New web portal offers social networking for business travellers

MVI is designed for business travellers

A new web portal has been launched that will enable friends, family, colleagues and other acquaintances to connect, socialise and stay with each other as they travel around Europe and globally.

My Village International (MVI) – www.myvillageinternational.com - provides social and business networking opportunities to individuals who frequently travel because of their work.

This international online networking village has been established by a group of friends who themselves have held a number of European and international posts in business enterprise. As well as helping people to socialise through their international connections, other benefits of MVI to members include travel sharing to help reduce CO2 emissions and getting the most from their visits to new places.

“The idea first occurred because of our own experiences of travelling extensively on business throughout Europe,” says Director of MVI, Kathy Vuillaume. “Women in particular find it difficult to do simple things like go to a restaurant or bar on their own, so they end up ordering room service and staying in their hotel room, rather than enjoying the local environment and meeting people.

“We tried to find a social networking site that was offering this type of service, but couldn’t. Facebook is geared towards friends, LinkedIn is very business-oriented, and we really wanted to connect with professionals with international lifestyles who travel regularly and have several addresses. None of these other traditional sites enable you to appear registered in different locations.”

The current functionalities of MVI allow members to promote their social and business activities by using forums and groups, and uploading multimedia materials. They can initiate or participate in MVI events open to all members or host private events with their own connections. They can share their itineraries - both business trips and holidays - to make new business contacts and friends wherever they go. Members can also set up profiles tailored to their different social and business circles.

Future functions of the site, already under development in partnership with the University of Surrey, include the development of a smart phone app and the potential to car-share between members; the University is currently assessing members’ willingness to share, their relationship to potential sharers, and the routing and timing of planned journeys.

“The feedback from MVI is raising some exciting new research challenges,” says Paul Krause, Professor of Software Engineering at the University of Surrey. “We are using latest techniques to ensure the smart phone app will work across all major device types. More interestingly, we are developing some innovative tools to enable us to introduce a range of location aware services. We believe this will reinforce MVI as the leading social networking site for business people on the move.”

The main aim of MVI is for members to reconcile their social and business lives in very practical ways. For example, if you are going to be in a city or town at the same time as other people that you know, then book into the same hotel and catch up on your business ventures, or go out and visit the town together to enjoy a more social experience.

The objective is to grow MVI to around 3,000 members in the first year and to reach more than 100,000 members within five years.

MVI has been launched in English and French languages with the aim of adding new languages as membership grows. Currently, 16 countries are represented in the network - 99% of members are professionals with the remaining 1% made up of students and other individuals.

For a free trial experience, visit: www.myvillageinternational.com

Jet operator calls for industry to promote time saving, not luxury to business clients

Patrick Margetson-Rushmore, the CEO of London Executive Aviation (LEA), one of Europe’s biggest business jet charter operators, is calling on the business aviation industry to promote time-saving benefits rather than giving out 'luxury messages' in its marketing this summer.

Speaking ahead of the annual meeting of the British Business & General Aviation Association (BBGA) later this month, Margetson-Rushmore says: “After a very tough recession, private jet charter operators stand to do good business this summer, thanks to Euro 2012 and the Olympics. However, we risk squandering the chance of a sustained recovery after these events if we don’t portray ourselves intelligently.

“The BBGA and the European Business Aviation Association do a great job in communicating the invaluable benefits we offer, namely efficient and convenient travel. But there is still a temptation for many operators to emphasise ‘the champagne lifestyle’ in their marketing, which is self-defeating folly given the general public mood,” Margetson-Rushmore continues. “The Zeitgeist is still very critical of excessive City bonuses, so it is vital we distance ourselves from so-called ‘corporate greed’. We should instead promote the true value of business aviation, which is all about saving precious time, an important ingredient for the economic recovery that will benefit us all.

“After the ‘tarring and feathering’ our reputation received during the credit crunch, there is a lot of PR damage our industry has to repair,” he says. “The BBGA can lead the way, but can only succeed if we present a united front. Only once we have detoxified the public’s perceptions of chartering an aircraft can a sustained industry recovery truly get underway.”

According to Margetson-Rushmore, the Olympics offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve the public’s understanding of business aviation. “The fact is we have an essential role to play in the south-east’s overstretched air transport system. The Olympics will bring a huge number of people into London and our major airports will struggle to handle this volume.

"Heathrow Airport operated at 99.2% of its annual limit for flights in 2011 and has severe capacity issues. On its busiest days during the Olympics, Heathrow expects to handle 138,000 passengers, a 45% increase over normal levels. This increase is despite takeoff and landing slots at Heathrow being reduced during the Games from around 43 to 36 per hour. Therefore, not only will business aviation allow many to visit London without delays, but we will also be taking an important share of the strain on London’s travel infrastructure. This is a story we should be promoting.”

Euro 2012 gives operators another chance to promote messages of time-saving and value, according to LEA’s chief executive. “Fans travelling abroad face significant challenges because of where the matches are to be played, and these problems could worsen if England is as successful as we hope. Fans may need to shuttle between Donetsk and Kiev in Ukraine to support the team in the group stages, which could be a challenge as the cities are more than 400 miles apart. If England make the semi-finals, supporters may have to fly to Warsaw to watch the match. And, if the team gets to the final, fans may need to fly back to Kiev.”

