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ITM and ACTE to merge
Business Travel Show London 2005: The UK’s Institute of Travel Management is set to merge with the global Association of Corporate Travel Executives.
The merger, which has been unanimously approved by members of the ITM and ACTE boards now needs a majority vote from ITM’s 1,000-strong UK and Ireland membership base.
“This is the announcement of the engagement, and we intend to get married in the near future,” said ITM chairman Tom Stone, speaking at a press conference on the first day of the Business Travel Show in London. He described the merger as a “near perfect alignment of vision and objectives”.
Speaking on behalf of ACTE, which has 2,500 members globally, was president Greeley Koch. He said the union would strengthen ACTE’s presence in the UK.
Outlining the key issues that he thought the two organisations would address, Mr Koch named traveller security and safety, privacy and IATA regulations, and Mr Stone added EU legislation to the list.
The issue of whether the ITM name will be lost is under discussion. “Our marketing teams are working on naming and branding and the fun stuff like that,” said Mr Koch. “But at this stage we have been focussing on the fit of our organisations,” added Mr Stone.
Responding to a question from the audience, Mr Stone confirmed that merging with ACTE will require the ITM to leave the Paragon Partnership, a global alliance of business travel management organisations of which it is currently a member.
Report by Ginny McGrath
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