Today we released our latest forecast for the Chinese business travel market – and it continues to grow at a double digit pace. In fact, GBTA forecasts China’s total business travel spend to grow 15.9 percent in 2014 to $262 billion USD and another 18 percent in 2015. The unprecedented growth in China’s economy has…
The Last Week in Review keeps you up-to-date on the latest business travel news. Last week’s GBTA poll on how North American businesses are reacting to the Ebola situation continues to make news with coverage in Roll Call. GBTA Executive Director Mike McCormick once again spoke with the New York Times about the importance of…
The Week in Review keeps you up-to-date on the latest business travel news. This week, GBTA has been at the ITB Asia conference where we unveiled our latest business travel spend report on China and Asia Pacific. Most notably, as Travel Daily Media reported, nearly 40% of business travel spending will come from Asia Pacific….
GBTA kicked off the second day of Convention with CBS’ Travel Editor Peter Greenberg interviewing Doug Parker, CEO, American Airlines Group and American Airlines. Parker discussed American Airlines’ outstanding second quarter earnings – the best second quarter earnings in the airline’s history. “We couldn’t be happier with the results,” he said. “Through the merger we…
On Tuesday, Biz Stone co-founder and co-inventor of Twitter spoke for the nearly 7,000 GBTA attendees about the lessons he has learned, the importance of change, creativity and spectacular failure. He was so entertaining and insightful I decided to share this blog post through his words. Here are the top 10 quotes from Biz Stone’s…
Day three of GBTA Convention featured TSA Administrator John Pistole in a one-on-one interview with GBTA Executive Director Mike McCormick and Google’s Director of Travel Partnerships, David Pavelko sharing his vision of the future of travel. Administrator Pistole talked about TSA’s transition from a one-size-fits-all agency to a risk-based, intelligence agency allowing greater efficiency and…
I originally shared this as an email to all GBTA members and wanted to also post it to our blog to recognize these four great individuals. Among the notable events at this year’s fantastic Convention were four separate award winners. I would like to call special attention to each of them and recognize their hard…
*This post originally appeared as an editorial in the Global Business Travel Magazine’s July/August 2014 issue. * Convention is a place to learn, to build your business, or to be inspired by an amazing array of speakers. But for me, Convention will always be something more. On January 12, 2010, a devastating earthquake measuring 7.0…
In a report released earlier this week, the GBTA Foundation is forecasting slower growth for Brazil’s business travel spend. Brazil’s struggling domestic economy and the troubled regional economy are key factors in GBTA Foundation’s significant downgrade to business travel spend growth for the country. GBTA expects 3.6 percent growth in 2014 and 4.1 percent in…
Earlier this year, the Murray-Ryan budget deal boosted the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security fee to a maximum of $5.60 one-way, but the TSA interpreted that to mean that the $10 limit that had previously been in place was eliminated. The bill’s authors — the chair and ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee and…
The business travel industry is at the forefront of today’s global economy. There is always something going on and it can be hard to keep up on it all! This new weekly post is meant to give you a quick overview of the week’s top business travel news stories. The week started with lots of…
Last week the GBTA Foundation released a study that looked at the cost of travel mishaps. As a road warrior, chances are you have been there and done that as 75 percent of travelers encountered a mishap while traveling for business in the last year. When these mishaps occur, it costs the traveler time and…
The Week In Review post is back this week to keep you up-to-date on the latest news stories on business travel. A special business travel insert appeared last Friday in the Toronto Star. GBTA’s Director of Operations for Canada shared her thoughts on the latest trends in business travel as well as business travel’s role…
Our list of featured speakers for GBTA Convention 2014 just keeps growing. The latest addition to our impressive lineup of speakers is Bill Glenn, President and CEO for the new American Express Global Business Travel joint venture. The joint venture with an investor group led by Certares, resulting in an unprecedented $900 million capital infusion,…
As GBTA becomes increasingly global, we continue to develop new resources that will be useful to our members and the industry from a global perspective. Just a few weeks ago, Donna Kelliher our President and CEO wrote to you about the new Global Leaders Directory 2014, which enables you to connect with key leaders around…
The Legislative Symposium is fast approaching. On June 24 – 25, the business travel industry will be descending on the Nation’s capitol to spread the message that safe and secure business travel drives economic growth. High priority issues for the business travel industry include the possible doubling of the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) piling on…
GBTA’s 2014 Legislative Symposium is underway. This morning more than 90 GBTA members from across the country gathered to hear Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV) before they head off to Capitol Hill for a day of meetings with their elected representatives. Rep. Heck thanked the group for our support of the Jolt Act and encouraged the…
The First-Time Attendee Orientation & Luncheon is always a highlight of Convention for new attendees. This year it will take place on Sunday, July 27 from 11:30-1:30. Not only will attendees get briefed on how to navigate their first Convention experience, they will also learn the ins and outs of the benefits of GBTA membership….
