Risk, Mobility And Consumerization Were The Hot Topics Of GBTA Conference 2016 Frankfurt In Partnership With Vdr

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) -- the voice of the global business travel industry – and German business travel buyer association VDR – wrapped up their third successful joint conference in Europe this week with record attendance. The event brought together over 950 attendees from 20+ countries for networking, education and top-notch speakers.

Featured speakers included international counter-terrorism and security expert, Hagai M. Segal. Hagai talked risk and security to the packed audience of travel professionals from across the globe covering everything from the impact of ISIS and Boka Haram to the current situations in Africa and the Ukraine, and more. He discussed terror threats to business travellers and focused on the different type of threat felt from numerous small, and seemingly random, attacks saying it has a major psychological impact.

GBTA Executive Director and COO Michael W. McCormick hosted industry leaders Mike Eberhard of Concur and Doug Anderson of American Express Global Business Travel at Centre Stage for one-on-one interviews. Eberhard gave his first European interview as the new President of Concur, sharing his thoughts on leadership, consumerization, duty of care and the future of the buyer role. Doug Anderson spoke about acquisitions, company culture, risk, mobility and the importance of diversity.

Grayling government relations experts Russel McCleave Patten and Richard Jukes took the stage Wednesday for a lively debate on Brexit moderated by Caroline Strachan of Festive Road. While the two had differing opinions on the matter, both agreed that now is the time for engagement and dialogue no matter what side you agree with.

Grayling government relations experts Russel McCleave Patten and Richard Jukes took the stage Wednesday for a lively debate on Brexit moderated by Caroline Strachan of Festive Road. While the two had differing opinions on the matter, both agreed that now is the time for engagement and dialogue no matter what side you agree with.