GBTA and ITM Announce Long-Term Joint Venture

SAN DIEGO (August 14, 2018) – The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the voice of the global business travel industry, and The Institute of Travel Management (ITM), the leading managed business travel association in the UK and Ireland, have announced the creation of a new London-based event for the managed travel and meetings sector. The joint venture is part of a deeper, collaborative partnership between both associations.

The announcement was made today at GBTA Convention 2018 in San Diego, California. Leaders from GBTA and ITM made the announcement in front of the Convention’s nearly 7,000 attendees.

GBTA is focused on supporting our one global community by continuing to deliver industry leading events in conjunction with our valued partners,” said Christle Johnson, GBTA president.  “We are so pleased to work with ITM to expand our respective communities and add value to our collective global membership base.”

The new joint venture will kick off with an event, focused on Strategic Meetings Management, that will take place in the Royal Horseguards Hotel, London on 31st January 2019. ITM and GBTA, as well as the broader GBTA European partnership network, will deliver the event.

“ITM is the market leader in the UK and Ireland and has built a strong reputation in the industry for excellence,” said Karen Hutchings, ITM chair. “The expansion of our relationship with GBTA will allow us to further leverage our respective assets and deliver world-class events and education for years to come.”

As long-time partners, GBTA and ITM view this as a natural next step and an important one to meet the needs of our collective memberships in a post-Brexit world.

About the Global Business Travel Association
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world’s premier business travel and meetings trade organization headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area with operations on six continents. GBTA’s 9,000-plus members manage more than $345 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA delivers world-class education, events, research, advocacy and media to a growing global network of more than 28,000 travel professionals and 125,000 active contacts. To learn how business travel drives lasting business growth, visit www.gbta.org.

About the Institute of Travel Management
The Institute of Travel Management (ITM) is dedicated to supporting and developing all those involved in corporate travel.  Established in 1956, we are proud to represent more than 3,500 business travel buyers and suppliers across the UK and Ireland. We believe in providing the best possible support, information and opportunities to enable our members to effectively manage travel spend, mitigate traveler risk, and demonstrate the effectiveness and profitability of managed travel to their organisations.