Biz travel departments catching on

WASHINGTON -- Corporate travel departments were slow to catch on when ARC introduced them in 1998, mainly because of confusion over the meaning of "pilot" program.

Nearly two years later, 40 corporate travel departments have obtained ARC accreditation, and another 30 applications are in the pipeline, according to a spokesman.

Initially, ARC adopted the accreditation rules for corporate travel departments (CTDs) as a pilot program, a standard term at ARC that meant the rules would be tested and tweaked before they were adopted as a permanent fixture.

But many executives in the corporate world had a different fix on the word "pilot." They thought it meant the program could disappear at any moment, so they waited to see if ARC would make the program permanent.

The accreditation category became permanent on Jan. 1, 1999, prompting a gradual upswing in the number of corporations filing for accreditation.

For years beforehand, corporations could get ARC accreditation by following the rules for travel agencies, which necessitated being open and selling to the public.

Some corporations chose this route, but many wanted to avoid the charade of being open to the public. At their request, ARC developed the CTD rules, which resemble the accreditation rules for travel agencies but prohibit CTDs from selling to the public and nonaffiliated businesses.

Accredited corporations can contract with travel agencies to perform some or all of the travel management functions -- which dampened initial opposition from agents -- but they retain legal and fiduciary responsibility to ARC.

At Travel Weekly's request, ARC provided a partial list of CTDs showing firms that agreed their names could be released, as follows: