This year’s GBTA Europe conference is underway in Budapest, and this year the theme is “Personalisation and Customisation”.
Welcoming delegates, GBTA’s European managing director Paul Tilstone admitted that often the two ideas might seem in conflict, and spoke of his hope that the conference would address the conflicting pressures that both buyers and suppliers have to deal with in balancing these forces.
The conference started with an overview of global changes - Giga Trends Shaping the Future Landscape of Business and Industries by Jan Sturesson, partner and global industry leader for Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
This talk was certainly challenging, with Sturesson pointing out that too often personalisation amounts to no more than segmentation as travellers find themselves pigeon-holed and marketed to as though they have no flexible identity.
Identity also played a part in the next talk by 17-year-old Max Keegan on what delegates could expect from the traveller of the future. (Answer: Facebook, mobile web sites and a need for near-constant wifi / 3G or 4G access). This segment was appropriately entitled – “The Importance of Impatience”.
Sturesson also joined a high-powered panel which included:
- Dean Forbes, CEO, KDS
- Gillian Gibson, chief marketing officer, Travelport
- Caroline Strachan, global commercial leader - business travel management, Astra Zeneca
- Martin Warner, executive vice president - market strategy & segmentation, Carlson Wagonlit Travel
The main themes of the discussion included the increasing pressure that consumer technology is placing on traveller compliance and the opportunities for embracing such disruptive change.
Breakout sessions are addressing concerns of particular interest to attendees including: Creating Travel User Groups, Airline Unbundling Solutions, Communications: Best Practices and Creating/Implementing Plans and Expense Management Process.