The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) today announced that Craig Banikowski, CCTE, C.P.M., CMM, Director, Global Travel Management for Hilton Hotels, will serve as the new NBTA President & CEO. Jim McMullan, Travel Manager of the Monsanto Company, will serve as the new NBTA Vice President. Banikowski and McMullan were elected by NBTA Direct Members (travel managers), and both will serve two-year terms beginning today.

Banikowski commented, “I am truly honored to hold such an esteemed position with NBTA and within the corporate travel community. It’s been a tough year for us all, and while we’re starting to see signs of economic recovery, there are sure to be more challenges as we power ahead. I look forward to working with the global NBTA membership over the next two years as we continue to advance the business travel industry around the world.”

Banikowski has been has been a member of NBTA for 12 years. He has held multiple NBTA leadership roles including member of NBTA's Board of Directors, President of the NBTA Chapter Presidents' Council and member of multiple NBTA committees. He has also been an active member and leader in the Austin Business Travel Association.

McMullan has been an NBTA member for seven years. He has served as secretary and president of the St. Louis BTA, and was the most recent president of the Chapter Presidents Council. He also won the Business Travel Professional Service Award in 2007.

Direct Members at Large

NBTA Direct Members also elected three NBTA Directors at Large: Sharon Fogarty CCTE, Director, Travel Services, Thomson Reuters; Pamela McTeer, C.P.M., CTC, Manager, Strategic Sourcing, Miller Coors; and Mark H. Ziegler, CCTE, Corporate Travel Manager, Atmel Corporation. Both will serve three-year terms.

Allied Member Director at Large

NBTA Allied Members (travel suppliers) elected Christopher A. Juneau, CTE, Senior Director Segment Marketing of Concur Technologies to serve as Allied Member Director at Large. Juneau will serve a two-year term.

About NBTA | The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) is the world’s premier business travel and corporate meetings organization. NBTA and its regional affiliates – NBTA Asia Pacific, the Brazilian Business Travel Association (ABGEV), NBTA Canada, NBTA Mexico, and NBTA USA – serve a network of more than 15,000 business travel professionals around the globe with industry-leading events, networking, education & professional development, research, news & information, and advocacy. NBTA members, numbering more than 4,000 in 30 nations, are corporate and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers. They collectively manage and direct more than US$200 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually on behalf of more than 10 million business travelers within their organizations. For more information, visit .

About the 2009 NBTA International Convention & Exposition | Widely recognized as the must-attend event for business travel buyers, suppliers, industry leaders and business travel journalists, the 2009 NBTA International Convention & Exposition will be held in San Diego August 23-26, 2009. More than 5,000 travel professionals are expected to take advantage of the Convention’s programming, designed to empower attendees to maximize value for their companies, including more than 65 seminars on the most important topics in business travel, more than 400 companies exhibiting in the Expo and countless opportunities for networking with peers. For details, visit .

Nicole Hayes
Assistant Manager, Communications
(703) 236-1133
GBTA