Mr. Albert Zhong

In answering to China Hospitality News' question on the development status of "Travel Management" company in China, Albert Zhong, general manager of Carlson Wagonlit Travel China, said that it's been six years, from 2003, since the "Corporate Travel Management" concept was seriously introduced to the Chinese market.
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Zhong said that most companies do have a designated travel agency through which corporate travel must be transacted, which means they have actually outsourced their travel management to a third party. However many of these agencies are just doing basic travel fulfillment services minimal focus on data reporting and program optimization. This is the area that many domestic companies should further focus on when making a selection regarding outsourcing their travel.

CWT China has a large range of multinational clients that include manufacturing, finance, IT, consulting, automobile, medical and pharmaceutical, petroleum and logistics, etc. As a result of years of hard work, CWT China can now provide best-in-class air ticket sales, hotel booking and solutions, travel program optimization, online booking tools, data consolidation and reporting, traveler tracking for safety, visa application, and meeting and incentive services. Albert said that the services and concept of a travel management company, like CWT, are distinguished from a traditional leisure travel agent.
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Zhong believes there is great business potential. He said that actually many companies have taken the current economic downturn as a good opportunity to review their existing travel programs and policies. Most of them are further enhancing their travel management programs e.g. by consolidating all ticketing and hotel booking under one TMC to control travel policy compliance better. This helps encourage the use of the lowest airfares available when traveling, strengthening preferred supplier relationships to reduce travel cost and migrating the bulk of travel expenses to these preferred service providers to maximize cost reduction.

As for the two main costs in travel: transportation (airplane and train tickets etc) and accommodation costs, how does an effective travel system optimize these? Zhong said that as companies continue to search for ways to control travel costs in a challenging economic environment, demand management tools can be effective options.

Sales manager: Albert Zhong

Albert ZhongGeneral Manager, China

Mr. Albert Zhong - General Manager - Carlson Wagonlit Travel ChinaAlbert Zhong is the General Manager of China Travel Management Services Co., Ltd., trading as Carlson Wagonlit Travel China, a joint venture between China Air Service (CAS) and Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT).He oversees the joint venture operations in its head office in Beijing as well as its branch offices in Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Mr Zhong has been with CAS for 15 years since his college graduation in 1988 till the establishment of CAS/CWT China JV in 2003.

In 1990, he was appointed Business Manager in the CAS branch office in Hong Kong where he served as Business Development Manager until early 1995.In 1996, Mr Zhong was transferred to CAS head-office in Beijing where he served as Manager of Passenger Sales and Services.From 1996 to 2002, he spent 7 very successful years in CAS sales, where he established strong relationships with both domestic and international airlines.

Under his leadership, CAS started corporate travel management services in 1997 and during his tenure at CAS, Mr. Zhong gained wide experience and knowledge in the business travel management industry and has contributed significantly to the growth of corporate business in CAS, which had become the core business of the CAS/CWT joint venture.

From 01/Jan, 2003, he was appointed as the General Manager of CAS/CWT China JV where he has successfully expanded CWT China business operations into Shanghai and Guangzhou.Mr. Zhong's experience and background in the industry together with his team's efforts are further strengthening CWT leadership position in corporate travel management market in China.
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Appointed as the branch manager of the joint venture between China Air Service and Carlson Wagonlit Travel in Shanghai in March 2004, Mr. Wu has the responsibility for overseeing operations in the region and reporting all the sales and marketing activities to Albert Zhong, the country manager.

Reducing travel costshas become a concern for all enterprises, and it was this concern that created the corporate travel management industry", said Albert Zhong, general manager of China Travel Management Services Co.Ltd.

Reducing travel costs has become a concern for all enterprises, and it was this concern that created the corporate travel management industry", said Albert Zhong, general manager of China Travel Management Services Co.Ltd.

Reducing travel costs has become a concern for all enterprises, and it was this concern that created the corporate travel management industry", said Albert Zhong, general manager of China Travel Management Services Co.Ltd.

Founded in 1987, China Air Service Ltd (CAS) was the first and is now one of the largest International Air Transport Association (IATA) travel agencies in China.

Carlson Wagonlit Travel is a world leader in business travel management.Today, the Carlson Wagonlit group, formed from the merger of the Carlson and Wagonlit business travel groups, has locations in more than 140 countries.Carlson Wagonlit Travel is co-owned by Paris-based Accor and Minneapolis-based Carlson Company.