A Record Year, and Good Sign of Things to Come

Planes full of business travelers, crowded check-in lines, days packed full of meetings ... it must be the start of a new year. Happy New Year - and Year of the Dragon!

We ended 2011 with our GetThere business - and global customer-managed travel programs - more successful than ever. We broke every one of our booking records last year, and did so while exceeding the 99.96 percent system availability you've come to expect. Downtime is extremely costly and damages the integrity of your program, so we continue to make it a priority.

In mid-January, we hosted more than 150 people at the GetThere EMEA Summit in London. The turnout, agenda and buzz from our customers and partners indicate that we are taking Europe by storm. And as a precursor to our Global Summit in Chicago March 7-9, I know you’ll be thrilled with what we have in store for you in Chicago! We have so much innovation being delivered in the areas of virtual meetings, mobility, policy engine enhancements, and personalized travel booking, I think you’ll be wowed by the upgrades available for your regional and global online travel programs.

So - you may be wondering, “why March?!” Moving the U.S. Summit to March allows us to get face time with you earlier in the year and align our objectives for the year ahead. It also gets us out of the way of your summer holiday season. Let us know what you think about the new schedule - and our condensed, 48-hour agenda.

As I travel to visit with you this year (or meet virtually), I expect to continue seeing long lines at security and full hotels. That’s why we will remain laser-focused on making managed travel and collaboration even better through insightful innovation aimed at keeping travelers - and budget managers - happy.

-Suzanne