Travel Manager of the Year 1994 to 2003

Business Travel News entered its second decade of
publication in 1994. The business travel environment is changing, with desktop
computers and automation as the driving force behind travel management
innovation and best practices, while a backdrop of massive airline industry and
commission structure changes impacted agency commercial models. What will
ultimately become best practice travel management models are in their infancy
in 1994, but by 2003 the industry begins to resemble the one we know today. Here
are the travel buyers who pushed the envelope (and probably their sanity, let’s
be real) to make it happen: BTN’s second decade of Travel Manager of the Year Award
winners!

[Editor’s note:  BTN pulled images from the actual time period in our archive, or as near as possible, so enjoy these special poses and eat your heart out 1990s!]

1994: Joyce Flinn
Joyce Flinn redesigned the reservation process to take advantage of Digital
Equipment Corp.’s in-house technology resources. She also rolled out new travel
services and payment systems on a worldwide basis, a feat nearly unheard of at that time. The industry mourned Joyce’s
death in 2009.

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1995: Fred Swaffer
Hewlett-Packard’s Fred Swaffer negotiated an airline contract that was net of overrides,
commission and credit card fees. He also rolled out a decentralized meeting
planning assistance program, part of an effort to save HP $100 million in
airline spend. He also completed an agency consolidation in Europe and advanced
the company’s efforts to consolidate worldwide data. Swaffer foresaw the move
to fee-based agency services and internally controlling travel data before widespread
airline commission capping forced the issue. The industry was saddened by Fred’s
death in 2015. BTN Group honored his achievements by inducting him into the
Business Travel Hall of Fame in 2018.

_____________________________

1996: Colleen Guhin
Texas Instruments’ Colleen Guhin reengineered 
the travel process at the technology and electronics company, developed an
intranet-based travel web page, produced an award-winning video outlining
travel procedures to employees, initiated a study of European travel management
best practices with a network of companies and agencies and automated Texas Instruments’ travel request for proposal process.

____________________________

1997: Koos Van Den Berg
World Bank’s Koos van den Berg focused on the company’s service-based contracts
and rolled out the Internet Travel Network online booking systems to 11,000
travelers—a massive project at at ime when most companies were only attempting
to beta test online booking technologies.

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1998: Bob Grant
After implementing a comprehensive end-to-end travel management
system that added $1.9 million to Charles Schwab & Co.’s bottom line in
1997, Grant moved 25 percent of all transactions onto an automated booking
system and reduced travel department staff by 40 percent, slashing travel
management costs per mile traveled in half. Bob retired
in 2000.

____________________________

1999: Andrew Menkes
“The Godfather of the CTD,” Andy Menkes as VP of global travel management for
Republic National Bank, advanced the bank’s $6 million global travel program
and became the chief proponent and industry ambassador for the Airlines
Reporting Corp.’s Corporate Travel Department program. Andy today is the founder
and president of Partnership Travel Consulting. Andy was inducted into the BTN
Group’s Business Travel Hall of Fame in 2014.

____________________________ 

2000: Cindy Heston
Thomson Consumer Electronics worldwide travel manager and online booking pioneer Cindy Heston negotiated an industry-first airline alliance
contract in 2000. The deal
offered a single contract for Continental and Northwest airlines and leveraged the
GTM global agency network for better international fares. Cindy has pushed the
envelope of travel management innovation for 30 years. She now manages travel for Elevance. BTN inducted her into the Business
Travel Hall of Fame in 2016.

____________________________

2001: Mick Lee
Director and global head of internal client services for Credit Suisse Mick
Lee conducted a top-to-bottom travel program overhaul that integrated travel
policies from a merger, negotiated new preferred supplier deals and took on
additional departments: corporate events and conferences, global media
services, graphic design and corporate housing. Mick later founded WinIt, now part of the Global Business Travel Association Foundation. She was
inducted into BTN Group’s Business Travel Hall of Fame in 2018.

____________________________

2002: Kevin Iwamoto
Hewlett-Packard global air and car supplier manager Kevin Iwamoto developed a
groundbreaking market share-based arrangement with United Airlines, refocusing global
airline contracts on regional rather than country-specific goals and involved
third parties in collaborative airline performance reviews. Kevin served as
president of the National Business Travel Association through the 9/11 terrorism
attacks. He established the GBTA
political action committee. Kevin is semi-retired but still advises the industry.

____________________________

2003: Ellen Hanzl
Computer Associates divisional assistant VP of corporate travel Ellen Hanzl was
the first high-volume corporate buyers to manage travel using an online agency.
CA chose travel management services from Sabre’s GetThere, which outsourced
fulfillment services to then-mega travel management company TQ3 Travel
Solutions. In doing so, she reduced agent headcount and cut transaction fees in
half. Ellen, after some time away from travel management, just took a new role
at Ivanti as its corporate travel manager. Congrats, Ellen!