AMSTERDAM — Carlson Wagonlit Travel’s North American transactions were up 1.1% in 2015, the only global market to show an increase for the retail group.
Transactions in Europe, Middle East and Africa declined 1.2% while Latin America volume was off 7.8% due to the weight of the energy sector and the economic recession in Brazil, said CWT. Asia Pacific volumes were stable.
Overall CWT reported solid financial results for 2015 despite a continued challenging economic climate, increasing its new business sales to US$1.7 billion. CWT’s transactions were stable at 61.4 million. Overall sales volume reached US$24.2 billion, reflecting the significant curtailment in travel expenses by energy customers. Excluding the impact of the energy portfolio, transactions increased by 1.3%.
CWT also maintained its strong client satisfaction scores with travel manager satisfaction of 90%, combined with an 88% traveller satisfaction rating and a 94% retention rate.
And CWT’s CWT To Go app saw 62% growth in user registrations, to 560,000. In early 2015 CWT launched fully integrated mobile hotel booking in 17 markets, achieving approximately 35,000 hotel bookings and $10 million in sales.
CWT President and CEO Douglas Anderson noted that 2015 “was a challenging year for the industry overall given the continued sharp fall in energy prices and oil in particular. We nevertheless delivered solid results.”
CWT continued to focus on enhancing its technology offering, with the deployment of mobile hotel booking on CWT To Go and the global launch of CWT AnalytIQs, a powerful tool to report and manage travel data, he added.
CWT’s specialized business divisions recorded the following:
CWT Solutions Group
CWT’s consulting arm maintained strong growth momentum. The group moved beyond traditional sourcing reporting and further expanded data reporting to include traveler engagement. Customer satisfaction reached 94 percent and CWT Solutions Group continued to publish innovative reports, such as the T&E Decision Tree.
CWT Energy, Resources & Marine
CWT Energy, Resources & Marine global sales volume was materially impacted by the sharp reduction in travel spend in the sector. In this economically challenged environment, CWT Energy, Resources & Marine achieved $265 million in new sales, and a strong retention rate of 95%.
CWT Meetings & Events
CWT Meetings & Events organized over 27,500 meetings and events around the world for more than 1.2 million delegates. CWT Meetings & Events also completed the acquisition of French events agency Ormès in 2015, creating one of the largest Meetings and Events agencies in France. CWT Meetings & Events saw 12% growth globally.
