Rome - The BTN Group on Monday named Accenture global
travel and events senior director Mary Bastrentaz as its 2012 Multinational Travel Manager of the Year.
Presenting the
award here during an Association of Corporate Travel Executives conference, The
BTN Group's research and media strategy director David Meyer cited Bastrentaz's
"innovation, influence, communications skill and
teamwork, as well as a commitment to advancing industry and company practices,
and particularly for the vision for a universal profile."
Meeting the need for a universal profile not tied
to a specific country, Bastrentaz convinced senior management at her travel
management company, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, to secure the funding to build the
new technology. That technology now is available to clients other than
Accenture.
As part of its travel management structure that
allows travelers to book at negotiated rates anytime and anywhere in the world,
Accenture by year-end will complete the last major piece of Bastrentaz's "Travel
Agency and Technology Transformation" vision, or "T3," by
implementing the universal profile.
With CWT's Portrait Abroad, a web-based global
profile management system, "the profiles move with travelers,"
Bastrentaz said. If a U.S.-based traveler working in Germany needs to book new
travel arrangements, the profile can be toggled to Germany "so all the
discounts are applied, they can book locally and all data is consolidated. Wherever
they move next, the profile can be retoggled as well."
The universal
profile allows any business traveler in any country where
they are doing business to access the discounts, unique policies, accounting
codes and travel management support. "It eliminates calling after hours to
non-dedicated service and does away with the sponsor profile—a workaround for
travelers outside of their home countries that distorts the data and makes it
cumbersome to manage," Meyer said. "It allows travelers to apply
local discounts and be fully serviced and supported locally."