Globalization of Travel Management Highlights NBTA Conference

The nearly 6,000 corporate travel industry professionals  gathered in Houston last week at the National Business Travel Association’s (NBTA’s) 2010 Convention came away with an authoritative handle on recent and current business-travel expenditures and valuable insights into the means necessary to track, measure and control how and where those dollars are spent in the months and years ahead.

The lingering effects of the recent worldwide economic downturn and its effect on businesses and business travel made for considerable conversation among attendees, precipitating talk of a slow-but-steady recovery and preparations for better and busier days ahead that were often accompanied by the phrase “cautious optimism.”

Rebound In Progress

Along these lines, an NBTA Foundation report was released stating that worldwide business travel spending fell 8.8% last year, marking the steepest business fall-off since 2001 and the climate spawned by 9/11. On the other hand, the report states that global business-travel spending is definitely on the rebound, and is expected to reach  USD $896 billion this year and continue to grow to some $1.2 trillion by 2014.

In preparation for the anticipated upswing, corporate travel managers and their affiliated travel agencies were busy boning up on ways to increase their efficiency and better serve travelers. 

Clearly demonstrated this year as well was the corporate-travel arena’s increasing development as a global marketplace, as evidenced by the international mix of attendees, the content of face-to-face discussions throughout, and the increasingly global capabilities of products at the exposition hall.

NBTA Makes a Global Name Change

Perhaps most indicative of the growing worldwide nature of business travel was the announcement that the organization will change its name next year to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA). Commenting on the aptly labeled name-change, NBTA Executive Director and COO Michael McCormick explained: “Today, NBTA encompasses six regional operations on four continents, (and) we have customers in more than 30 countries who serve millions of business travelers worldwide.”

McCormick told attendees that association members would have opportunities to help shape the new GBTA brand. As he promised: “From graphics to member benefits, your ideas will help determine the new look and feel of a newly-energized organization.”

This international nature of the industry was further exemplified via a host of educational/instructional sessions covering such global-attuned agendas as crisis-avoidance, passports and visas, emerging markets, and expounding on expanding travel-management value propositions.

Even the selection of luncheon-session speakers at this year’s meeting reflected wider appreciation of the world beyond this country’s borders, with featured luminaries including former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Virgin Group founder and president Sir Richard Branson, and world-class cyclist/cancer advocate Lance Armstrong to share messages of encouragement and inspiration with the crowd of attendees.

Mobile Apps Take Center Stage

Several sessions focused on the challenges of tapping into the huge potential of the growing array of mobile applications (apps) for the iPhones, Blackberries and other mobile devices that road warriors are using—with or without their companies’ blessings. 

The intersection of global and mobile has been clearly recognized by travelers as well as technology providers as evidenced by the winners of the first-ever Business Traveler Innovation Awards, bestowed by the NBTA in concert with The Wall Street Journal.

Worldmate’s Live Mobile Travel Software, awarded the Judges’ Choice, was among 10 other top entries of services, ideas and products suggested by business travelers to help make life on the road more efficient and productive. The Worldmate product tracks the business traveler’s trip and conveys real-time alerts about itinerary updates and changes, including flight delays and cancellation, along with such travel resources as flight schedules, weather forecasts, travel directories, maps, world clocks and a currency converter.

Several other technological offerings earned awards for their contribution to furthering connectivity on the road with applications for mobile devices,with TripIt’s Travel Organizer (in the Outstanding Apps category) and Apple Inc.’s iPad (in Traveler Productivity) taking top honors.

TripIt was praised for its ability to consolidate information from more than 1,000 different booking sites and to automatically produce a master itinerary with all travel plans, plus maps, directions, weather, etc. As for the iPad, the tablet computer was crafted to support HD video and offers 802.11n Wi-Fi connectivity and Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR support, as well as an accelerometer, compass, speaker, microphone and Apple standard 30-pin connector, and its touch screen provides easy access to email and as well as an array of other applications.

NBTA President and CEO Craig Banikowski offered what could well be a most fitting summation of the week’s events when he said, “With an economic recovery underway in most global markets, executives are eager to get on the road to beat the competition. Now is the time for travel buyers and suppliers to come together to learn about the new rules [of] a new economy, forge lasting relationships… and drive cost savings.”