New Biz Travel Site for All You Road Warriors

Orbitz recently announced the launch of an online store that will cater to the needs of unmanaged business travelers... so if you don't have the assistance of a travel department, this might be just the site for you.

The new micro-site will be linked through the Orbitz.com homepage and is navigable via its own URL address, (http://roadwarrior.orbitz.com).

The new site features business travel tools and tips geared toward making a business traveler's life on the road just a little easier. There's even a wifi locater, though you better check it before you actually are on the road.

Industry research shows that 75% of unmanaged business travelers book flights and accommodations online, and Orbitz is looking to get a larger share of this business.

Some of the Site Features include:
Up-to-the-minute flight delay, cancellation or gate change alerts

Proactive alerts notifying travelers and their designated contacts of flight status, changes, cancellations and any event that might impact travel

For business travelers who book both flights and hotel, Orbitz will call a hotel for late arrivals to ensure the traveler's hotel room is protected. If the hotel doesn't honor the booking for late arrivals, Orbitz will find and re-book customers into a hotel of comparable quality and value.

Orbitz will email business travelers with any tips and relevant information regarding news that might impact their travels such as a transit strike, for example.

Executive car service and car service alerts are available for customers to find and book luxury sedan transportation.

Orbitz says it is the only travel site with a seasoned team of former U.S. military air traffic controllers, travel agents and former airline employees who monitor nationwide travel conditions and events 365 days a year.

Meeting Industry Measures 2007 Trends

As reported at travelmole.com, by David Wilkening

The meeting industry is expected to grow for a fourth consecutive year, signaling an economy that continues to be strong, according to FutureWatch 2000 in a study sponsored by Meeting Professionals International and American Express.

Some findings of the survey:
Planners expect to manage more meetings in 2007 and expect to see larger budgets in dollars and as a percentage of the total organizational or company budgets. Budgets are expected to increase by 21% for association planners and 18% for corporations, while spend per meeting is expected to increase by 8% and 4%, respectively.

This year's report showed movement toward a more centralized function, with 54% of corporate planners saying their meetings were mostly or completely centralized across the organization.
The study procurement or purchasing departments are playing a more active role in purchasing decisions for meetings within many organizations, with 30% of corporate and government planners saying procurement plays a major part in their purchasing decisions.

The impact of war and terrorism on business travel has surged ahead of all other concerns, with 38% citing them as major concerns.

Behind terrorism and war (the top concern), increasing costs are expected to have the greatest impact on the industry. This is led by the cost of oil and gas, followed by general inflation.

Globalization is on the rise in all areas of the meetings industry. Client-side planners, meetings management and services companies, and especially hotel and resort companies expect to increase their global presence in 2007.

Similar to the 2006 study, client-side planners are predicting little change in the number of meetings they will outsource in 2007.

The coming year tracks significant shifts in the geographic locations that meeting planners are considering for their events. For 2007, U.S. planners anticipate holding 90% of their meetings domestically, 3% in Europe and 1% in Canada.