house negotiation team is also available to drive flexible and cost-effective contracts.

2) Spend Consolidation: Egencia delivers a consolidated program management for meetings and corporate travel into a single tool, helping identify savings opportunities. Clients can leverage Egencia preferred supplier relationships to attain deeper savings and bypass fees they may otherwise incur using an outside agency for a reservation.

3) Visibility & Reporting: Egencia offers a consolidated reporting platform with insight into online and offline bookings and real-time visibility into meetings and corporate spend. Clients of Egencia’s travel management offering benefit from quarterly reviews that combine corporate travel and meetings spend.

4) Simplicity: Many businesses today coordinate between a meetings and incentives firm, registration tool and self-booking platform for each meeting, leading to additional complexity and errors in the meetings management process. Egencia provides full accountability for all aspects from a single source and contact.

5) Cost Savings: By eliminating the need for travelers to book via two separate platforms – one for regular business trips and one for meetings – companies drive online adoption and subsequent savings in transactions, yet also have access to Egencia’s experienced team for offline needs. Travelers no longer need to re-enter their preferences twice and can easily view all upcoming travel with one source.

Sabre’s Air Merchandising Suite leads the industry in providing ancillary solutions that help airlines generate new revenue, while also giving agencies the ability to shop and book these products and services in the global distribution system (GDS). Sabre is the first and only GDS to offer these merchandising solutions in all distribution channels: online, offline, travel agency and airline direct.

Air Merchandising Suite includes key products:
• Attribute-Based Shopping: an industry-first, agents and consumers have the ability to define and select a range of ancillary service options such as seat selection, baggage charges, lounge access, trip insurance, and onboard meals at the time of search. These are then applied to the search, providing a filtered result and enabling shoppers to make quick and easy fare comparisons from a single supplier or comparatively across airlines.

• Airline Unbundling: unbundling allows airlines to differentiate by selling select products and services in addition to the fare. Sabre allows agencies to sell ancillaries such as pre-paid airline seat selection and insurance, at the time of booking. Midwest Airlines, WestJet and United Airlines all use Sabre’s air merchandising paid-seat capabilities, enabling agents to book premium seats in via the Sabre GDS. Flybe also uses a similar solution.

• Airline Bundling (Branded Fares): many airlines around the world choose to create fare families or branded fares, each offering specific products and services at different prices. Agencies can book these fare families using Sabre’s Branded Fares solution. Qantas, Porter Airlines, and Malaysian currently offer this, with Brussels Airlines and a number of other carriers currently implementing.

Top 5 Benefits:
1) Sabre’s Attribute Based Shopping allows agencies to shop and compare airfares based on specific products and services (attributes) offered by the airline, providing more transparency on the total cost of an airfare. It also allows airlines to differentiate their product and drive incremental new revenue. This creates an extremely consumer-friendly approach to shopping for air travel, eliminating the growing complexity and confusion associated with finding the right fare, inclusive of the products and services that an airline offers and a traveller needs. This also eliminates potential airport surprises around things like baggage fees or paying to check-in and pick seats.

2) Sabre’s merchandising capabilities make the shopping and booking experience more efficient for agencies and travellers, allowing the shopper to quickly identify the right product, select and pay for the desired additional services, and do this in their traditional shopping workflow.

3) Supporting airlines in their quest to generate new revenues in these continuing challenging economic times. Airlines using Sabre’s Air Merchandising solutions have generated millions of dollars of additional revenue following implementation. Airlines will continue to introduce these new fees and alter the sales approaches in an attempt to generate new revenue during an economic downturn, and Sabre is at the forefront of creating and enabling services across all channels: online, offline, direct, indirect, corporate and leisure.

4) Sabre is the first and only GDS to integrate merchandising capabilities into the standard travel agency desktop.

5) Sabre’s Branded Fares enable agencies to book fare families in the same way the airline presents these in the direct airline channel, keeping the airline brand consistent across all channels. No other GDS offers this.

Business Travel ConneXion invites travel managers, procurement officers, suppliers, trade associations, journalists and industry experts to share resources, blog, participate in discussion forums and join groups to leverage their collective knowledge of the business travel industry. Business Travel ConneXion is open and free for anyone with a passion for corporate travel, creating the truest sense of community. Our only requirement is that visitors complete a profile to gain access to the community and its content.

