Business Travel Show Europe brought together more than 3,000 members of the corporate travel community at ExCeL London last week, where attendance at the two-day event was up 17 per cent year-on-year.
Organised by the BTN Group, the event got underway for the first time with a general opening session featuring keynote speaker, broadcaster and former BBC news correspondent, Jon Sopel. He was followed by a candid interview with EY global head of travel, meetings and events, Karen Hutchings, and American Express Global Business Travel president Drew Crawley, who cautioned the travel industry from allowing New Distribution Capability
implementation from becoming too much of a distraction from other needed
investment.
The subsequent conference programme across the two days saw more than 120 industry experts participate in some 40 panel discussions and masterclasses covering a diverse range of subjects, from sustainability and NDC to TMC relations, spend management, talent acquisition and emerging travel tech.
On the showfloor, more than 200 exhibitors showcased their products, services and latest developments, with well-known global brands featuring alongside start-ups, fast-growing businesses and more niche service providers.
“I come to the show not only to see the big players who I meet with on a regular basis, but to discover smaller new players that I don’t necessarily get exposed to because of the size of the firm, and Business Travel Show Europe is where I find them,” said Jan T. Jacobsen, global procurement director, travel and mobility, Accenture.
He added: “I book all my appointments on day one so I can use day two for exploration, when the excitement from day one has died down – that is when I can have real conversations.”
Further event highlights included the ever-popular Innovation Faceoff in which a panel of independent judges assessed the pitches of seven participants before declaring Travlr ID – a proponent of decentralised traveller identity – this year’s winner.
“For me, it’s a huge honour,” said CEO and co-founder Gee Mann, expressing gratitude for the recognition. “I've been a travel tech innovator for ten years but have no footprint so it’s great to be seen as an innovator and recognised by industry peers.”
Meanwhile, the BTN editorial team conducted a series of quickfire interviews in the BTN TV studio, featuring interviewees from the likes of BT4Europe, Reed & Mackay, TripBam, ITM, Festive Road, Thrust Carbon and the Advantage Travel Partnership, among others.
Commenting on the event, BTN Group executive vice president and group publisher, Louis Magliaro, said: “Business Travel Show Europe is a must-attend for anyone serious about business travel. Every year we bring more and more buyers and suppliers together to have serious, valuable conversations in an exciting environment. Hosted buyer and visitor buyer numbers are up, our supplier partners are thrilled, and we can't wait to be back here next year to do it over again.”
Business Travel Show Europe will return to ExCeL London on 19-20 June 2024.