Business Travel & MICE sector bets on technology and responsible travel
The summit, inaugurated by Héctor Coronel, director of Tourism of the Madrid City Council, began on July 3 with a day entitled Travel Kit for Business Travel. In the debate “What do we need to change in the travel model”, moderated by Óscar García, co-founder of FBT&E, experts analyzed the changes that can be introduced in travel policies to ensure the well-being and satisfaction of frequent travelers. As noted by Amaya Cabello, Global Travel Manager at IE Business School, “artificial intelligence and machine learning are improving the efficiency and experience of business travel”.
The round table led by Marcel Forns, CEO of Gebta, emphasized the relationship between travel agencies and companies, two actors that are establishing new bases to face changes such as teleworking employees, new technologies or the increase in travel costs, in addition to the upcoming entry into force of the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive).
According to Juan Josó Legarreta, Corporate Director of Viajes El Corte Inglé s, travel agencies are making a tremendous effort to bring together all the offer dispersed in the different direct sales channels. The key is to reinforce the role of consultant to establish a two-way communication that improves daily management," he stressed.
The BT Lab, the Forum Business Travel & Events think tank, presented at ISBTM 2024 two research projects to learn about the steps suppliers are taking around "The safety and well-being of the business traveler" and "Artificial Intelligence applied to business travel". In the latter case, FCC Global Travel Manager Juan Manuel Blanco commented that, "although suppliers are taking steps to incorporate this technology, there is still a long way to go".
There was also a block on the evolution of airlines, especially in aspects such as the NDC distribution channel, sustainability and innovation. As Paloma Sanz de Andino, representing Iberia, explained, "thanks to the NDC we have been able to implement many more services, increase flexibility and improve the experience before, during and after the flight. Asún announcedó, the companyñía has already approved its proposed fare families for business customers.
FLOW & MICE
The second day of ISBTM 2024 was dedicated to event management under the theme “Flow & MICE”. After the opening of the day by David Noack, director of Madrid Convention Bureau, there was a first panel to discuss meetings and incentives as a key loyalty tool, moderated by Noel Granados of Eurostars Hotels Company.
Susana Navarro, from Telefónica's Events Department, defended the need to “reinforce the relationship of trust between supplier and client to ensure ésuccess”. Fran Lara, director of Incentives and Events at Presstour agency, called attention to the cutbacks that some companies are applying, which “is forcing us to be more creative to do more things with fewer resources”.
The table dedicated to ESG was led by Natalia Ros, co-founder of Forum Business Travel & Events, with the participation of Mariano Rodríguez, from Mediapro Events-AEVEA; Guillermo Turner, from iryo; and Roberta Cerrato, from King. According to the latter, "the essential thing to achieve sustainability objectives is to apply the greatest transparency in all processes."
The emotional impact of events also had its place in a panel led by Jonathan Ysaÿe, from Techformice. Among the trends unveiled by the participants were interactivity, enhanced by artificial intelligence tools, and the surprise factor as the key to success. As Chema Gómez, founder of Grupo Evento, said, “soulless events are the quickest way to collective yawning”.
INTERNATIONAL VIEW
The congress hosted for the first time an international panel of travel managers, with guests from Germany, Belgium and the UK, and led by Andrés Merino, founder of Global MICE Forums. In general, participants spoke in favor of congresses with “more meaning, fewer people and more content”.
At ISBTM 2024 there was the opportunity to attend numerous presentations of success stories that opened the eyes of attendees to the best practices being implemented in the market, such as those of Eurostars Hotels Company, BWH Hotels, Imbric, SAP Concur, Marquis Reforma Hotel & Spa or Lopesan MICE. There was also time to hear about trends in destination management from the Barcelona Convention Bureau, the Málaga-Costa del Sol Tourist Board and the Region of Murcia.