Who works with whom?

Page last updated 15 May 2024
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Organisation: Airbus
Partner company: HRS
Contract: Multi-year renewal (announced May 2024)
Details: Aircraft manufacturer Airbus has signed a multi-year contract extension with hotel booking platform HRS. The two companies have already been working together since 2018 with Airbus “gradually expanding” its use of HRS’s procurement, hotel booking and meeting management services. HRS said in a statement that the new extended contract would allow Airbus to “maximise data insights” into its global hotel volumes using HRS’s latest technology. This would not only improve performance metrics but also “enhance the travel experience” of Airbus’ employees around the world. The extension will also allow HRS to help Airbus “steer more volume” to hotels able to illustrate their sustainability credentials, through HRS’s Green Stay Initiative. These efforts will be particularly focused on using preferred eco-hotels in Toulouse and Hamburg, which are home to two of Airbus’ major production facilities.

Organisation: Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium (UK)
TMC partners: Clarity Travel Management, Diversity Travel, Key Travel & Selective Travel Management
Contract: Commences 1 April 2024
Details: The Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium has appointed Clarity Travel Management, Diversity Travel, Key Travel and Selective Travel Management in its latest Travel Management Services framework which runs from 1 April 2024. All four were part of SUPC’s previous framework which commenced on 19 August 2019, with TravelPerk the only agency not to be reappointed. SUPC helps universities and colleges ‘buy smarter’. Its members include more than 150 institutions with combined purchasing expenditure of more than £3 billion annually. More details

Organisation: Siemens
Partner company: HRS
Contract: Multi-year renewal (announced March 2024)
Details: Global tech company Siemens has signed a 'multi-year' contract extension with accommodation platform HRS. The company, which has worked with HRS for more than five years, books more than two million corporate room nights annually across multiple continents. Siemens is on course to have nearly 90 per cent of its preferred hotel supplier inventory contracted in 2024 at hotels participating in HRS' Green Stay programme. Thorsten Eicke, VP of global mobility for Siemens said: "Our collaboration with HRS consistently sets a new standard for sustainability, automation and process efficiency that benefits our global procurement teams and traveling people."

Organisation: England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)
TMC partner: Travel Places
Contract: Contract implementation now complete (28 February 2024)
Details: Following a competitive tender process, the ECB has appointed Travel Places to manage its corporate travel programme and global team travel for the men’s senior team, women’s senior team, disability teams, young cricketers and umpires as they compete both in the UK and around the world. Key focus areas are travel policy and sustainability. The B Corp certified TMC specialises in travel management for the sports, entertainment and media sectors.

Organisation: Coop (Switzerland)
TMC partner: Kuoni Business Travel
Contract: Extension (announced February 2024)
Details: Swiss retailer Coop has renewed its contract with Kuoni Business Travel, the TMC announced in February. Samuel Gander, project leader of strategic projects in corporate development at Coop, said the companies’ partnership is characterised by “professionalism, reliability and a customer-centric approach”. A spokesperson for the TMC added: “We eagerly anticipate further deepening our collaboration and crafting innovative solutions for the future of business travel.”

Organisation: Canadian Olympic Committee
TMC partner: ATPI Sports Travel
Contract: Extension (announced February 2024)
Details: ATPI’s Sports Travel division has been reappointed by the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) as its official travel logistics services partner to coordinate its athlete, teams and staff travel for two years. “Sending Team Canada to the [Olympic] Games is an incredibly complex logistical operation, and we couldn’t do it without the support of a partner like ATPI,” said Jacqueline Ryan, chief brand and commercial officer of the Canadian Olympic Committee. “This is going to be an exciting year, and I’m looking forward to working with them on the road to Paris 2024 and beyond.”

Organisation: Warner Bros. Discovery
TMC partner: American Express Global Business Travel
Contract: New to Amex GBT in 2023
Details: Warner Bros. Discovery was named by Amex GBT CEO Paul Abbott as a new customer in the company's Q3 earnings call in November 2023. It was additionally named a 'significant' new business win in the company's 2023 earnings report published on 5 March 2024. Warner Bros. Discovery was ranked 31st in Business Travel News' Corporate Travel 100 report last year, with $60 million in US-booked air travel spend in 2022. Amex GBT's new business wins in 2023 were valued at $3.5 billion while its customer retention rate was 96 per cent, up one per cent year on year.

Organisation: Fortescue
TMC partner: American Express Global Business Travel
Contract: New to Amex GBT in 2023
Details: Australian mining and energy company Fortescue was named by Amex GBT CEO Paul Abbott as a new customer in the company's Q3 earnings call in November 2023. Fortescue was additionally named a 'significant' new business win in the company's 2023 earnings report published on 5 March 2024. Amex GBT's new business wins in 2023 were valued at $3.5 billion while its customer retention rate was 96 per cent, up one per cent year on year. Fortescue reported Scope 3 emissions from business travel of 30,000 tonnes CO2e in its FY23 report, a fraction of its overall Scope 3 emissions figure of 267.6 million tonnes CO2e.

Organisation: Blackstone
TMC partner: American Express Global Business Travel
Contract: New to Amex GBT in 2023
Details: American asset management company Blackstone was named by American Express Global Business Travel chief executive Paul Abbott as a new customer in the company's Q3 earnings call in November 2023. Blackstone says it is the world’s largest alternative asset manager, with $1 trillion in assets under management. An increase in travel and entertainment spend were among the primary reasons for higher operating costs in 2022, the company noted in its annual report published in February 2023.