Sector Conferences

Accommodation

On 16th January we hosted our BTA Accommodation Conference at Tower Suites by Blue Orchid Hotel

We heard from industry leaders in the accommodation sector who updated us on the challenges, opportunities for 2023, sustainability, service, security payments and the hotel RFP process

Expedia TAAP opened the day by introducing themselves as our newest partners, we then heard from representatives from CT Travel, HotelREZ and CAP Worldwide Serviced Apartments on all things service in the sector Concluding our morning we had an informative panel on sustainability from Meliá Hotels International, Trees4Travel, CAP Worldwide Serviced Apartments and Blue Orchid Hotels In the afternoon we heard from NH Hotel Group, Premier Inn, Mastercard, AirPlus International, Clarity Business Travel and Inntel

Aviation

On the 8th February we hosted our BTA Aviation Conference at Harvey Nichols

We first had an update from IATA followed by our panel of GDS experts from Sabre, Amadeus and Travelport We then heard from Delta Air Lines, Virgin Atlantic, JetBlue, United Airlines, Chapman Freeborn Air Chartering and DiamondAir International in the first of our airline showcases of the day In the afternoon we enjoyed our second airline showcase featuring updates from American Airlines, Japan Airlines, British Airways, easyJet and Emirates Finally we heard from Border Force, Eurostar and NATS

We even got to have a go at making our own Japanese origami birds

People & Talent

On 9th of February we hosted our BTA People & Talent Conference at the Novotel Paddington

We heard from ITT Future You on what the business travel industry can learn from the hospitality and tourism industry as well an insightful talk on apprenticeships from Grant Thornton Andrew Clarke announced the BTA’s careers brochure, which shines a spot light on the array of job opportunities within the business travel industry Ending our morning session was a panel from Enterprise, easyJet and Sirius Talent Solutions on diversifying organisations

In the afternoon we heard from AWTE (Association of Women Travel Executives) and Women In Travel on diversity in business travel and women in the travel industry Following them, Level Financial Technology discussed new on-demand pay to improve employee financial well-being without changing the payroll system

WeMa then spoke to us about implementing innovative measures to improve employee wellbeing for working carers Finishing the day Flight Centre Travel Group, American Express GBT, Travel Counsellors and Clarity discussed the best practises to address physical, mental/emotional and financial wellbeing

Technology

On the 28th of March we hosted our BTA Technology Conference at Tower Suites by Blue Orchid Hotels

It was an excellent opportunity to learn about the advancements in new technologies and their crucial role in making the booker and customer experience seamless for TMCs We would like to thank Paul Broughton from Travelport, Eric Meierhans from HotelHub, Charlie Baikie from Trainline and Paul Dear from SAP Concur for all their input on this emerging topic

We were also thrilled to introduce a new segment to our BTA conferences - the innovation sessions We held a session featuring Gavin Smith from Element Travel Technology I Zoho Partner, who shed light on the significance of travel data as well as Andy Cairns from RAVL who has created a social networking platform for business travellers

We’d also like to thank our speakers, including Graeme Milne and Sean O'Kelly from Amadeus, Scott Wylie from TripStax, Kristian Bosher from Sabre Corporation and Richard Viner from Snowfall for presenting talks and demonstrations on their platforms