CWT: Travelport IPO decision was bad news for the industry

Travelport's decision to not float on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) was a blow to the entire travel business, according to one of the industry's leading figures.

Doug Anderson, president and chief executive of global travel management company (TMC) Carlson Wagonlit Travel, was speaking to ABTN from his Paris HQ after his company released its latest figures.

The American said the landscape of the corporate travel sector had changed forever following the devastating recession, out of which most economies are still limping.

And he bemoaned the fact Travelport - a travel technology firm which owns both Galileo and Worldspan ticket booking systems - ditched a planned IPO (Initial Public Offering) at the last minute after investors made it clear they were not yet ready to back the Langley-based company.

"It would have been really important for the broader travel industry to have had a return to healthy share price growth," he said.

Financial analysts had predicted the Travelport IPO would have been the biggest on the LSE for more than two years, if it had fetched the expected £2 billion.

Anderson, however, was more concerned with his own company's efforts to adapt to new market conditions as world economies prepare for a return to modest growth.

Last year the TMC's total overall transactions fell by 9.3 per cent on 2008 figures, while sales volume - which totaled US$21.4 billion - dropped by 22.8 per cent during the same period.

Anderson said the higher drop in volume versus transactions demonstrated the aggressive cost-cutting measures companies had taken to reduce travel spend.

Asia Pacific and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) was impacted most, declining by 27.6 per cent and 27.1 per cent respectively.

In Latin America, volume declined 21.2 per cent year over year, while North America saw a 17.4 per cent decrease over the same period.

Anderson said savings were still there to be made, and advised corporates to concentrate on optimising how much they spend on hotels, improving traveller compliance with the company travel policy, making the most of simple bookings, and driving air and ground transportation savings. 

He said the company had won US$1.86 in new sales throughout 2009 (excluding renewals) and enjoyed a 96 per cent retention rate.