GBTA Convention 2014 is officially underway in Los Angeles! Starting on Saturday with Convention Kick-Start, attendees had the chance to choose from an array of offerings including educational opportunities, workshops, networking events and more. As part of the Kick-Start events, more than 40 volunteers joined together for the annual GBTA Cares Service Project. This year…
On Sunday, nearly 500 first-time attendees made it to the First-Time Attendee Orientation and Luncheon to meet others in the same position as themselves looking to navigate their first GBTA Convention. After GBTA executives and Board members recounted their first Convention experiences and gave their advice for making the most out of Convention, attendees were…
GBTA kicked off its Welcome Session with GBTA President & CEO Donna Kelliher ringing the official opening bell this morning before Bill Glenn, president and CEO, American Express Global Business Travel took the stage. GBTA Executive Director and COO, Michael W. McCormick interviewed Glenn about American Express’ newly announced American Express Global Business Travel joint…
The afternoon began with CBS’ Travel Editor Peter Greenberg interviewing Richard Anderson, CEO of Delta Air Lines. Anderson discussed transparency in airfares, safety and security in light of recent events and Delta’s loyalty program. When discussing the business operations at Delta, he told attendees, “We want to be in a position to offer a high…
Featured speakers at previous GBTA Conventions have included the likes of President Bill Clinton, President George Bush, Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Former First Lady Laura Bush, Former Secretary of State Condoleezaa Rice and on and on. Kevin Spacey opened his session by poking fun at the fact that GBTA has run out of…
I was very pleased when Delta CEO Richard Anderson accepted our invitation to be a featured speaker at this year’s 2014 GBTA Convention. This will be his first appearance on stage at a GBTA event, and since Richard does not make many appearances like this, we are glad he chose to share his insights with…
We have been on a roll lately announcing featured speakers for our GBTA Convention 2014 this July in Los Angeles. If you haven’t heard yet, Kevin Spacey (or “President Underwood” if you are a House of Cards fan) will be presenting live in Convention Arena on Monday, July 28. Throughout the week at Center Stage,…
Today, the GBTA Foundation released its latest semi-annual business travel forecast for Brazil. It shows Brazil’s business travel industry moved up one spot in the rankings from last year to become the 8th largest business travel market in the world. And, if Brazil can maintain its overall economic growth levels experienced since 2005, GBTA expects…
(Reposting from an email issued on April 20, 2014 to GBTA members) Dear GBTA Members, We are writing to tell you about an exciting new program: GBTA Ladders. The Ladders program pairs rising young stars from all parts of the travel industry with superstar industry veterans. Essentially a mentoring program, Ladders gives younger members an opportunity to…
In an earlier post, I introduced an exciting new program –GBTA Ladders and told you that you would be hearing from the three finalists beginning today. I am proud to introduce the first blog post from finalist Brian Butler from Radius Travel based loosely on his presentation for Ladders. Over the next three weeks, he…
I was very pleased when Steve Singh, Concur CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors, accepted our invitation to be a featured speaker at this year’s 2014 GBTA Convention. As the chairman of the GBTA Foundation, Steve is no newcomer to GBTA events. Thoughtful and innovative, Steve embodies entrepreneurial thinking and his vision about…
As promised, here is the second blog posting in our series from the finalists from the GBTA Ladders Program. Great Advice! Thank you, Damar! I’m sure you figured out from the title that I have been part of the corporate travel industry for almost eight years now. I had the privilege of spending the first…
Earlier this week, GBTA applauded a House decision to reject new fees on business travelers and fully fund the Next Generation Air Transportation Systems (“NextGen”). We are pleased with the continued investments in the FAA and NextGen, which will help ease congestion in the skies, reduce delays and continue to keep the U.S. economy moving….
Here is our third blog posting in our series from the finalists from the GBTA Ladders Program. Every few weeks, I find myself boarding an airplane. Like so many of you, I’m sure, it’s a ritual of sorts. You’ve done it so many times…arriving at the airport, parking your car, navigating the shortest TSA lines,…
I’m excited to announce that today GBTA unveiled an important new networking resource for the industry – The Global Leaders Directory 2014. The Directory is the very first of its kind for the business travel industry! This new resource will enable you to connect with key leaders in our industry: directors, corporate officers and members…
First Business News reported today on the growing economy and rising business travel. They talked about the fact that even in an age where technology allows us to stay more connected than ever, there is really no replacement for the handshake and face-to-face interaction. They also interviewed GBTA Foundation’s Vice President of Research Joe Bates,…
Last week I participated in the White House Business Council briefing on travel and tourism in the U.S. Administration officials gave an update on the economy and discussed how the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other Agencies work to promote travel and tourism from, to and within the United States. The meeting was an…
Earlier this week, GBTA filed comments with the Department of Transportation (DOT) asking for a ban on cell phone voice calls during flights. Aside from the safety and security implications, you must consider the practical concerns if this were allowed. I can just imagine sitting in a middle seat while a loud talker to my…
Nîn håo! I’m writing this post from Shanghai as we kickoff our 2nd annual GBTA China Conference 2014. The conference promises to offer both local and international participants the opportunity to learn more about the Chinese business travel market – a market that continues to grow at impressive levels according to our latest forecast. Yesterday,…
The White House recently released its proposed fiscal year 2015 Federal Budget. Although there is no chance that Congress will pass the budget in its current form, it does provide us with a sense of the President’s travel-related priorities. But more importantly, it is a cautionary tale about the future without a comprehensive, long-term national…
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