Why India is Poised to Become a World Leader in Business Travel for Decades to Come

Why India is Poised to Become a World Leader in Business Travel for Decades to Come

Today, the GBTA Foundation released its semi-annual business travel forecast for India. The report, sponsored by Visa Inc., showed the continuation of dramatic business travel growth for the region. For the second straight time, we upgraded our forecast projecting India’s total business travel spend to grow 9.8 percent in 2015 and 10.9 percent in 2016…

GBTA to Take Business Travel Messages to Capitol Hill
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GBTA to Take Business Travel Messages to Capitol Hill

Next week GBTA will host nearly 100 members at its annual Legislative Summit. The event will kick off with speeches from members of Congress and industry leaders along with education sessions. On the final day, GBTA members will head to Capitol Hill to meet with their representatives to talk about issues important to the business…

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Week in Review

On Thursday, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation’s Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety and Security held a hearing to examine the funding of airport capital needs. The Hill’s Keith Lang reported on the potential topics including PFCs and talked with GBTA’s Mike McCormick about why GBTA opposes a hike in the PFC cap. The Washington…

GBTA Kicks off Legislative Symposium 2015 with Education Session
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GBTA Kicks off Legislative Symposium 2015 with Education Session

“We are going to the Hill, we are going make a difference and we are going to make things happen” – Dianne Bradley, Chair of GBTA’s Government Relations Committee.   Dianne, together with and Mike McCormick, GBTA Executive Director and COO, kicked off GBTA Legislative Symposium 2015 by welcoming the more than 90 members who…

Legislative Symposium: Keeping the Momentum Going at Home

Legislative Symposium: Keeping the Momentum Going at Home

What is the number one way to influence a member of Congress? Citizens have more power than they realize – personal communications from constituents make all the difference. 46 percent of Congressional staff report that in-person visits from constituents had “a lot of positive influence” on Members/Senators, compared to 8 percent who had the same…

Senator Klobuchar Talks Travel & Tourism Issues at GBTA Legislative Symposium

Senator Klobuchar Talks Travel & Tourism Issues at GBTA Legislative Symposium

Senator Amy Klobuchar, a major champion of business travel and someone The Washington Post called a rising star of the Democratic Party spoke to GBTA members as part of today’s Legislative Symposium. Sen. Klobuchar led off joking about the weather in Minnesota as she lauded the business community for being able to draw the NFL…

Rep. Diaz Balart says No to PFCs at GBTA Legislative Symposium

Rep. Diaz Balart says No to PFCs at GBTA Legislative Symposium

Rep. Mario Diaz Balart (R-FL) today earned a round of applause from attendees at GBTA Legislative Symposium 2015 after stating that the appropriations bill that just came out of his Transportation Subcommittee did not include an increase to the passenger facility charge (PFC). Although he noted that there is a long road ahead, Diaz Balart…

Visa Waiver Program Boosts Economy and Increases National Security

According to The Hill, Reps. Joe Heck (R-NV) and Mike Quigley (D-IL) have re-filed a measure that is known as the Jobs Originated Through Launching Travel (JOLT) Act that would expand the expand the State Department’s Visa Waiver Program, which currently allows tourists from 38 nations to visit the U.S. without obtaining a visa. The…

GBTA Joins A4A and Other Traveler Groups in Opposition to PFCs
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GBTA Joins A4A and Other Traveler Groups in Opposition to PFCs

Today GBTA joined several traveler groups in support of Airlines for America’s (A4A) opposition to the proposed near doubling of the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) – or Airport Tax. GBTA is proud to support StopAirTaxNow.com where you can learn more about the PFC and see why A4A says airports have plenty and passengers have had…

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Week in Review

Business travel is back, but the perks are not according to a USA Today article. GBTA’s Mike McCormick was interviewed for the article saying the growth in business travel comes back to that overall feeling of corporate confidence and seeing a return from putting business travelers on the road. He added that travelers are packing…