GBTA 2019: My Recap from the Biggest Business Travel Event in the World

The Global Business Travel Association’s (GBTA) annual convention is the largest annual gathering of business travel professional in the world. This year it took place in Chicago from August 3-7 and featured over 400 exhibitors, 175 educational and professional development sessions and 160 industry speakers. There were representatives from airlines, hotels, ground transportations, online booking platforms, risk management companies, emerging technology suppliers, industry organization representatives and more. Over 7,000 people attended from over 50 countries, and like we are every year, many representatives from our company, Ovation Travel Group, were among them. In fact, Ovation sponsored the Relaxation Lounge at the convention, so people could unwind and get a massage, while charging their phones.

Every year GBTA chooses a theme for the convention that reflects the state of the industry, and 2019’s was “Evolve.” Our Executive Vice President, Michael Steiner, summed up the theme’s relevance, noting, “Travel managers are taking on many new roles and responsibilities including duty of care, procurement, meetings & events management and more. The emergence of new technologies and ongoing security risks are driving travel managers to broaden their skill sets to more effectively support their travelers. Like the Travel Manager, Travel Management Companies are also evolving to keep up with industry evolution while finding the right balance between personalization and automation to maintain time-honored service deliverables.” With that in mind, here are 6 of the most important GBTA 2019 announcements and topics for the future of business travel:

Boeing 737 Max Update. Boeing CEO Dennis Muhlenberg participated in a one-on-one interview at the convention. He said the Boeing 737 Max is on track to be back into service by the fourth quarter. Boeing is in the final stages of preparing software updates, and plans to submit those updates for certification with the FAA in September; training and educational materials will also be updated. Muhlenberg stated that over 30 global regulators will need to grant approval before a return to service, and said Boeing knows “that trust has been damaged over the last few months, and we are working hard to re-earn that trust going forward.”

American Airlines. While at the convention, the airline announced a series of improvements across the entire travel journey, highlighting corporate traveler recognition. Corporate travelers flying on American and its Atlantic Joint Business partners British Airways, Finnair and Iberia will “now benefit from preferred seating and priority disruption recovery no matter which airline they fly.” American also announced they are increasing their support team for travel agencies and corporate customers, including more native Spanish speakers and resources for their loyalty programs.

Delta Air Lines. The airline put the spotlight on corporate sustainability at the convention. They announced that, along with its joint venture partners Air France, KLM and Virgin Atlantic, they will carbon-offset emissions from more than 15,000 flights surrounding the convention. They are also “increasing the ease of carbon-offset purchases on their websites as part of their ongoing commitment to sustainability,” mainly through funds for The International Small Group and Tree Planting program (TIST).

SAP Concur Digital Transformation Survey. Travel and expense management provider SAP Concur and GBTA announced the results of a joint survey focused on how digital transformation is impacting travel managers. In particular, the use of online booking tools (OBT) is going up; 72% of respondents expect OBT bookings to increase over 3 years, while 4% believe OBT use will decrease. Also of note is the finding that “travel managers are taking steps to incorporate more content and technology into their managed travel programs.” 46% of travel managers expect to include NDC bookings in their managed travel program in the next year.

New Distribution Capability (NDC). If you’ve never heard of NDC, get ready, because it’s in the process of becoming an industry game-changer. NDC is an evolution in distributing airline content, which will impact all travel management providers. NDC allows more content to be a part of a travel booking. One pressing example is that airlines want to include an array of ancillary products and services that could be purchased at the point of sale, in addition to baseline fares. Or perhaps the airline would like to offer a negotiated price to a corporation that includes premium seats, Wi-Fi, free bag check, etc. The goal of NDC is to make this all possible. It also allows for easy integration of multiple suppliers in a consistent, comparable fashion, creating a more personalized and seamless booking experience.

Messages of Empathy from the CEOs of Hyatt and United. Hyatt Hotels Corporation CEO Mark Hoplamazian and United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz talked about the strengths and challenges of operating major companies, and also from the perspective of doing so headquartered in Chicago. They discussed the focus on customer experience and the importance of listening to their employees. In their final panel question, they were asked about the one skill that is needed to conduct business in the future. Interestingly, they did not mention anything about technology or a particular program, but instead focused on the continual importance of kindness and empathy.

Hoplamazian said practicing empathy and listening to others is absolutely essential, and quoted from a personal mentor of his, who used to say, “You have two ears and one mouth – you should use them in that proportion.” Munoz agreed, saying that he would also add a component he termed “cultural fluency,” the point of which is being able to understand where a person is coming from, so that they can then be responded to in an appropriate and respectful manner. People come from so many backgrounds and cultures, and how we interact with and react to one another is of utmost importance in today’s world.