[ad_1] SAP Concur plans new administrative control functions for its TripLink direct-booking capture tool, enabling travel managers to customize how integrated suppliers are presented within the platform and deliver policy-based messaging to travelers, the company announced.  Set to roll out to all TripLink users in the second quarter of 2021, the new controls are designed…

[ad_1] Expense management conglomerate Emburse has taken two more providers under its corporate umbrella, acquiring travel management app developer Roadmap and corporate travel spending analytics specialist DVI in separate deals.  The acquisitions—terms of which were undisclosed—significantly expand Emburse’s capabilities to offer clients services around travel management and spending data, each of which will be areas…

[ad_1] Delta Air Lines has created two new executive positions to oversee its efforts in both sustainability and in diversity and inclusion. The carrier promoted Keyra Lynn Johnson, a 25-year Delta veteran who has led the company’s diversity and inclusion efforts over the past few years, to Delta’s VP and chief diversity, equity and inclusion…

[ad_1] Blackstone Real Estate Partners and Starwood Capital Group have signed a definitive agreement to acquire Extended Stay America hotel company, the companies announced Monday. Pending shareholder approval, the all-cash $6 billion transaction will take place via a 50/50 joint venture of funds managed by the two partners. According to Extended Stay America, the brand…

[ad_1] Business travel industry innovator and American Express Digital Labs VP Johnny Thorsen offers a five-part opinion piece this week on what the industry can feel good about – and look forward to – even as we commemorate one year of shuttered business travel. Everybody related to the global travel industry is commemorating a most…

[ad_1] With millions of Covid-19 vaccine shots being administered daily and the warmth of spring just a few weeks away (at least in the northern hemisphere), expecting a few rays of travel demand to shine through the pandemic clouds doesn’t seem too optimistic. But the data so far isn’t there yet: recent surveys show, if…

[ad_1] Air France-KLM made an operating loss of €4.5 billion in the year to Dec. 31, 2020, a deterioration of €5.7 billion on 2019 as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. On an EBITDA basis, the airline group made a €1.7 billion loss. Revenue for the group was €11.1 billion, down 59 percent from 2019;…

[ad_1] Airlines around the world have grounded Boeing 777 aircraft with the same engine type as the United Airlines flight from Denver to Honolulu that suffered an engine failure on Feb. 20. Saturday’s incident, which scattered debris across several Denver-area neighborhoods but resulted in no injuries aboard the aircraft or on the ground, involved a…

[ad_1] Any return to business travel in the United States in 2021 for now looks rather tentative, according to travel buyers and business travelers themselves. The vast majority of buyers don’t project their organizations’ spending levels this year to reach 2019 levels; in fact, on average they don’t see it reaching even half that level.…

[ad_1] Accor this month will begin offering guests and meeting attendees of properties in the U.S. and Canada Covid-19 tests for pre-trip or onsite testing, the company announced Friday. Accor partnered with health-care technology firm X.labs to provide the tests. Guests can obtain PCR tests from X.labs before their stay, then return a self-collected sample…