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Corporate Travel Management Travelogic Merger
30 May 2008
AN AUSTRALIAN-owned travel management powerhouse has been created with the merger of Travelogic with Corporate Travel Management announced today.
Effective 01 Jul the firms will combine to create the largest privately owned TMC in Australia -with a global presence through its alliance with GlobalStar which operates in 70 countries.
Corporate Travel Management MD Jamie Pherous told TD the business will have a turnover of about $370m and the move will "cement our position as the only alternative to global TMCs, with the personalised service that we are both reputed for."
He said the deal would further enhance the group's buying power and give it a presence in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and the Gold Coast.
Corporate Travel Management was until last year a key member of Stella's Travelscene American Express group, but is among high profile agents to resign from TSAX in recent months incl the Magellan group's Andrew Jones Travel as well as Reho Travel and Phil Hoffmann Travel.
Pherous said the deal had benefits for both companies,giving Travelogic an "award winning national presence," while Corporate Travel Management gets a global offering via Travelogic's GlobalStar alliance.
"What differentiates us from the Global TMCs is our multi award winning proactive and personalised service delivery," he said.
Another key point of difference was that key shareholders continue to play active roles in the businesses, Pherous added.
The company will manage travel for 14 of the top 100 ASX listed companies as well as some of Australia's biggest private firms,and is once again a finalist in the National Travel Industry Awards.
Travelogic merges with Corporate Travel Management to create the only logical alternative to the Global Travel Management Companies operating in Australia.
29 May 2008
Effective 1 July, Corporate Travel Management (CTM) and Travelogic (TL) will be joining forces to create the largest privately owned Travel Management Company (TMC) in Australia.
Together, we will represent the first logical alternative to the Global TMC’s that operate in Australia, with multi-award winning offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth & the Gold Coast.
Highlights of the merge:
• Increased buying power and lowering of cost base. Allows us to continue to invest in new technology innovations and pass on the lower costs to the benefit of our clients
• Comprehensive National & Global Presence. We can each leverage from each other’s strong points in coverage. Through Corporate Travel Management, Travelogic now has an award winning national presence, whilst Corporate Travel Management now has a unique seamless global offering via Travelogic’s GlobalStar alliance, operating in 70 countries.
• Unique Industry global technology and seamless international delivery. Just one of the benefits of GlobalStar is its many world leading technology pieces.
An example is “FareStar”, a ground breaking proprietary tool whereby we can access & source the cheapest airfares sold in other parts of the world from our desktops. These fares often undercut local prices available in Australia. We believe this offering is an industry first, and will be exclusively available for the benefit of our Australian clients
• Retain reputation for highly personalised service & intuition. What differentiates us from the Global TMC’s is our multi-award winning proactive & personalised service delivery. The Global TMC’s are typically represented by a call centre mentality.
• Proven Success. We manage travel for 14 of the ASX Top 100 companies and some of Australia’s largest private companies, and have won the industry’s premier award, the AFTA Best Corporate Travel Agency in Australia in 3 of the last 4 years
• Key shareholders continue to play active roles in the business success. This is another key point of difference to the Global TMC’s. The shareholders share a passion for striving to offer the best delivery in the industry
Both companies utilize the same industry leading software platforms, making integration seamless.
About Corporate Travel Management:
• Australia’s largest privately owned Travel Management Company with a turnover of approx $230m p.a.
• Operating for 14 years with offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Gold Coast
• Strong personalised service ethic
• Corporate Travel Management have a reputation within the industry for developing and supporting the growth of their people and providing genuine career path programs
• Have won the AFTA Best Corporate Agency in Australia 3 of the last 4 years
About Travelogic (TL):
• Australia’s second largest privately owned TMC with a turnover of approx $140m p.a. with offices in Sydney and more recently Perth.
• Operating successfully for 20 years in Sydney (and recently Perth) with a reputation for a highly personalised service delivery
• Founding Shareholder and Global Director of GlobalStar
About GlobalStar (GS):
• Leaders in multinational travel management delivered locally
• GlobalStar is a travel management company owned and managed by local entrepreneurs, worldwide.
• Over 70 market leading enterprises, representing over US$5billion in sales, combine their local expertise, strength and commitment with global organisation to deliver cohesive, multinational solutions through an innovative technology platform.
For any queries, please contact Jamie Pherous, Managing Director, Corporate Travel Management on 0411 712225 or Craig Smith, Managing Director Travelogic on 0414 913044.
Websites:
www.travelctm.com
www.travelogic.com.au
www.globalstartravel.com
CORPORATE TRAVEL MANAGEMENT WINS BEST CORPORATE TRAVEL AGENCY IN AUSTRALIA AGAIN
16th July 2007
Corporate Travel Management had another successful evening at the National Travel Industry Awards.
We are delighted to advise:
Corporate Travel Management won The Best Corporate Travel Agency in Australia (metro)
Corporate Travel Management Gold Coast received the Special Commendation Award (runner up) in best regional agency in Australia (it must have been close to win this).
Vicki Sullivan was a finalist in Best Consultant – Retail. To make the finals in this category is an achievement in itself.
In accepting the awards on behalf of Corporate Travel Management, Jamie Pherous said:
‘We are delighted and honoured to win this prestigious award for the second year in a row. The high caliber of finalists is a testament to the value placed on the NTIA as the premier award in our industry. We would also like to thank our valued suppliers whom without their support, we would not be able to deliver a complete end-to-end service.
