The event, which took place in New York, focused on the financial state and outlook of business travel, with sessions covering the airline and hotel sectors, the perspective of leading travel executives on the industry’s future, and the macro outlook for business travel. Attendees included corporate travel managers, travel service providers and members of the media. Corporate travel managers, or buyers, from major companies around the world, comprised half of the attendees (excluding media and staff). The day’s presenters included leading travel industry executives, researchers and journalists; Wall Street analysts; and economists:

Session: Airline Economic Outlook

• David Lee, Director, Economic Research, Air Transport Association of America
• Darryl Jenkins, Director, Aviation Institute, Ohio State University
• Phillip A. Baggaley, Managing Director, Corporate Ratings, Standard & Poors

Session: Hotel Economic Outlook

• Bobby Bowers, SVP, Smith Travel Research
• Amanda Bryant, VP, Lodging Group, Merrill Lynch

Session: The View from the Executive Suite: The Future of Global Travel Services, Moderator – Arnie Weissmann, Editor in Chief, Travel Weekly

• Sam Gilliland, CEO, Sabre Holdings
• Hubert Joly, CEO, Carlson Wagonlit Travel
• Jeffery A. Smisek, President, Continental Airlines

Session: Industry Outlook Panel

• Ken Goldstein, Economist, The Conference Board
• Scott McCartney, Travel Editor, The Wall Street Journal
• Nouriel Roubini, Chairman, Roubini Global Economics

The day’s events were moderated by T&E Magazine Editor, Loren Edelstein. The keynote speaker was Geoff Colvin, Senior Editor-at-Large of Fortune Magazine and former co-anchor of Wall Street Week with Fortune on PBS.

NBTA President & CEO, Suzanne Fletcher, remarked, “This event filled a unique space among business travel industry events. We have seen that participants in NBTA’s other events around the globe are eager to learn more about the financial aspects of the industry, so we decided to provide a forum focused exclusively on that topic. The response has been phenomenal. Not only did we have to change rooms to accommodate a much larger crowd than originally expected, but we had fifty percent buyer attendance, which is unmatched at other industry events.”

The event was supported by Dav El Chauffeured Transportation Network, which sponsored lunch and keynoter Colvin, and FLO RT Solutions, which sponsored the education sessions.