NBTA to Launch 'New Membership for a New Decade' Initiative

New Initiative Set to Expand Scope and Value of Benefits to Members of the Association - New Offering Includes Unlimited Free Access to NBTA Foundation Benchmarking Tool

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. February 24, 2010

Alexandria, VA - February 24, 2010 - The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) today announced a new initiative called “New Membership for a New Decade” aimed at expanding the scope and value of benefits to members of the association.

The program is set to deliver new and enhanced services to members during the course of the next 12 months and beyond. The first new offering includes the unlimited availability of the Managed Travel Index & Benchmarking Tool developed by the NBTA Foundation. This tool enables members of the association to benchmark several aspects of their travel program against their peers, including: airline, hotel, and car rental procurement, travel risk management, administration, technology, and traveler compliance. The tool was previously available for an annual fee of $595, but due to a new partnership with InterContinental Hotels Group, the tool is now being made available at no charge to members of the association.

NBTA member Donna Kelliher, GLP, Director, Travel & Corporate Services, Dominion, said, "As a member of the association, I applaud the release of this tool to all members. Benchmarking allows us to be more aware of a broad range of market conditions inside and outside of our area of data control. Providing this access will create an even more powerful platform of data to members, stimulating great discussion around ideas, processes and practices to improve efficiency and overall travel program performance. The NBTA membership value package will continue to grow as members engage in the use of this tool. This data junkie is ready."

“We are delighted to partner with the Foundation to enable the release of this tool to all NBTA association members and believe firmly in the mission of the association and the value professional travel management adds to our collective industry,” said Mike Fegley, Vice President, Global Sales, InterContinental Hotels Group. “We hope our support of this tool will add value to existing members and allow them greater access to the tools and information from which to improve their travel programs.”

Michael W. McCormick, NBTA Executive Director & COO, added, “As we enter a new decade, the rules of business -- and of travel management -- are being rewritten. NBTA is redesigning membership to meet the new challenges our industry faces and to make NBTA membership essential for the successful travel manager. The first step in the 'New Membership for a New Decade' is to make the unique Managed Travel Index & Benchmarking Tool available to all NBTA members. This release is one of several announcements we'll make over the next 12 months about the shape of NBTA membership to come. So stay tuned.”

The NBTA Managed Travel Index & Benchmarking Tool will provide travel buyers with increased visibility into the efficiency of their travel program and identify areas of improvement and new best practices to consider implementing at their firm. Notable features include:

Airfare Reports: Allows travel buyers to measure their United States air spend against national onboard fare and performance information, in addition to that of members.

Hotel Reports: Provides detailed views of hotel performance in North America, including room rates and occupancy, as well as benchmarks against other members.

Car Rental Reports: Allows members to compare average daily car rental rates to those of other members by car class and by specific locations worldwide.

Managed Travel Index: Designed to help members benchmark the operational effectiveness and efficiencies of their managed travel program. Performance areas include: Finance, Administration, Sourcing, Technology, Quality, and Compliance.

Travel Risk Management: Allows members to conduct a self assessment that can help them determine the current maturity level of their program and identify areas of improvement.

Corporate Social Responsibility: Self assessment tool that provides members an opportunity to determine where their travel program rates on a maturity scale. Members can benchmark against other NBTA members and identify areas for improvement.

To access the Managed Travel Index & Benchmarking Tool, visit www.benchmarking.travel.

The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) is the world's premier business travel and corporate meetings organization. NBTA and its regional affiliates - NBTA Asia Pacific, the Brazilian Business Travel Association (ABGEV), NBTA Canada, NBTA Europe, NBTA Mexico, and NBTA USA - serve a network of more than 17,000 business travel professionals around the globe with industry-leading events, networking, education & professional development, research, news & information, and advocacy. NBTA members, numbering more than 5,000 in 30 nations, are corporate and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers. They collectively manage and direct more than US$340 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually on behalf of more than 13 million business travelers within their organizations. For more information, visit www.nbta.org