Business Travel ConneXion delivers an online, collaborative destination that offers a different way to communicate and interact to find solutions to everyday questions about travel management. Members can leverage the collective intelligence of the community to become better informed and equipped to make travel management decisions. Whether it’s through reading the latest blogs, participating in a discussion on our online forum or watching videos from global conferences, Business Travel ConneXions members are able to access subject-matter expertise and communicate with their peers to share best practices.

This is the first true social network in the business travel industry, providing a niche audience with the tools to network with each other, access and develop their own content to enrich their knowledge of the industry as well as do their jobs better.

Top 5 Benefits:
1) Extensive content: Business Travel ConneXion delivers an online, collaborative destination that offers a different way to communicate and interact to find solutions to everyday questions about travel management. Members can leverage the collective intelligence of the community to become better informed and equipped to make travel management decisions. Whether it’s through reading the latest blogs or participating in a discussion on our online forum, members are able to access subject-matter expertise and communicate with their peers to share best practices.

2) Supplier benefits: For suppliers, opportunities exist to directly reach business travel buyers, and promote new product offerings and special offers to a pre-qualified, captive audience. Suppliers who wish to be more involved can leverage more robust site features, like User Groups, to generate a following for their brand and showcase their own thought-leadership.

3) Travel Buyer Benefits: For clients, Business Travel ConneXion is a platform to learn from one another in a cost-effective way. Through the site, buyers are able to identify “resident experts” within the American Express client population and can work with them to develop great content for the community. In addition, as a direct result of client feedback, we created a “Product Lab” that enables Business Travel’s clients to be more involved in our product and solution development efforts. Product Lab empowers our clients to provide feedback and could potentially replace other methods of collecting client feedback.

4) Access to Experts: Each quarter a panel of experts discuss a particular hot topic in the business travel industry in a live audio chat that takes place on the Business Travel ConneXions. Topics from 2009 include: The ROI of Meetings, Preparing for the Hotel RFP season, Corporate Travel Departments and Travel Management Companies, and finally the Global Business Travel Forecast.

5) Private Networks: Through the “groups” functionality, members can create private smaller networks. These networks can be formed around any common interest such as location, market segment, or an industry event. This provides a greater sense of privacy if members want more focused interactions.

Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) has continued to innovate through the downturn – enhancing existing products and developing entirely new ones – remaining a leader in business travel management.

In 2009 CWT brought together functionality not seen in any other hotel booking application available today with CWT Room Select.

Developed in the UK, CWT Room Select goes beyond the average online hotel booking tool by helping clients manage their hotel programme as well as book rooms. It is easy to use for travellers/bookers and enables travel managers to achieve savings on average room rates, by reinforcing the terms of their hotel contracts and tightly managing policy compliance among their travellers.

As part of an overall cost reduction project, CWT Room Select’s controls have helped clients achieve significant cost savings, with an average room rate decrease of 33%.

Added value includes helping travel managers deliver maximum support to travellers on the go. CWT Room Select links with existing CWT technology to allow comprehensive traveller tracking all in one place.

In addition to delivering results for clients, CWT Room Select has enabled CWT to grow hotel business in a challenging year when the market as a whole has been down. In 2009 bookings have exceeded 1 million for the first time, an increase of 7.3% over 2008.

Top 5 Benefits:
1) COST SAVINGS: There is no point in creating a hotel policy if you cannot apply it to your business. This tool focuses on making a client’s travel policy come to life. CWT Room Select is designed with cost savings and client preferences at the forefront. The search function is managed to always list the properties with client-negotiated fares first, ensuring greater compliance with the company travel policy. In its first year, CWT Room Select’s controls have helped clients achieve an average room rate decrease of 33% as part of an overall cost reduction project.

2) EASE OF USE: CWT Room Select encourages bookers and travellers to book online by being quick and user friendly, highlighting the most cost-effective options. The first client to use CWT Room Select enjoyed an online adoption rate in excess of 50% in their first week. Clients can search for hotels closest to their own offices by uploading their office locations. CWT Room Select uses traveller profiles to ensure accurate bookings and comprehensive management information. Travellers are able to view all reservations online with CWT Room Select – whether made online or on the phone with a CWT consultant.

