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Check-in With Suzanne

It might have felt like déjà vu this past week as the world started to assess the fast-emerging news about the omicron variant. Earlier in the year, we faced the discovery of the delta variant and whose effects we are still tracking. New COVID-19 developments will likely continue for the foreseeable future and will demand our ongoing agility and resiliency.   GBTA is staying agile, too. Out of an abundance of care and safety, working with our VDR partners In Europe, we made the decision to reschedule what would have been this week’s GBTA Europe Conference. (From the feedback we received, we know many of…

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Check-in with Suzanne

Being an event, conference or meeting professional is an especially challenging role these days. At GBTA, we understand firsthand what the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events (MICE) sector has been navigating.   Our plate has been full restarting our own in-person conferences now in Q4 on a regional basis – including in Canada, the US and Europe – as well as planning for 2022 to restart the topical meetings that were put on hold for over two years. There is a lot of pent-up…

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Check-In With Suzanne:

Last week I joined GBTA’s VP of Government Relations, Shane Downey, for an event in Washington, D.C. featuring U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen, Chair of the Subcommittee on Tourism, Trade and Export Promotion. We were able to grab a few minutes with Senator Rosen to talk more about the proposed omnibus bill — the Travel and Tourism Act, aka the “TourBus” aimed at helping the industry recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.  This came on the…

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New International Border Openings Set to Accelerate Lift in Business Travel

Optimistic signs of return and tangible recovery in the business travel sector could be seen over the past month. In the latest poll from The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), half (52%) of industry respondents reported more optimism compared to September. October also saw an increase to 66% of those polled who said their companies…

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Communications During the Pandemic and Associated Risks

It has been approximately 18 months since the inception of the worldwide pandemic, COVID-19, and the world has become used to the “new normal”.  During this time there has been a multitude of information available regarding travel, safety, health, and wellness. It is important to communicate succinctly to employees, travelers, and customers.  The volume of…

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How Will the Coronavirus Pandemic Reshape Corporate Meeting and Event Planning?

 In this episode of The Business of Travel, Chris Ely, Research Director, GBTA and Julie Haddix, Senior Director, Industry Solutions, Cvent discuss how the coronavirus pandemic will reshape corporate meeting and event planning. This discussion, based on a recent GBTA research study sponsored by Cvent, examines how corporate meetings and events will evolve as…

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Meeting Planning 101 for both the Procurement and the Meeting Professional

A discussion on how the meetings industry in Canada has changed and the opportunities that we all face as we “restart” the meetings and events industry here in Canada. You can download and listen to the SME Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, and your other favorite podcast directories. Be sure to subscribe to the show so you don’t…

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Pivot to Virtual Meetings During Pandemic Leads to Significant Changes in the Future of Corporate Events

Alexandria, Virginia – The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world’s largest business travel association and a worldwide leader in education, research, networking, and advocacy for the industry, today publishes the findings from a study into organizations’ corporate meetings and events strategy as a result of the pandemic. The study, made possible by Cvent, examines…