Lastly and most importantly to our team at Corporate Travel Management - I am so often inspired and humbled by the tireless dedication & passion that so many of our staff bring to Corporate Travel Management. Thank you for believing in the Corporate Travel Management vision. You have made the success that we have achieved, and the “journey” all the more enjoyable. The best part is that the Corporate Travel Management ride has only just begin. This award is for you.”
Upon accepting the second award immediately after the first, Jamie noted that “many in the industry tell me Corporate Travel Management is widely known for working hard and playing hard. So for the 20 people that have come to the awards night, I think it I time to do the latter.”
And that is exactly what we did…
Corporate Winner Takes Pride in National Appeal
TravelWeekly.com.au, 15 December 2006
Corporate Travel Management was not short of things to celebrate in 2006. The company, part of the Travelscene American Express group, took out the Australian Federation of Travel Agents award for best corporate agency this year as well as extending the business into Western Australia by opening in Perth. The company also secured a corporate client that is listed in the ASX’s top 20 companies
Jamie Pherous, Managing Director of Corporate Travel Management said: “We are the only non-global travel management company to be truly national.” Pherous said the success the group has achieved this year is offering a personal service, not a “call centre mentality.”
The group has also done “exceptionally well” in its goal of winning companies listed on the ASX Top 200 list.
Pherous attributes the success achieved in 2006 to a good team culture and open communication. “The biggest risk to the business is getting good staff. We have got a truly great management team that compliments my skill set”, Pherous said.
This year the group has done well to create three full-time positions. Two people have been hired to provide and monitor staff training and one to take care of human resources.
“We have the stuff in place to control our destiny. We’re spending a lot of money on training to ensure we’re getting the best people and developing them to be the best in the industry,” Pherous said.
In the new year, the group will continue to strive towards its goal of being the best in corporate travel. “We have broken the stereotypical model (that big companies provide bad service) and shown that it is possible to grow fast and provide good service at the same time,” Pherous said.
A Star in Flight
The Australian - 25 February 2005
The convergence of ravenous multinational corporate travel giants might spook some of the smaller players in the market.
Not Jamie Pherous, founder and managing director of Corporate Travel Management, one of Australia’s largest privately owned travel agencies. He sees the domination of multinational travel groups in Australia – including Flight Centre BTI and Carlson Wagonlit – as a blessing, not a threat.
“They’re our best breeding ground for winning business because they are complacent, their promises aren’t delivered and their staff serve as order takers, not pro-active advocates working for customers.” He says.
Corporate Travel Management’s annual turnover of almost $60 million confirms its status as a rising star in the industry, and gives Pherous and his team the buying power to negotiate attractive rates for the travel and entertainment expenditure of client businesses. But it still lags behind the $250 million-plus turnover that the bigger players reap.
Yet Pherous welcomes the industry consolidation at the big end of town: “We have a unique opportunity in this marketplace to be the only point of difference to a multinational.
For the customers who want someone who is truly national, who is large enough but who is also personalised and pro-active, we’ll become the only choice on a national scale.”
Founded a decade ago, the inspiration for Corporate Travel Management came as Pherous, then globetrotting with accounting firm Arthur Anderson, found corporate travel suppliers were less than efficient. “No one really had it down pat”.
Based in Brisbane and with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast, Corporate Travel Management now has a staff of about 70 and the business’s success has tagged 36-year-old Pherous as one of Australia’s most successful young business people.
Corporate Travel Management’s main market is small to medium-sized businesses with travel turnover between $200,000 and $10 million, although increasingly sophisticated technology is enabling it to target bigger corporations.
Pherous says the delivery of superior service and special fares – the “waivers and favours” – has been crucial to Corporate Travel Management’s success.
“People tend to over-promise and under-deliver; in my book you can’t do that. If we’re going to make a claim it’s very important that we back it up with an audit trail of accountable information.”
However, the Corporate Travel Management corporate philosophy emphasises that clients cannot have the best price, the best service and the best speed of delivery.
“You can only have two,” he says, explaining that clients have to appreciate that great service takes a little more time and a lot more effort but ultimately delivers greater savings.
Profits and accolades continue to flow in for Corporate Travel Management, which won the prestigious 2004 Best Corporate Agency in the Australian Federation of Travel Agents awards. Crucial to Corporate Travel Management’s success, Pherous says, is that everybody in the organisation lives by the same values – and that in turn delivers a service-focused operation.
He endorses a corporate culture built around three principles.
First, management encourages staff to speak up. Second, management genuinely listens and follows up on ideas. Third, Corporate Travel Management implements solutions in an agreed timeframe.
“All three things are bloody difficult to do and take a lot of energy, but when you do that and your team sees their management doing that you get this most amazing drive to improve things.”
In preparation for a possible float in a few years, Pherous says systems are already being put in place to ensure that Corporate Travel Management is just as accountable as a publicly-listed business.
Corporate Travel Management hopes to hit turnover of $100 million in the next few years and has its sights set on potential new markets such as Perth and Auckland.
While eager to expand, Pherous is conscious of not eroding the small, hands-on model that has served him so well. He continues to encourage entrepreneurialism on a small scale by breaking up work teams into six to eight people, avoiding the risk of the business becoming too centralised.
The management style at Corporate Travel Management is open and accountable. Pherous does not have an office. He likes to talk with his staff and strives to act as a mentor rather than a boss.
And, despite the frenetic pace of business, Pherous tries to maintain a relaxed lifestyle. He surfs at least once a week and avoids work on weekends.