Successful convention concluded with record breaking buyer attendance.
SAN DIEGO – Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State, U.S. Senator and First Lady, spoke as the final keynote speaker at the annual GBTA Convention 2013 in San Diego. Attendees from all over the globe listened to Mrs. Clinton discuss the increasing global interdependence in our world today, the importance of travel and face-to-face connections, the State Department’s recent global terror alert and her experiences as Secretary of State and First Lady.
“Travel is an industry that helps to keep our economy moving and helps connect us to the world in a time of increasing global interdependence,” said Mrs. Clinton. “Boundaries are dissolving, but travel is still one of the best ways to understand what’s happening. In an age where we can be anywhere virtually, people want us to be there, actually.”
When discussing the ever-present threat of terrorism she said, “It’s important to remain vigilant, but not paranoid. It’s important to pay attention to alerts, but don’t stop making connections. Please don’t pull back from the world. Please help us to strike the right balance and provide tools for Americans to continue traveling safely.”
In closing, Mrs. Clinton told the thousands of business travel industry representatives in attendance, “Thank you all for helping bring America to the world and the world to America.”
GBTA concluded the event breaking buyer attendance records announcing 1,531 travel buyers attended the GBTA Convention 2013 with 6,469 attendees total, making this one of the largest GBTA Conventions in history and one of the largest gatherings of travel professionals in the world. Next year’s event will be in Los Angeles, CA on July 27-30, 2014.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
