Travel Matters - January 2016

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06 | TRAVEL TRENDS
…that 30 Euston Square won in two categories of the London Venue
Awards held in October: Best Conference Venue and Best Board Room. DID YOU KNOW?
Conferences. Exhibitions. Seminars.
Workshops. You could spend your entire
working life at industry events. Whatever
your reason for attending - to broaden
the mind, brush up on areas where your
grasp of the big issues is a tad shaky, or
to raise your profile, there are plenty to
choose from.
Nowadays, the only difference between
most exhibitions and conference is the
ratio of exhibition content to conference
sessions. Organisers need the former
to fund their events and the latter to
attract the buyers who provided those
exhibitors with the necessary return on
investment. As a result, the pressure is
on for organisers to find new features to
differentiate themselves.
Here then is the Chambers’ guide to the
travel industry’s leading events – and why
you need to get some dates in your diary.
For some unfathomable reason the
business travel calendar is front ended
with events. First up is the long-running
Business Travel Awards, which take place
at London’s Grosvenor House on Monday
18th January. Dinner jackets and posh
frocks are the order of the day. Join 1,500
revellers as the winners of 20 awards are
announced.
has more details.
The Business Travel Show – the sector’s
original exhibition and conference – takes
place a little later this year (24th – 26th
February) at London’s Olympia. Claimed
to be Europe’s largest specialised
exhibition and conference for buyers
and managers of business travel, 2015’s
event saw 250 suppliers joined by 175
speakers in 50 free conference sessions
and over 7,400 delegates. The Business
Travel Show also offers a hosted buyer
programme to qualifying travel managers.
Go to for
more details.
The Institute of Travel & Meetings
(ITM) runs excellent seminars, workshops
and other educational events all year
round. However, the centrepiece of the
UK association’s calendar is its annual
conference. The 2016 event will be held at
Celtic Manor, Wales on May 3rd to 5th and
is attended by 350 – 400 delegates. Look
out for more details at
May brings the business travel industry’s
other awards event. The People Awards
2016 will be staged on Friday 27th May
at the Grange Tower Bridge Hotel, when
it’s likely that 400 buyers and suppliers
come together to recognise outstanding
supplier individuals and teams whose
professionalism and business excellence
make them stand out from their industry
peers. has more.
Summer (well, 14th – 16th June 2016
anyway) brings The Business Travel
Conference (TBTC), a smaller, more
intimate alternative to The Business Travel
Show. Held at the Novotel Hammersmith,
this event combines workshops and
plenary sessions in a two-tier education
programme, complemented by a
60-strong supplier exhibition. It makes
200 free delegate places available as
well as a hosted buyer programme. www.
Frustratingly, for travel managers
whose remit includes meetings, TBTC
KNOWLEDGE
IS POWER
The business travel industry showcases its wares
multiple times across the year, offering buyers
the opportunity of updating their knowledge.
Mark Harris has the lowdown
30
“Broaden the
mind, brush up
on areas where
your grasp of the
big issues is a tad
shaky, or raise
your profile”