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Section III. Business. Economy

Business travel firms chase local clients
The capital's travel agencies are increasingly looking to develop
relationships with corporate travel customers as the international
business travel and conference business begins to gather
momentum.
One developing source of business travel is represented by local
firms' increased representation at international trade shows and
conferences. While business travel alone can form an important
aspect of an agency's business, industry sources say, and
conference travel is a lucrative part of the corporate travel picture.
Valeria Luyk, director of Sky Travel BTI Ukraine, said her firm
has picked up 50 corporate clients since it started providing
business travel services in 1999. Most of the businesses are
multinational firms with affiliates in Ukraine, like Philip Morris
and Exxon Mobil.
Luyk said that there's an economic incentive for a company to
concentrate its business with a single air carrier and travel
agency. Airlines provide major customers with airfare discounts of
up to 3 percent. Regular patronage of an agency can result in
negotiated discounts of between 5 percent to as much as 25 percent
off a package of services.
Luyk said that the lower prices stem from the agency's affiliation
with hotel booking programs that include access to about 20,000
hotels in 90 countries.
"Usually they are four-star and five-star hotels, like Marriott or
Hilton." she said.

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