Riding on the success of last year’s Business Travel Day, ITB Asia, the ‘Trade Show for the Asian Travel Market’, has bolstered its strategic partnership with Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world’s premier business association, to provide delegates with its most comprehensive business-focused programme to-date. The eighth instalment of the leading regional trade show, organised by Messe Berlin (Singapore), will take place from 21 – 23 October 2015 at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands.
The GBTA Business Travel Outlook session will provide delegates with key insights into the current economic conditions in the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) as well as an outlook on business spending over the next two years.
Another highlight in this year’s show is the 2016 Global Travel Price Outlook, which will provide an in-depth understanding of the evolving travel landscape, offering travel buyers the information they need to successfully budget for and negotiate their upcoming travel programs. As China is a key regional market, GBTA will also host a session dedicated to examining the trends emerging in the Chinese meetings.
The latest results of GBTA’s Business Traveller Sentiment IndexTM, created in partnership with American Express will also be unveiled. These findings will offer a glimpse into the complex world of traveller sentiment, focusing on how business travellers feel about their travel experiences, and how these feelings affect their actual behaviour.
“As our partnership with GBTA grows year on year, our robust conference programme showcases our commitment to keeping our delegates at the forefront of the travel industry. Providing timely insights on a wide range of topics such as the current economic opportunities in BRIC economies, and the impact of traveller sentiment, this year’s Business Travel Day will be must-attend event for those looking to discover new opportunities in the region,” said Katrina Leung, Executive Director, Messe Berlin (Singapore), the organisers of ITB Asia.
A new element at this year’s show will be the inclusion of the Global Travel Professional (GTP) examinations. GTP is the first and only certification for dedicated business travel professionals, which was designed to raise industry standards, enhance work performance and recognise individuals who demonstrate core competencies essential to business travel management. ITB Asia will host the GTP examinations on the second day of the show, bringing together committed industry professionals from all across the region.
“Currently the Asia Pacific region owns the largest share of the business travel spend market, and business travel spend in China is forecast to skyrocket 61 percent in the next five years. We look forward to again partnering with ITB Asia to offer the GBTA Business Travel Day as part of this must-attend event in the Asian travel trade industry offering key insights into corporate travel trends to support business travel professionals looking to expand in the strong Asian business travel market,” said Daphne Bryant, Foundation Executive Director, GBTA.
ITB Asia 2015 will play host to its strongest conference line-up to-date, leveraging partnerships from all across the travel industry. These include partnerships with the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI), Centre for Aviation (CAPA), DestinationElite and K.I.T Group. Through these partnerships attendees can expect to gain a well-rounded understanding on China’s booming outbound travel market, learn more about the latest change drivers that are essential to understanding the future of the aviation industry, trends in the premium travel and hospitality industry in Asia, as well as Asia’s unique association landscape.
ITB Asia is a partner event of TravelRave, a premiere travel and tourism week organised by the Singapore Tourism Board. Last year’s show attracted close to 750 exhibitors from 76 countries, as well as 850 buyers from 62 countries.
