Forum Business Travel closes a year with more events than ever before despite the difficulties
With the next sessions on December 10 (Madrid) and December 17 (Barcelona), Forum Business Travel ends a year in which it has organized more events than ever, despite the difficulties arising from the pandemic. A total of 12 webinars related to business travel have been added to the continuous training program, which has maintained the face-to-face format whenever possible, complemented by online broadcasting.
&«We have managed to comply with the continuing education program for travel managers after an enormous effort, given the circumstances. The state of emergency restrictions forced us to postpone dates, look for new venues and invest heavily in technology, but in the end all the planned sessions will be held within the year, with the exception of Valencia and Bilbao, which will be held in the same year;n de Valencia and Bilbao, which will take place in February and March," say Natalia Ros and Óscar García, founding partners of Forum Business Travel.
The sessions on April 22 and 23 were the only ones broadcast exclusively in streaming, due to the closure of hotels and the government's ban on holding events. The follow-up, however, was very large, with about 600 professionals attendees between the two days.
The rest of the continuing education program is completed with the two sessions in February (on the 25th in Madrid and the 27th in Barcelona), on "Trends in products and service"; the June session, broadcast on the 25th from the NH Collection Madrid Suecia, with a great technical deployment thanks to the collaboration of Globalia Meetings & Events, and dedicated to the “Adaptation of the travel program” those of September 29 (Madrid) and October 15 (Barcelona), on the “Impact of technology” the “Impact of technology”a” that of November 5 in Madrid, on “The functions of the travel manager”; and the next ones on December 10 in Madrid, with the title “Traveling now. Dónde, cómo y cuándo…”, and on the 17th in Barcelona, which will anticipate “Agreements in Business Travel in 2021”.
In addition to these 10 sessions, Forum Business Travel also organized a extraordinary face-to-face day on the “New positioning of travel agencies”, which took place last December 1 at the Impact Hub Madrid Piedmont.
As Natalia Ros recalls, “to the usual organizational work of deciding the contents, inviting the speakers, looking for the spaces, preparing the conferences and setting up all the communication, we have had to hire a team of experts in the field;We have had to hire television equipment to give Forum Business Travel members the opportunity to follow the sessions, both in person and online. This extra cost we assume because from the beginning our commitment has been to do the rest to overcome the circumstances. Following this line, the usual program of continuous training has been complemented since March with a total of 12 webinars of different contents related to business travel and open not only to travel managers, but to all professionals in the sector. In some of the sessions have come to register a thousand attendees, a true récord in the índices of diffusionón of Forum Business Travel.
These include “How to organize work in the midst of isolation” (March 26); “The challenges of business travel management beyond the pandemic” (April 2); “Sustainability and CSR in business travel” (April 8); “Business Intelligence to manage better” (April 16); “Digital transformation" (April 30); “Basis for starting the new travel program” (May 7); “Insights from international experts” (May 14, in English); “How are we going to fly from now on” (May 21); Travel expenses: A new set-up” (May 28); “New urban mobility needs” (September 22), or “Evolution of the business traveler” (November 12); without forgetting the first one organized expressly for the Italian market: “L’impatto della tecnologia nel nuovo scenario dei viaggi aziendali” (December 2).
According to Óscar García, “we live in complicated times in which corporate travel professionals demand more training than ever; that is why we must continue to offer high-value content and provide all kinds of facilities so that the sessions can be followed both in person and remotely”.
Forum Business Travel is currently in the design phase of the program for 2021. Unless there are last-minute changes, the first sessions will take place on January 28 in Madrid and on February 25 in Barcelona, to analyze Business Travel trends for the coming year. The postponed sessions in Bilbao and Valencia are scheduled for February 11 and March 11, respectively. The calendar extends through November with 10 more sessions.