Singapore – BTI International has set up a regional team to service the needs of clients consolidating their global travel spend and procurement, and to support its own partners.The process started two years ago as a review of BTI partners' level of competence compared with what clients were asking for and the changing market environment.
BTI executive director, Mr Roger Westwood, while acknowledging that the company still relied heavily on the partners' local expertise, said a decision was made to strengthen the regional network and thus BTI's presence by setting up a central resource centre.
He said Asia-Pacific had grown from a passing interest for the company to a region of critical importance to the business in the last two years, especially as the US and Europe were not expected to expand very much.
Previously BTI had only one executive - regional director, Mr David Pettigrew - supporting its activities in the region. The Asia-Pacific Executive Management (AsPac) team has since grown to 18 full-time employees with two latest additions including Mr Eddie Lim, previously managing director Singapore, who has been appointed general manager, supplier relations for BTI Australia, and regional director, supplier relations, Asia-Pacific. Recently appointed Hong Kong general manager, Mr Mike Burger, is also part of the team.
The BTI AsPac team will support partners in technology development, sales account management and client financing/pricing relations with clients.
Mr Westwood said the strategy was twofold. "All existing BTI partners know their respective domestic markets very well, have developed their own approach and are more than capable of delivering the day-to-day service.
"The AsPac team will provide them with training, share best practices and leadership in building relationships with global clients. The decision not to have a central office location was deliberate because this is a big region with many cultural differences. Team members will be spread across several markets including Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia. BTI is putting a large effort into delivering a consistent level of service that clients in the region are looking for, without forgetting the local requirements...Clients want to know you can grow at a speed that can satisfy them."
