ACTE (Association of Corporate Travel Executives) is to hold its annual global education conference in Munich from 21-23 October 2007, with a focus on the European contribution to world travel.
For the first time, the Association will conduct a European Travel Summit with a range of legislative leaders, industry authorities and travel management experts, to run alongside its usual programme of educational seminars and general sessions.
The summit, which is by invitation only, aims to extend the discussions raised during ACTE”s conference programme, with active proposals regarding security and sustainability in the travel industry to be put forward for EC legislation.
Issues for the conference have been highlighted by a network of travel executives around the world, working in a committee with ACTE to identify essential topics for discussion. ACTE intends to present this data to EC government officials attending the travel summit, along with recommendations for improvement.
Likely topics for the conference include the evolution of GDS and maintaining European standards under pressure from foreign transport agreements, with ACTE predicting volatile and heated debate amongst the industry.
”We”ll take our chances,” said ACTE executive director, Susan Gurley. ”This conference has a dual purpose: we are committed to educating our membership on the latest travel management and cost containment techniques and informing representatives of the EC [European Commission] how their actions impact on our industry.
”Our goal is to foster a higher level of communication between industry and government, while emphasising European concerns to a global travel industry,” she said.