With limited options for scheduled air and ground transportation, this situation is almost a case study for why business aviation is so invaluable, says Margetson-Rushmore. “Rather than losing days or weeks out of the office, fans chartering aircraft with their friends could fly out to see all the live action and be home again within hours. Splitting air charter costs between six or eight passengers could make the expense per person very attractive, especially when you factor in savings on hotels and ground transportation. Explained in this way, the financial attractions of what we offer become far clearer and less elitist to potential critics.

“Summer 2012 offers us all a great showcase for what we do as an industry,” Margetson-Rushmore concludes. “I hope we take advantage of the opportunity in a way that yields us the maximum mutual, lasting benefit.”

Premier Inn named 'Best Budget Hotel Brand' at 2012 Business Travel Awards

Premier Inn, the UK's biggest budget hotel chain, was crowned 'Best Budget Hotel Brand' for the third year in a row at the Business Travel Awards, beating off strong competition from the likes of Hampton by Hilton and Travelodge.

Now in their 17th year, the Business Travel Awards recognise and celebrate the achievements of the industry’s leading players, who have performed outstandingly in their field over the last 12 months. The awards, voted for by industry experts also granted Premier Inn the 'Best CSR Programme' award, beating Hampton by Hilton and IHG amongst others.

Patrick Dempsey, Managing Director for Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants, commented: "We are absolutely delighted to win the 'Best Budget Hotel Brand' award for the third, consecutive year. And of course to win the 'Best CSR Programme' award. Our teams work extremely hard to make sure all our guests have a good night guaranteed when staying at one of our hotels. As a company we are committed to being 'a force for good', highlighted through our Good Together programme which benefits our teams and communities, customers and the environment. It's fantastic to be awarded for all our efforts over the past year."

Premier Inn is the UK's biggest budget hotel chain with over 600 hotels across the UK and Ireland. Premier Inn offers guests a unique industry promise of a Good Night Guarantee - a good night's sleep or their money back.

www.premierinn.com

Travel Management Company Can Offer Best Fares To All for Business Travel needs

CT Business Travel announces it can now also book the best online consumer fares for business travel purposes, and client’s still get all of the benefits of their full travel management service.

A recent article published on e-tid.com suggests unmanaged business travel could become more of the norm due to better deals online. However, CT Business Travel’s Managing Director Mark Kempster was quick to respond: “We already offer our clients the opportunity to book the cheapest prices available, even if that means we book through sites such as Expedia, Easyjet or British Airways on their behalf. Our business model is based on charging a transparent management fee, so who we book business flights, hotels and car rental through makes no difference”.

Kempster continued, “The key difference is companies who pay the small fees we charge for using our service enjoy all the benefits that come with using a corporate travel specialist. This allows a business to focus all its efforts in running their company rather than wasting precious time managing their business travel needs”.

As an independent business travel agent, CT Business Travel works with all airlines, hotel and car rental companies worldwide - it has no preferences. However, being part of Uniglobe does mean CT Business Travel has considerable buying power and secures the best business travel airfares, hotel and car hire rates, which it can access in instances where the best consumer internet deals are not suitable or available.

The benefits to companies who use CT Business Travel’s services are substantial, such as having their own team of qualified staff taking care of all their travel requirements, visa advice and entry requirements. It also includes an out of hours service which proves incredibly useful when clients get caught up in adverse weather conditions, strikes or freak occurrences like last years’ ash cloud.

CT Business Travel offers clients a credit facility and prides itself on the high level of service it provides, which is reflected in the long standing client accounts it manages and retains, which is impressive considering clients do not have to commit to any contract term.

Another important benefit is CT Business Travel’s ability to work with its clients to device their policy compliance which it then implements and follows. This can include setting budget levels for employees, travel policies like class of travel depending on the duration of a flight, or when individuals are allowed to travel etc.

With the use of CT Business Travel’s sophisticated technology, CT Business Travel can effectively monitor and report on all bookings made. This information allows a client to understand how budgets are being spent, where potential savings can be made and instances where policies are being abused.

The travel management fees CT Business Travel charge are minimal and range from £10 to £35 per booking, which depends on the nature of the transaction, such as whether a booking is made through the call centre due to being a complex itinerary or using the online booking tools CT Business Travel provides.

For more information on how to become a client of CT Business Travel and the services it provides, use one of the liks above, or give them a call 01892 673427.

New title for site

You will notice that this site has a new title. The new title, That's Travel (incorporating That's Holiday) has been chosen after much thought and debate as it was realised -after the author made a long haul flight from the UK to California for what were, essentially, business meetings- that much travelling is business, rather than holiday or vacation, related.

It was therefore realised that the name: "That's Travel" would reflect the reality of travelling for many of the people who need travel information.

Of course, That's Travel will still carry the same amount of holiday and vacation related news that it did previously, but it will now also contain more business related travel news and information and will have more links to the related site, That's Business.

However, in order not to cause any confusion for those readers who have placed this site as a favourite site, the URL will NOT be changed.