DIARY OF EVENTS
2016 May 16-19
GTMC Overseas Conference, Marco Island, Florida
gtmc.org
May 19 BBT Forum, Grange City Hotel, London
buyingbusinesstravel.com/events
June 9 Corporate Travel Forum: hotel sourcing,
Leadenhall Building, London
thecorporatetravelforum.com
July 12-13 Serviced Apartment Summit,
Park Plaza, London
servicedapartmentsummit.com
July 16-20 GBTA Convention 2016, Denver, Colorado
gbta.org
September 27-29 IT&CM Asia and CTW Asia-Pacific, Bangkok
itcma.com
October 7 BBT Forum, Grange City Hotel, London
buyingbusinesstravel.com/events
November 7-9 World Travel Market, Excel London
wtmlondon.com
November 14-16 GBTA Conference, Frankfurt
gbta.com
November 14-17 Phocuswright Conference, Los Angeles
phocuswrightconference.com
2017
January 23 Business Travel Awards, Grosvenor House Hotel, London
businesstravelawards.com
126 BBT MAY/JUNE 2016
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
ITM UPDATE SIMONE BUCKLEY
Simone Buckley Chief executive, Institute of Travel & Meetings (ITM)
CALMING THE STORMS OF UNCERTAINTY
Both buyers and TMCs have important roles to play in these unsettled times
T
he world is an unpredictable place. Even those who make a living from forecasting the future (pollsters as opposed to clairvoyants) are struggling. In this column last year I wrote about the economic expert in the US who, in September 2008, said he envisaged a long period of sustained economic growth in North America and beyond. Two weeks later the meltdown started. On the morning of the Scottish independence referendum, the so-called experts said it was too close to call. Yet almost 400,000 more people (out of an electorate of 4.3 million) voted for the country to stay part of the UK: a margin some way outside the parameters of a ‘close call’. The UK general election last year followed a similar pattern: even the bookies thought a hung parliament, with the SNP holding the balance of power, was a dead cert. How wrong they were. And this year, who would honestly have thought six months ago that Donald Trump would still be in the running for the Republican presidential nomination? Not even he could have imagined his charade would last this long. With all this in mind, it’s extremely difficult to know what will happen on June 23. I had long thought that a victory for those wishing to remain part of the European Union (EU) was inevitable. But given the press coverage, and the increasingly long list of politicians and business leaders joining the leave campaign, one can no longer be sure. At the Advantage conference in April a poll of the delegates showed a 50/50 split on leaving the EU. And as long as uncertainty exists on this issue, I believe travel buyers and travel management companies have an important role to play. There are a number of potential travel-related ramifications linked to a Brexit. The key word here is ‘potential’, because no one is sure of anything. However, it should not matter to good, well-informed travel professionals. We are in the business of making the complex simple; and we are in the business of managing travel to enable growth. I think we collectively must keep this message at the core of all we do in the coming months. We may not be able to accurately predict the future, but we’ll always be there to keep it simple.
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