SMEs will be able to command savings of up to 20% on their airline deals through the Dublin Chamber of Commerce's new online business travel network, which was launched today, Monday 22nd September, at a business lunch at the Westbury Hotel in Dublin.

Available at www.dublinchamber.ie, the new service, run in conjunction with Flytowork.ie, will network SMEs travel needs, allowing them to access the reductions on travel costs that are the norm for large companies with annual travel budgets of over €50,000, who can drive cost savings through in-house travel managers.

Online buying groups are already well established in areas such as music and book purchasing. Through the formation of an equivalent online group for business travel, the SME business market can avail of reduced transaction fee charges.

Dublin Chamber President Clive Brownlee noted, "Last year, ninety-five percent of Dublin Chamber of Commerce members spent €50,000 or less. These companies just didn't have the volume to command the breaks our larger members get as standard.

He continued, "An online travel network offers SMEs the possibility of significantly reducing their travel costs.We are delighted to enable our SME members tackle one of the biggest expenses."

Brian Dent, Managing Director of Flytowork.ie commented, "We look forward to enabling Dublin Chamber of Commerce members to radically reduce their travel costs through using the internet combination with the traditional offline service. If you're a large company, there are plenty of options to lower costs. If you're an individual, there are a few different consumer sites you can use. But in the small to medium size sector there was a gap to service their specific requirements. Our new service fills this gap."

James Hancock, Business Development Manager for Cathay Pacific Airlines, stated that “Cathay Pacific are pleased to support this new initiative by providing a special rate to Chamber members, which will only be available from the website. Chamber members number approx. 2000 Dublin companies, which is a lot of purchasing power, and we will be delighted to get a share of this business.”

You can reach the site by going onto the new Dublin Chamber website at www.dublinchamber.ie. Click on Business services and then click on the Chamber travel network link on the right hand side of the website.

Flytowork.ie is the e-commerce corporate division of Atlas Travel Group