North American corporate airfares, hotel rates and meeting costs in 2011 generally will increase as rental and chauffeured car costs decrease, according to Carlson Wagonlit Travel. The travel management company this week issued its 2011 forecast, which predicted roughly 3 percent to 6 percent increases for domestic economy and international economy and business class airfares. U.S. and Canadian average daily hotel rates next year will increase about 6 percent and 5 percent, respectively, CWT projected.

Sabre Travel Network and Cisco are planning to create a telepresence distribution and reservation platform, "enabling agencies and corporations to book services from any telepresence provider and any point of sale," the companies announced. "Users will be able to view room availability in real time, book meetings and review applicable rates and restrictions. Public telepresence providers and private corporations will have the ability to provide open or restricted access to their rooms through the platform."

American Airlines named Derek DeCross vice president and general sales manager, replacing Kurt Stache who assumes the role of vice president of international. DeCross will be responsible for "leading American's sales team and for developing all sales policies worldwide," including corporate and travel agency sales, and will report to AA chief commercial officer Virasb Vahidi. Stache will be responsible for "American's business in the Atlantic and Pacific regions," and will report to president Tom Horton.

The U.S. General Services Administration posted the final solicitation for its next-generation E-Gov Travel System. ETS2 is expected to provide travel management services covering more than 70 federal agencies. Proposals are due Oct. 6. Contracts would have a base period of three years with three optional four-year extensions. "The purpose of this solicitation is to provide a vehicle for all government agencies to obtain end-to-end travel management service that automates and consolidates the federal travel process in a secure Web-centric environment," according to the government's summary. "ETS2 includes all aspects of official federal business travel, including travel planning, authorization, reservations, ticketing, fulfillment, expense reimbursement and travel management service, which serves as the foundation for achieving federal goals for government-wide travel management." The posted solicitation was originally scheduled for release in January.

Tzell Travel Group plans to provide customers the Sabre TripCase mobile messaging and itinerary application. TripCase consolidates travel itineraries and enables agencies to "send free updates, notifications and alerts to travelers throughout their entire trip," the companies noted in a press statement. TripCase is available free to iPhone, Blackberry, Android and Windows Mobile device users, and through most mobile Web browsers.

Total U.S. travel agency air transactions processed through ARC in July rose 3 percent, the smallest year-over-year increase in 10 months. Total sales jumped 14 percent to $6.5 billion. Mega corporate travel agency transactions grew 9.9 percent, marking a ninth consecutive month of growth. Though that increase was the smallest since January 2010, it was a higher rate than for all other agency categories measured by ARC.