Amadeus tool supports charity
President Clinton, in his remarks to the National Business Travel Association here, announced that Amadeus has created the technology that will allow passengers to make a small charitable contribution to help fund delivery of medications to the poor when they buy a plane ticket.
The money will go to Unitaid, a 3-year-old operation based in Geneva. The Clinton Foundation is a Unitaid partner in procuring drugs at bulk prices and distributing them.
Edward Ross, director of corporate marketing for Amadeus, said the software tool is expected to launch early in 2010. The other GDSs are expected to implement it, as well. He said Travelport is on board now.
The tool would be on agency desktops and at websites and would ask travelers for $2 contributions.
Some of Unitaid's funding now comes from a French airline tax that is not voluntary. -- N.G.
SAN DIEGO -- Business travel is a discretionary expense and "the government shouldn't be bad-mouthing it," said former President Bill Clinton, who addressed the National Business Travel Association convention here this week.
"Companies are not in the business of throwing their money away," he said. "The government shouldn't second-guess those decisions."
Clinton said a number of government figures took a dim view of travel when he was president. In 1994, when the Republicans won control of Congress, there were about 100 new Republican members who did not have passports and regarded that as something to brag about, as if they had nothing to learn from anyone abroad, he said.
Clinton said House Speaker Newt Gingrich came to him to complain that "some of my people actually believe what they are saying." He urged Clinton to ask these freshmen representatives to take information-gathering trips.
Although he used the latest communications technology as one way to confer with others when he was president, Clinton said, "I still never thought it didn't matter if I went places or if my representatives went for me."
The former president made these and other comments extolling the value of travel for commercial, political or personal reasons during a session sponsored by Amadeus. His keynote address was followed by a Q&A session with Amadeus CEO David Jones.
Jones said "the travel industry gets a bad rap" and asked Clinton if the industry's reputation would get a boost if travelers made voluntary gifts to Unitaid (see sidebar story).
Clinton said it would be good for the industry "to do the right thing," but he was not sure that the general public, at heart, has a negative view of the travel business.
"How is it possible to resent travel?" Clinton asked. "Everyone wants to go somewhere [for leisure]. You may be getting some back draft from the insecurity of life here right now."
Clinton's remarks came at the conclusion of a convention where the so-called AIG effect was still producing ripples, as illustrated by the "Travel Is Good" and "Business Travel Is Not a Sin" buttons seen at the meeting.