The future of the worldwide business travel management industry will be the focus of a major conference in the European Union, as…
The future of the worldwide business travel management industry will be the focus of a major conference in the European Union, as leaders of government and industry will confer with 1000 members of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) in Dublin, on 12 October through 14 October, 2003. The purpose of this congress is to reach a global consensus on issues such as data privacy, procurement, and technological development — all elements that impact the cost of business travel and the pace of economic progress.
World leaders, authors, and economic experts will first present the major challenges to international commerce in general, and to the business travel management profession in particular. Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister of Sweden; Robert B. Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor; and Fons Trompenaars, author; Eamonn Quinn, Deputy Chairman, Superquinn; and Dr. Fariba Alamdari, Head of the Air Transport Group at Cranfield University will translate the past year`s events and interpret current trends into a course of action.
That course of action will then be presented as a series of strategies and objectives by renown travel industry innovators like Patrick Alexandre, Executive Vice President, International Commercial Affairs, Air France; Charles Petrucelli, President and Global Travel Services, American Express. Travel managers from every corner in the EU — joined by their colleagues representing every segment of the air transport, hospitality, surface transportation, travel technology, and travel support industries — will present actual case studies and details of advanced business travel management programs.
The conference is expected to attract a contingent of travel managers from Asia, South Africa, South America, and the United States, as European experts detail the best practices for maximizing cross border operations, insuring international data privacy, and dealing with diverse national and corporate cultures. A divergent philosophy on data privacy with the shortsighted U.S. government has thrust the EU into the spotlight as the leading protector of traveller privacy — a hot industry issue at this conference.
A series of industrywide surveys conducted electronically during this conference will provide the newest statistics on spending trends, the acceptance of changing managerial techniques, and a strong sense of the industry`s direction.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
