DIARY OF EVENTS 2018


22 January Business Travel Awards, Grosvenor House Hotel, London businesstravelawards.com Turn to p46 for more details


21-22 February Business Travel Show,


Olympia London businesstravelshow.com Turn to p88 for more details


7-11 March ITB Berlin global travel trade show itb-berlin.de/en


29 April-1 May ACTE global travel conference,


New York acte.org


2-3 May


ITM annual conference, Aviemore, Scotland itmconference.org.uk


10-13 May The Advantage Conference, Miami advantageconference.co.uk


10-12 June


GTMC Overseas Conference, Powerscourt Hotel, Dublin gtmc.org


11-15 August GBTA Convention, San Diego gbta.org


18-20 September IT&CM Asia and CTW Asia-Pacific,


Bangkok Convention Centre itcma.com


4 October ITM Scotland Summit,


Edinburgh itmconference.org.uk


14-16 October ACTE global summit,


Paris acte.org 146 BBT January/February 2018


ITM UPDATE SCOTT DAVIES


Simplification: a complex business


Sharing knowledge helps everyone – join us on the learning curve


T


Scott Davies is chief executive of the Institute of Travel Management (ITM)


(itm.org.uk).


HE TURN OF THE YEAR always brings hope for progress, improvement and simplification. However, some of the changes we are working through in the business travel world may involve some discomfort before we get to the really good stuff.


In a recent survey of ITM’s members, over 80 per cent of our buyers said they expected the process of contracting with suppliers to become more complex in 2018, given the effects of the challenges created by distribution model changes and Brexit. While we are taking steps towards a technology-enabled world of seamless, on-demand, contextualised, customised, AI-driven travel and traveller services, travel buyers tell us that there is more to learn and understand than ever before. Let’s be honest. Many of us suffer from a knowledge inferiority complex and are afraid to ask questions, especially when others seem more advanced in their understanding. To add to the mix, in our survey over 70 per cent of buyers reported that they are increasingly concerned about the privacy of personal and company data, and their role in protecting it. The new regulatory standards that accompany GDPR and PSD2 mean that today’s travel professional now needs to be able to speak and act competently in areas they secretly never aspired to. Fortunately, the UK travel industry remains a warm and vibrant community where challenges are shared, tackled and exploited. The results of our survey give us at ITM a great mandate for the education and guidance we need to be delivering to our members in 2018. ITM is effectively owned by our members and operates as a not-for-profit association so our talented team works tirelessly only to educate, inform, connect and inspire the industry.


It takes a smart person to simplify complex issues and so I’m grateful to be surrounded by so many of them in our secretariat team, board of directors, regional committees and valued industry partners. Since we believe business travel is a team effort, join us for our annual


conference in the glorious surroundings of Aviemore in the Scottish Highlands, 2-3 May, and get involved in Changing The Game. I wish you a prosperous and fun 2018!


BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM


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