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History
VDR – The German Business Travel Association was founded on 4. October 1974 in Hamburg, Germany under the name "Vereinigung der deutschen Reisestellenleiter e.V." - Association of German Travel Managers. In 1974/75 the count of members was 34 in total.
1982 the association changed its name and national registration to "Verband deutscher Reisestellen e.V." - Association of German Corporate Travel Departments.
Due to the ever-changing market situation another name change was found necessary. Since 1993, the name "Verband Deutsches Reisemanagement e.V. (VDR)" - The German Business Travel Association has been successfully established in the German marketplace. With the latest name change, the association opened a full-time and professionally manned headquarters, which is now located in the city of Frankfurt am Main.
Statutes
The statutes of the association explains, that the structure of membership can only be:
a) Companies, Firms, Associations, etc. with active travel management - 70%
b) Airlines, hotel chains, car rental companies, etc. as service providers - 30%
c) Honorary members
All "a+b" members must name at least one delegate. "a" members register with the travel manager of course. A maximum of 3 persons per registered member company (a+b) is permissible.
The Board of Directors is elected every 3 years for a period of 3 years by the general assembly.
The composition of the Board of Directors:
President Mr. Dirk Gerdom
Vice President Mr. Ralph Rettig
Treasurer Mr. Bernd Ruttloff
Board Member Mr. Carsten Czub
Board Member Mrs. Daniela Schade
Board Member Mr. Volker Huber
The VDR holds 2 annual conferences,
- the spring conference with general assembly
- the international conference, always in fall.
Other activities
Regional meetings are frequently held in South-East, South-West, Central, West, North and East Germany. They are organized by VDR members out of the respective region and under participation of at least one Board Member.
Participation in advisory boards of i.e. airlines, hotel chains, train and railroad companies, car rental companies, GDS/CRS providers, software houses and co-operation with the German Travel Agency Association is a major part of the development of the German Travel Management in general and a naturalness.
The VDR-Service GmbH (Inc.)
The VDR-Service GmbH (Inc.) was founded in 1994 and handles all business matters of the association. In the portfolio of the Service GmbH you find activities i.e. education of travel managers, organization of congresses, events, etc.
In 1995 the flight-savings software (V-KON) was developed by the VDR and its Service GmbH. This software is used by most of the "a" members and represents an annual turnover of approx. 9 billions Euro.
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