FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:  Goran Gligorovic - Omega World Travel - ggligorovic@owt.net

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Interview with The Omega Man

February, 2017 - Francesco Deluca, Director of Sales and Client Services EMEA at Omega World Travel, UK, talks to us about the impact of Brexit on business travel, narrowing the gap between B2C and B2B booking experiences and reveals his top tips for making the most of this year’s Business Travel Show.

What are the biggest opportunities facing the industry in 2017?
Despite the uncertainty surrounding geopolitics, our industry has the unique ability to weather any storm and adapt quickly to a changing landscape and the new world emerging. I am therefore extremely confident 2017 is going to be a year of substantial commercial growth.

I am encouraged by the Business Travel Show research, which shows the number of buyers with bigger travel budgets is on the rise for the first time in four years. Given these positive conditions our UK supply chain will perform at its best, adding great value to our clients travel management budgets.

I certainly see TMCs further consolidating their evolution into trusted content aggregators in a complex online market place.

And what are the biggest challenges?
From a TMC standpoint, T&T will always be an emotive subject but it is a segment corporate clients are learning to manage more effectively, within a compliant framework.

While the list of new consumer technologies goes on and on, our biggest challenge is to narrow the gap between B2C and B2B booking experiences and help corporations driving new levels of improvement in corporate performance, within the context of a fit for purpose corporate and mobile travel policy.

What impact will Brexit have on business travel?
This year we will find out how mind bogglingly complicated Brexit is going to be.

Some industries will find it harder to adapt than others; airlines may face some tough challenges in order to remain competitive in the European market.

Seven months on since the historic EU referendum vote, the UK has become a cheaper and more attractive destination for foreign travelers so there is a great opportunity for the government to further consolidate London and the UK as the best place in the world to live and set up successful global businesses.

While growth in economy may be slowing down, we remain one of the fastest growing world economies, and the travel management industry has a pivotal role in making sure the UK remains a strong prospect for trade.

TMCs need to do what they always do: adapt quickly and get to grips with the new landscape.

65 percent of buyers in the Business Travel Show survey said TMCs will only have a future if they evolve. Is that fair?
I wholeheartedly share your buyers’ views, although at the risk of being controversial, more must be done both sides of the fence to create a more knowledge based supply chain management ecosystem.

For instance, Omega World Travel has heavily invested in an advanced data and analytics platform to allow our customers to pivot data and drill down into it to view trends such as average ticket prices, top spending areas and ow ticket price variations impact sales to mention a few.

TMCs can meet and exceed most travel manager expectations, mostly because the best travel managers understand some of the challenges we’re up against from a distribution channels view point.

What are your top tips for having a great show?
The Business Travel Show is our industry’s most important event of the year and preparation is key.

My top tips are: start your marketing campaign in early December, make the most of the PR opportunities, invite everybody you know and above all, arrive at the show in tip top condition and enjoy two days of networking, learning and a bit of fun while at it.

Omega World Travel is the official TMC for the Business Travel Show Hosted Buyer Programme.

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About Omega World Travel
Omega World Travel is a woman-owned, diversity supplier, and one of the largest travel management companies in the US. With worldwide headquarters in Fairfax, VA, Omega serves corporate, government, meeting, and leisure clients throughout the US., Europe, and the Middle East. Omega World Travel also owns Cruise.com, one of the largest sellers of cruises on the Internet, and TravTech, a software development company and Omega Meetings and Conference services.