3) EFFECTIVENESS: CWT Room Select pulls properties and rates from its own proprietary hotel database that includes non-GDS content and includes a direct connect link to Premier Inn. Last Room Availability (LRA) is often negotiated as part of a corporate travel programme but clients can experience huge difficulties in enforcing this important element as hotel yield management systems sometimes block the last rooms being booked at the corporate rate. CWT Room Select combats yield management processes used by some hotels. If a client-contracted rate is negotiated on an LRA basis but is not shown on the GDS, CWT Room Select hunts down the hidden room rate and books it on behalf of the client. This secures the best rate for the client and upholds their contract. No other booking tool in the market offers this feature.

4) CONVENIENCE: Many clients negotiate allocations of hotel rooms in the cities they visit most frequently, particularly in busy periods. Unique to CWT Room Select, clients have real-time online access to their allocation content. This is integrated with all property data and availability is listed taking into consideration any black-out periods. It provides the ability to load stocks of different room types and rates including meal plans. Integrating allocation content with the full online hotel offering means that a client’s allocations can be used with ease. Users are also able to modify or cancel bookings online.

5) SAFETY & SECURITY: CWT Room Select links in with other CWT applications so that travel managers have access to Management Information and security tracking through the award-winning CWT Programme Management Centre. Travellers can be located by searching on an interactive map and contacted quickly if there is an emergency situation.

HRG is continuously developing its offering in this extensive area to ensure it meets growing client requirements and expectations. This portfolio currently ranges from products and services relating to impact on the environment through to traveller support and security.

HRG has developed a number of solutions that assess the impact of travel plans, reduce carbon emissions, and help organisations meet environmental targets. Our knowledge and expertise in data management enables us to consolidate information through the travel process, and provide customised environmental impact reports, policy management guidance, trip avoidance, advice on third party offsetting products, and traveller tracking services.

HRG Travel Watch, our online traveller tracking tool supports organisations in their responsibility towards employees and provides peace of mind and security. It enables users to quickly and efficiently locate travellers during a crisis. Additionally, the tool also has powerful pre-trip reporting which allows users to manage policy compliance and identify out of policy bookings, or leakage to unauthorised suppliers prior to travel. Amendments can then be made prior to ticketing, supporting effective cost avoidance.

This tracking capability is complemented by our specialist team which is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to assist travellers in an emergency. Relationships with suppliers can also be used to obtain up-to-the-minute knowledge of any events and we can also deploy staff on the ground with proven experience in delivering exceptional service, even when facing the most difficult of circumstances.

Top 5 Benefits:
1) Clients have access to our proprietary HRG CO2 Calculator to measure carbon emissions on air, rail and car travel, enabling themto make “off-setting” choices based on their carbon footprint. A simple and easy to use tool, the calculator provides clients with examples of the costs to offset the CO2 produced for the trip entered. The HRG CO2 Calculator helps promote the visibility of CO2 emissions at a corporate level and can aid general awareness of a client’s CSR policy. In turn, clients are able to take a pro-active stance on managing and measuring emissions.

2) HRG Consulting’s reporting tool kit can provide reports on mileage and carbon emissions on air, rail and car travel, offering “off-setting” options based on a client’s carbon footprint, helping carbon conscious clients track their activity and monitor progress against targets. We also support clients with practical, researched and tailor-made analysis and advice through HRG Consulting, our independent consulting division. HRG Consulting helps clients introduce initiatives to limit their carbon emissions.

3) We have surveyed our hotel suppliers to establish which properties meet ISO14001 standards. An enhancement to our proprietary online booking tool, HRG Online, has been the introduction of a green tree icon to indicate those hotels that meet strict ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) environmental criteria, enabling bookers to select a “greener” hotel for the duration of their stay. The green tree icon is a distinctive reminder for travel bookers, alerting them to environmentally friendly options and giving them an opportunity to select accommodation in line with corporate environmental policies.

