Looking Up: Business Travel to Fly Higher in 2014

We released our latest U.S. quarterly forecast last week and it is filled with positive news! Business travel spending finished out 2013 with better than expected growth and is poised for even greater growth in 2014. There has been a great deal of media interest in this report and I found many reporters asking me…

Caucusing About Travel

Caucusing About Travel

We met last week with Representative Gus Bilirakis (R) from Florida’s 12th District, who represents the fast-growing Tampa Bay region of Florida’s Gulf Coast. Recently, Rep. Bilirakis joined Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) to co-chair the Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus, which includes a bi-partisan group of over 90 Congressmen. The good news is that we…

Weather or Not

Weather or Not

I was invited to speak at the Wisconsin Business Travel Association’s Education Day in early January, just as the polar vortex was engulfing 26 states in wind-chill warnings or watches.  Wisconsin, of course, is a state known for its cold weather; it was in the low teens when I arrived, and the wind chill made it…

TSA’s Pistole Coming to Convention
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TSA’s Pistole Coming to Convention

I was very pleased when U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator John S. Pistole accepted our invitation to be a featured speaker at this year’s 2014 GBTA Convention in Los Angeles. Of all the agencies and government officials the GBTA Government Relations team deals with, it’s the TSA officers that interact with you and your…

A New Way Of Seeing Things
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A New Way Of Seeing Things

A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending the GBTA Latin America Conference held at the Hilton Madero in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  The event was a success with over 350 business travel professionals from ten Latin American countries and the United States attending the two day event.  The great novelist, Henry Miller…

In The News: China Business Travel

Hello all! Although the recent re-election of one very high profile Governor in New Jersey, two closely watched races of the new Virginia Governor and the New York City mayor, and the much scrutinized ObamaCare rollout have dominated the headlines… the big story in our industry has been China. We have received unprecedented news coverage…

Six Ways the Government Shutdown Hurts the Business Travel Industry

Six Ways the Government Shutdown Hurts the Business Travel Industry

GBTA revealed results of a member survey today showing the negative impact the government shutdown is having on the business travel industry. The survey found two-thirds are concerned the shutdown will negatively impact their business if it goes on for more than a week. As we near the end of week two, the anxiety only…