The Netherlands’ Corporate Travel Association (CORTAS) and
the Dutch Association for Travel Management (NATM) have commenced talks
exploring a potential merger of the two buyer groups.
The organisations have worked increasingly collaboratively –
including in their lobbying of the Dutch government – and in September the
chairs of NATM and CORTAS, Inge Kuijpers and Manon Luiting respectively, and managing
directors, Odete Pimenta da Silva and Stephanie Smook, formally began talks to
bring the two together.
They reported a positive response among members, with formal
steps towards a merger expected to commence soon.
“New times call for a new approach,” said Luiting. “The
question arises whether our country is not too small to have two business
travel associations side by side. We are delighted that our members support our
initiative and we can now seriously explore the possibility of a merger.”
“Also, for lobbying the Dutch government and to make our
voices heard within Europe, a merger seems to us the best step forward,” added
Kuijpers. “When it comes down to it, our common denominator is many times
greater than the differences, so we have full confidence in a positive
outcome.”
CORTAS will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2022 and NATM
its 50th. Business travel buyers and suppliers can join NATM but CORTAS is open
only to buyers with a travel turnover of at least €3 million.