4) In times of crisis, HRG Travel Watch™, our intelligent online reporting tool gives users the ability to locate travellers quickly and efficiently. Reports can be created to locate individual travellers as well as all those within a given country or region. Interactive mapping is used to provide ‘at a glance’ information, and identify visitors to high risk areas. The tool provides convenient 24/7 access enabling traveller tracking at any time, particularly useful when incidents impact across time zones. As a truly global security solution HRG Travel Watch™ ensures the client always has a total picture of their travellers’ whereabouts.

5) HRG provides 24-Hour Global Traveller Assistance to support travellers outside of standard business hours. The comprehensive service includes: emergency assistance, information and advice, reservation amendments, and Passport & Visa services (subject to Embassy opening hours). The service uses automated reservation processes and sophisticated telephony, providing an excellent communication structure with all HRG countries globally. We can access existing bookings or build new bookings on behalf of any HRG traveller globally thanks to multi-GDS access. It also means we can send messages and bookings back to local service locations, for continuous and seamless servicing, as well as for reporting purposes.

One Transport has responded to an ever-increasing demand from the marketplace to demonstrate and deliver more efficient personal transport solutions – to reduce costs and improve environmental performance Hence the key requirement of minimising journeys is delivered by maximising resources.
One Transport, in a collaborative effort with its key client the BBC, has developed innovative technology, unique to the taxi/private hire industry, to deliver Groupsave and Cabshare solutions. The original concept was conceived by our client but enhanced by the One Transport development team.

The benefits of Groupsave and Cabshare are as follows:
1. Groupsave: Provides a booker with the ability to combine several bookings into a single one - whilst preserving individual billing for each passenger including separate billing codes and individual P11D accruals.
2. Cabshare: Provide individuals the ability to "piggy-back" on to an existing booking by selecting from a list of share options. This powerful sharing engine is already in live use by the BBC and in this feature bookers are able to be offered appropriate, beneficial share options in a "cafeteria style" listing before confirming their booking. Share offers are listed in order of benefit and the booker can choose the most convenient share. Vendors can be incentivised by awarding them slightly higher tariffs for share journeys. Our solution minimises dead mileage, (miles driven whilst empty) and unused seats (underutilised vehicles), which reduces carbon emissions and reduce costs.
Conservative estimates put potential savings for one client at c. £700,000; 350,000 vehicle miles and >1300 KGs of CO2 per annum

Top 5 Benefits:
1) Significant Cost Savings – By reducing the amount of journeys through Cabshare and Groupsave, companies can significantly reduce their cost for personal transport services. At a time when travel costs are of primary concern across all industry sectors, One Transport offers its clients the opportunity to dramatically cut their taxi/private hire expenditure. Conservative estimates for a volume user, such as the BBC, put potential savings at c.£700k per annum.

2 Carbon emission reduction – Undeniably there is a universal requirement for responsible businesses to demonstrably reduce their carbon emissions. Travel is clearly a key area where savings can be made. One Transports Cabshare and Groupsave innovation tangibly reduce ‘dead-mileage’ and increase vehicle utilization. It is clear that even one ride shared effectively reduces carbon emissions by c.50% - across the BBC conservative estimates put the potential
savings of CO2 at c.1300kgs per annum, if Cabshare and Groupsave are fully utilized.

3) More profitable for vendors – Reducing the number of journeys is not in the interests of vendors – they see it as reducing their revenue - and therefore they do not actively encourage ride sharing. One Transport understands that vendors need to be encouraged and supported to readily accept Cabshare and Groupsave, which is why One Transport has developed a methodology to increase the standard base fares with each additional passenger. This delivers
commercial benefits to both the vendor and their drivers.

4) Individual billing (maintaining control) – One of the key benefits of One Transport’s innovative technology is maintaining full control of all areas of expenditure - down to individual passenger level. Of course, this remains paramount even if passengers elect to share journeys. Our technology, intelligently & automatically, proportions the respective ratio of each individual’s cost, including their separate cost codes and any other billing requirements

5) P11D (Benefit in Kind) – As an additional benefit our innovative Cabshare and Groupsave technology complies with HMRC rules regarding home journeys, further reducing reconciliation and back office costs.