The Hindu Business Line : TQ3 India eyes bigger share of corporate travel market

A SEGMENT that has grown and kept pace with the improving corporate profile of the country, India's corporate travel market is today estimated at no less than $3-billion (around Rs 15,000 crore).

Keen to account for a bigger share of this market, TQ3 India, the travel management company, has embarked on an expansion plan within the country.

"We want to emerge the market leaders in the next three years. Currently, we have a presence in four cities, and hope to be in 10 by the year 2006," says Mr Ajay Bali, CEO and Managing Director.

The company has targeted a five per cent share of a market, which includes players such as American Express, Carlson, and BTI.

According to Mr Bali, the corporate travel market is huge and there is place for more players. TQ3, he said, is currently in talks with about 40 multinational companies, who are clients of TQ3 globally.

TQ3 India was formed in September 2001 through an exclusive partnership between TQ3 Travel Solutions, the $11-billion global travel management company, and ETI Travel Solutions, a corporate solutions providers in India.

The travel budgets of MNCs, he says, runs into several crores. It is, therefore, not surprising that they have a well-documented travel policy. Indian companies are now following suit, with Kotak Mahindra Bank and L&T among the corporates with detailed travel policies.

Travel costs have emerged as the third largest expense for corporates, after HR and raw materials. He estimated that the corporate travel expenses of a company like Lucent stood at around $100 million, Oracle $150 million and Exxon Mobil $250 million.

According to him, the key differentiator between TQ3 and the competition are its technology solutions, which "can help chief financial officers (CFOs) get a better understanding of corporate travel budgets."

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TQ3 India eyes bigger share of corporate travel market