Week In Review

It was a big week for business travel in Europe as GBTA along with German business travel buyer association VDR kicked off Europe’s largest business travel conference in Berlin. The GBTA Foundation released the results of its semi-annual Western Europe business travel forecast there predicting 4.9 percent growth in business travel spending in 2014 followed by another 6.6 percent in 2015. European economies appear to be stabilizing and bouncing back. Also at the conference, GBTA’s Paul Tilstone announced plans to further solidify relations between airlines and travel buyers with the introduction of the Berlin Charter.

Looking to do business in Europe? Travel Daily News shared the most popular business hotels in Europe.

Keeping with the global theme, President Obama this week announced a deal with China to extend visas for short-term business travelers, tourists, and students – a policy CCTV calls a potential boon to the U.S. economy.

Forbes unveiled its list of the 50 most influential CMOs. The award recognizes the accomplishments of the top CMOs around the world, ranked by influence, how widely their opinions travel and how much reaction they generate when they speak. Best Western’s Dorothy Dowling made the list as travel was well represented. In addition to Dorothy, other recipients in the travel industry included Kevin Krone (Southwest), Stephanie Linnartz (Marriott), Andrew Nocella (American Airlines) and Jennine Haas (Avis Budget Group).

In aviation news, Time Inc.’s Money magazine reported on Virgin America’s IPO this week calling it the greatest airline you’ve never flown. According to the New York Times, Virgin America raised nearly $306 million, meeting expectations in its initial public offering on Thursday.

In a USA Today interview, outgoing TSA chief John Pistole talks about enhanced security, PreCheck and tips for his successor. USA Today also outlined five myths about TSA.

What should you expect from the airports as the holiday season approaches? The LA Times reports that Orbitz is predicting LAX will be the busiest U.S. airport over Thanksgiving followed by O’Hare, JFK, San Francisco International Airport and Boston Logan International. The bottom line whether you’re traveling for business or pleasure around the holidays – you should probably expect increased traffic at the airports.