AirPlus Global Reach Editorial Office talks with Paula Silva – Sales Manager Middle East + Northern Africa – about trends, opportunities, challenges and developments in the Israeli travel management market.

AirPlus: What are the main trends and developments concerning travel management in Israel?

PS: The main trends in Israel, which are on a rise precisely due to the financial crisis, are cost cutting and monitoring of travel policy compliance. Companies are attempting to save money by purchasing lower booking classes and by having their employees travel economy class instead of business class. The price of the airfare is more important than ever.

Paula Silva

AirPlus: How mature is travel management in the Israeli market?

PS: Travel management is highly mature in Israel and well perceived by the Senior Management. There is a Travel Managers Forum that is quite active in organizing events and meetings for its members.

AirPlus: Where do you see the biggest savings and profit opportunities for your customers?

PS: In connection with the information that AirPlus empowers them with: transparent and accurate data that will help them in their negotiations with their suppliers.

AirPlus: What competitive advantages does AirPlus have in Israel?

PS: In general the whole concept of business travel payment is not very developed from the supplier side. Hence the general set-up and product portfolio of AirPlus enjoys a unique position in the market. For instance, in Israel, AirPlus is the only supplier of corporate payment systems. Another strong advantage is that AirPlus includes insurance covering acts of terrorism.

AirPlus: Is there anything else of interest from a marketing perspective?

PS: What is really interesting from a customer perspective is the high level of fragmentation in the airline market: While Lufthansa, British Airways and many other airlines are at 0 IATA commission and TMC’s make their living from transaction fees, El Al, the home carrier still pays agencies 7% IATA commission. Of course this has significant impact on the complexity of travel management as well.