Check-In With Suzanne

GBTA Back in APAC This Week

This week, some from our GBTA team and I will be in Bangkok to join our colleagues from the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) as we jointly host our inaugural APAC Travel Summit, December 8-9, at the state-of-the-art Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. 

It’s a thrill for me that our last GBTA in-person event for 2022 brings us back to APAC as the region’s pandemic recovery unfolds – and after many months of working together with PATA virtually to plan and create a tailored program of value for our combined members and industry partners. The educational and tradeshow event, titled “Getting Back to Business Travel, Tourism and MICE (Meeting, Incentive Travel, Conferences and Exhibitions)” will tackle several aspects of global and APAC travel trends and best practices. 

The Asia-Pacific region is a broad one, not only in terms of sheer geography and diversity of cultures represented, but also when looking at the state of business travel holistically and down to the country level. Collectively, APAC represents a significant portion of global business travel that’s set to grow in the years ahead. As outlined in our most recent GBTA Global Business Travel Index, in 2022 Asia-Pacific was forecast to represent USD $407 billion in business travel spending, which is almost 44% of the global total.    

It’s clear that business travel remains important in the region. In a GBTA survey, 89% of APAC business travelers said they need to travel to accomplish their goals and 80% expect to travel more in 2023 than they did this year. We’ll be sharing more APAC-specific GBTA data with attendees to help inform their travel planning and programs. 

With post-pandemic recovery also comes the opportunity and need to create a better, more sustainable way forward, and we look forward to the discussions in Bangkok on what we can do to get there, in the region, and across the globe.    

And speaking of looking ahead, if you missed last week’s GBTA Board of Directors Town Hall meeting and Q&A session, we hope you’ll catch it here on-demand. GBTA Board members shared observations on 2022 and outlined priorities for 2023 including in key areas such as sustainability, membership, volunteering, education, and advocacy. If you did attend, we encourage you to share your feedback via this survey or reach out to the Board anytime at GBTABoard@gbta.org. 

Suzanne 

Industry Spotlight

Industry collaborates to solve talent crisis across business travel industry during GBTA Europe Conference

The Big Idea reports on industry findings

In November, representatives from all areas of the business travel eco- system gathered at the GBTA Europe Conference in Brussels for ’The Big Idea’, an interactive session sponsored by BCD Travel. The travel management company developed the theme for the session “Travel and The Law of Attraction” to discuss the pain points and solutions that appeal to talent both in and outside of the industry. This also included ensuring sustainable growth for business travel around four core pillars: industry image; diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI); traveler well-being and technology.

The session attracted about 300 participants and sparked debate among attendees about the future of business travel as a career and how the sector can continue to remain relevant and convey its value and purpose to those inside and outside of the industry.  

“Travel has returned rapidly so the industry is catching up to recent demands,” said David Coppens, BCD’s EVP operations strategy. “Making sure travel stays attractive to the workforce and keeping retention high for current employees is so important, so The Big Idea is all about bringing constituents together to develop solutions as an industry rather than each individual constituent on their own.”

“I wasn’t surprised to see that most of the participants focused on discussing industry image and traveler well-being during The Big Idea,” said Carol Fergus, director - global travel, events and ground transportation for Fidelity International, member of GBTA Europe Advisory board and Chair of the GBTA DE&I committee.  

The output from the session has been summarized in “The Big Idea Report” co-published with BCD and available here.  

Further insights can be heard at the Broadcast Studio. Chris Elmitt from LIVVE Broadcasting talks to Coppens and Fergus about “The Big Idea: Travel and The Law of Attraction”

GBTA Europe Town Hall

Join GBTA’s volunteer leadership as the European and Global committees share what they see as the key themes for 2023 and what they are planning to deliver in the fields of:

• Accommodations
• Aviation
• DE&I
• Meetings
• Payment Solution
• Risk
• Sustainability
• Technology

Sign up for our last GBTA Europe Town Hall on 14 December.

Resources

Crisis24 Intelligence Brief

China - Officials in Beijing, China, ease some COVID-19 testing requirements as of Dec. 6. Localized lockdown measures continue.

Japan - Malfunction disrupts train services on multiple lines in and near Tokyo, Japan, Dec. 6. Plan for alternative transport.

Russia - Explosions reported at military airfields in Ryazan and Saratov, Russia, Dec. 5. Casualties reported. Increased security likely.

United States - Severe winter weather forecast across parts of Alaska, US, through at least Dec. 6. Transport disruptions likely; power outages possible.

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