News in brief: September 21 2009

News in brief from ITM, SAS, STR Global, Travelport GDS and Mexicana 

ITM strengthens board

The UK and Ireland Institute of Travel and Meetings (ITM) has appointed nine new directors to its board.

They are:  Adam Knights, group sales director, ATP The Advanced Travel Partner; Ajaya Sodha, chairman, Key Travel; Douglas O'Neill, managing director, Inntel; Ian Jones, director of agency sales, De Vere Hotels; Ben Varey, EMEAEurope, Middle East and Africa travel manager, Credit Suisse; Julia Heesterman, EMEA travel manager Microsoft; Louise Kilgannon, EMEA travel manager, Infor;  Mark Cushieri, head of travel EMEA, UBS; Sarah Makings, European category manager - travel, KPMG.

Linda Bekoe, business development manager, Grange Hotels,  was also selected as an intern director.

ITM said 19 members applied for board membership and the successful candidates were selected by a panel led by chairman Caroline Strachan.

www.itm.org.uk

SAS directors take pay cut

SAS directors have voted to cut their fees by 25%, retrospectively effective from September 1.

The loss making Scandinavian airline which is owned by the governments of Sweden, Norway and Denmark, said the move would save it SEK1m (€99,000)in a year.

www.flysas.com

585 hotels in European pipeline

There are 585 hotels, amounting to 94,259 rooms, in the European pipeline, according to the STR Global Construction Pipeline Report.

Duane Vinson, vice president at STR, said: "We continue to see growth in much of Europe.

"By the end of this year, we expect another 123 properties to open. Upscale chains such as NH Hoteles and Courtyard by Marriott are dominant in the major markets."

www.strglobal.com

Travelport renews Swiss hotel deals

Travelport GDS has announced two new content agreements within the Swiss hotel industry.

Classic International and reconline have both renewed content deals with Travelport and upgraded their connections.

Under the agreement all hotel rates, including those available on other channels, will be available to agents using Travelport's Worldspan or Galileo GDS platforms.

Both groups have upgraded their connections to Galileo's Complete Pricing Plus programme for hotels which gives more detailed pricing information on room extras.

www.travelport.com   www.reconline.com   www.cihotels.com

Mexicana to join oneworld

Mexicana is to join the oneworld airline alliance on November 10.

The Mexican airline will hold full alliance membership while subsiduaries MexicanaClick and MexicanaLink will become affiliate members.

Members of Mexicana's frequent flyer programme will be able to earn and redeem points on all oneworld member airlines including British Airways, Cathay Pacific and American Airlines.

Russian carrier S7 Airlines is also set to join the oneworld alliance next year.

www.oneworld.com   www.mexicana.com