GBTA Convention 2015 Orlando, Florida


BBT DIGITAL EDITOR TOM NEWCOMBE REPORTS FROM THE GLOBAL BUSINESS TRAVEL ASSOCIATION’S ANNUAL US GATHERING


ALMOST 6,500 DELEGATES attended this year’s GBTA convention at the Orange County Convention Center. The four-day event attracted around 1,400 travel buyers, more than 100 journalists, 400 exhibitors and a host of celebrity speakers, including actor Kevin Bacon, Apple co- founder Steve Wozniak, and Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly. The theme for the four- day event was #sharing and featured 80 business travel education sessions. Popular topics included the sharing economy, the future of distribution, travel risk and improving traveller behaviour.


MANAGING RISK Shelby LeMaire, travel manager at technology firm iRobot, told the conference that buyers could significantly improve their bottom line by putting an effective travel risk management programme (TRM) in place. LeMaire said buyers should have no issue convincing senior managers about the ROI (return on investment) from implementing a TRM. She said that, if travellers encounter problems, the savings made through responding, recovering and dealing with legal issues will mean your policy will have “no problem” gaining approval from those at the top. “With a properly put together TRM you will improve employee morale, mitigate and minimise liability and also ensure the significant threat to business continuity and cost is removed,” said LeMaire. “No TRM is going to avoid all risk, but it will lessen impact of those that occur.”


20 BBT SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015


Megyn Kelly


DISTRIBUTION One session heard that a lack of airline industry competition is driving the current changes in distribution.


It was claimed that Lufthansa’s decision to charge a €16 fee for GDS bookings would not have been possible 20 years ago when buyers had more options. Diana Moss, president of the American Antitrust Institute, said: “These types of tools and techniques we are currently seeing would never have survived years ago and would be thrown out of the market, but are now gaining traction.” She added: “This is


another move by an airline to frustrate the industry, price discriminate, and hamper or harm competition and control. This could be very detrimental in forms of higher prices and less availability.”


RIDE SHARING Buyers were encouraged to implement a ‘ride-sharing’ policy because without one they could be violating their duty-of-care towards travellers. Scott Solombrino, CEO of chauffeured transportation


Kevin Bacon


network Boston Coach, criticised government failure to properly regulate the industry and said transport network companies (TNCs), such as Uber and Lyft, were “playing by their own rules”, whereas established ground transport companies must comply with stringent laws and regulations. “I wouldn’t want my travellers getting taxis late at night on their own,” he said. “With TNCs, most companies don’t have a policy for them – this is a duty-of-care violation and not an acceptable risk mitigation strategy.” In a separate session,


Airbnb’s head of business travel Marc McCabe urged buyers to trust their employees


when it comes to selecting sharing economy companies. McCabe said he


understands buyers’ concerns around firms like Airbnb and Uber, but added that nearly all employees will choose a company that offers the best options for themselves and their business.


“Most of the time when a business traveller uses Airbnb they are picking it because it’s the best option in terms of cost and convenience,” said McCabe. “So trust your traveller to make best use of the sharing economy and the benefits it can bring.” ■ The GBTA US Convention 2016 will be held in Denver Colorado on July 16


BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132