New York, NY – April 8, 2008 - Hogg Robinson Group (HRG), the award-winning international corporate services company, has launched a new North American Affiliates Program with four founding members.   The Affiliates Program will provide pre-approved and selected large regional business travel companies with the resources they need to be competitive with large multi-national travel management companies (TMCs). HRG’s worldwide network will provide the Affiliates with access to a range of products and proven international expertise as well as the opportunity to bid on large national, regional and international accounts not previously accessible to them. 

The founding Affiliates in the program are: Austin Travel of Melville, NY; Avia International Travel  of Houston, TX; Casto Travel of Santa Clara, CA and Shorts Travel Management with headquarters in Waterloo, IA and Overland Park, KS, a suburb of Kansas City.  In addition to expanding the HRG network and extending the regional capabilities of the Affiliates, the program provides additional account management staff to support global accounts and proprietary technology for shared global customers.

“HRG is very excited to launch our new Affiliates Program in North America.  We look forward to adding affiliates and developing a flexible structure where each new member can define its needs and help with the overall direction of the program,” said Chris Dane, President, Affiliates Program, HRG North America.  Those who want more information on joining the program can contact Chris Dane at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The original members of the Affiliates Program are leaders in their marketplace and all have experience of the global marketplace.  Each of their core competencies is corporate travel management and they all focus on the business travel needs of the major companies in their key markets.

For further information:

HRG North America enquiries
Tania Charalambous
Tel: +1 416 593 3830
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   

Hogg Robinson Group enquiries
Laurie Waugh
Tel: +44 (0) 1256 312600
Email:  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  

Notes to Editors:

Hogg Robinson Group (HRG) is the award-winning international corporate services company. Founded in 1845, HRG has over 60 years specific corporate travel expertise. Its corporate services interests include wholly-owned or majority controlled corporate travel operations in 25 of the key driver and growth markets throughout Asia Pacific, Europe and North America.  Supported by contracted partners, the HRG worldwide network extends to over 100 countries.

Totally committed to a value offering for clients, HRG offers a comprehensive range of corporate services which includes Corporate Travel Management, Consulting, Expense Management, Events & Meetings Management and Sports.

The Affiliate Program members:

Austin Travel opened its first location in Long Island, NY in 1955 and grew from leisure travel, to include group trips and corporate travel accounts. Austin Travel operates offices in Long Island, New York City, Washington, DC, Connecticut and Colorado and employs over 200 people.  Austin Travel manages all aspects of business travel for corporate clients from online transactions to concierge services.  Austin Travel ties together exceptional service with sophisticated reporting systems that help small and mid-size companies run a cost-effective travel program. According to Austin Travel, Founder and Chairman, Larry Austin, "Our Corporate business has been growing more and more global and our customers have been asking us to handle their operations around the world.  We chose to join HRG after looking at several alternatives because we felt they would provide the same high-touch service that our customers demand from us in the US."  To learn more about Austin Travel, visit www.austintravel.com.

Avia International Travel was founded in 1997 to service corporate clients in the global energy market. As a leader of innovation and expertise in the international travel industry, Avia International focuses on efficiently delivering the best service and price to their customers. Since inception, Avia International has actively negotiated oil and gas, marine, offshore and corporate airfares that provide true travel savings to their customers.  In addition to their offices in Houston, Texas, Avia opened branch offices at London Gatwick and Amsterdam Schiphol airports in 2007.  "We have long believed in the philosophy of global strength through local collaboration.  HRG offers the strength of a true global entity with the flexibility that allows for local collaboration and relevance," said Matthew Forestieri, Founder and COO of Avia International.  To learn more about Avia International, visit www.aviainternational.com.
 
Casto Travel was founded in 1974 and headquartered in Santa Clara, CA. Casto is the largest privately owned travel management company in Northern California.  Providing corporate, concierge, vacations, visa/passport and group travel management services, Casto operates from offices in California, South Dakota and the Philippines.  “Our clients continue to aggressively expand their international presence to capitalize better upon global business opportunities,” said Marc Casto, President & COO of Casto.  “After an extensive discussion period, we selected the HRG Affiliates program as the best solution to allow us to rapidly scale our operations to meet the international needs of our clients while retaining superior service levels.”

Casto was recently awarded by the Bay Area Green Business Association as a “Certified Green Business,” a testament to its goals of reducing the environmental impact from travel.  Additionally, Casto is a certified Woman and Minority Business Enterprise (WMBE) by the Northern California Supplier Diversity Council (NCSDC).  To learn more about Casto, visit www.casto.com.

Shorts Travel Management is a full-service travel management company with offices in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas and Missouri. Established in 1946, Shorts Travel provides travel, meeting and group incentive services to corporations, businesses, associations, sports organizations and public institutions on a national scale. The company was ranked 14th in the 2005 Business Travel News Annual Survey.  Shorts Travel has two headquarters, one in Waterloo, IA the other in Overland Park, KS, a suburb of Kansas City.  According to President and CEO David LeCompte: “Shorts has cultivated close relationships with HRG’s senior management team for the past decade and we have been impressed with HRG’s capabilities to respond to larger client needs on a global scale.  We are happy to become an affiliate of HRG as their global capabilities will give us the edge to be a single source that our current and future corporate customers will appreciate.”  To learn more about Austin Travel, visit www.shortstravel.com.