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Crossroads – the pan-European Business Travel Conference & Expo co-hosted by the Paragon Partnership alliance of business travel associations and 12 business travel organisations from around the world – welcomed 270 business travel professionals who spent the latter part of this week addressing the most important topics impacting the industry.
Kevin Maguire, CCTE, GLP, President & CEO of the National Business Travel Association (NBTA), one of the hosts of Crossroads, said, “As the world faces economic uncertainty, companies are turning to effective travel management as a way to reduce costs and increase value. In turn, the European travel management community relies on Crossroads and all of its host organisations for the latest information and trends that will help them maximise value for their companies.”
Herman Huijer, Chairman of the Board of the Netherlands Association of Travel Management (NATM), commented, “The importance of Crossroads in large part stems from its uniqueness as a pan-European event. By drawing participants from 17 countries – and with 40 percent buyer participation – we are able to create dialogues that are truly beneficial for European travel managers directing multi-national programs.”
Crossroads 2009 offered attendees a wide range of keynotes, panel discussions and education sessions, as well as an Expo of some 25 leading business travel industry suppliers.
Education sessions were divided into three tracks to address the most important topics challenging business travel professionals:
- Going “glocal” – finding the right local versus global strategy for multinational travel programmes
- Driving savings with strategic travel and meetings management techniques
- Travel management in uncertain times
Speakers included:
– Peter Griffiths, Regional Vice President Europe, International Air Travel Association
– Elling Hamso (European Event ROI Institute) and Maarten Vanneste (Abbit) – Designing Effective Meetings with Measurable Results
– Arjan van Weele (Eindhoven University of Technology) – Professionalising Travel Management: Dealing With Compliance and Governance Issues
– John Plender (Financial Times) – Through A Glass Darkly: The Global Economic Outlook
– Kell Ryan (co-founder of Ryanair) – Up in the Air: The Future of European Aviation.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
