National Travel Forum Sessions Address Current Issues
Future Possibilities in Government Travel Management
ATLANTA, GA, June 5, 2008. More than 1,100 government travel professionals, including over 800 travel managers, or buyers, filled the Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta this week, attending the 2008 National Travel Forum. The conference, hosted for the first time by the National Business Travel Association (NBTA) and its Government Travel Group (GTG), opened Tuesday evening with a reception and continues through Friday.
Recognized as the largest and most important event for the government travel community, the National Travel Forum features experts from the General Services Administration (GSA), the Defense Travel Management Office and the Department of Defense, and brings together representatives from many branches of the federal government, as well as states across the country.
Wednesday's agenda featured a dynamic array of presentations and discussion sessions, during which participants shared their experiences on issues confronting government travel managers and planners. Attendees also collaborated to address challenges shared across many of the agencies represented.
Top issues addressed in the first day of educational sessions included: changes required to meet the growing needs of government travelers and their agencies; difficulties of managing fluctuating fees and surcharges for government travelers; changes affecting the airline industry; managing individual and emotional aspects of travel and relocation; and ensuring world-class travel management through ongoing education and training for government travel managers.
Session leaders recognized the complex issues confronting government travel managers and noted trends toward simplification of communication and procedures surrounding Federal Travel Regulation. Participants were also reminded of the importance of hearing the voice of the customer, engaging all stakeholders in regular communication, and embracing and managing change.
Several presenters recognized NBTA for its role in helping bridge divides between the corporate and government sectors, while addressing issues specific to government travel through the formation of the NBTA's Government Travel Group. Director of the Office of Travel and Transportation Services, Federal Acquisition Service, U.S. General Services Administration, Tim Burke, noted the importance of professionalism within the government travel industry, pointing to the National Travel Forum as playing a pivotal role in the continuing accomplishments of government travel managers. Quoting IBM founder Thomas J. Watson, Burke noted that, "great accomplishment usually comes as a result of a high exchange of ideas among enthusiastic people."
About NTF and NBTA GTG
The National Travel Forum (NTF) is the largest and most important event for the federal travel and relocation community. Government travel and relocation are constantly changing to meet the needs of government travelers and their agencies. NTF helps attendees continue to offer worldclass travel management for their agencies by offering dozens of educational sessions on the topics most important to government travel professionals, an exhibition to facilitate networking with key suppliers of travel and related services and multiple opportunities for attendees to interact with government and industry travel and relocation peers. NTF was historically organized by the General Services Administration (GSA), and at the conclusion of NTF 2006, GSA entrusted the management of the event's future to the National Business Travel Association's Government Travel Group (NBTA GTG). For details, visit www.nationaltravelforum.org
In 2004 NBTA created the GTG to serve the growing needs of government travel professionals within GSA, DoD and the states and to provide government travel managers with access to the member benefits that have long set NBTA apart as the leading association for corporate travel professionals. The GTG is steered by an Advisory Board comprised of leading travel figures, including officials from GSA and DoD. For more, see www.nbta.org/gtg.
About NBTA
The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) is the world's premier business travel organization. U.S.-based NBTA and its regional subsidiaries - NBTA Asia Pacific, NBTA Canada and NBTA Mexico - serve more than 3,200 members in 30 nations around the globe. NBTA has 41 U.S. Chapters with more than 5,000 members. NBTA members are corporate and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers, who collectively manage and direct more than US$170 billion of global business travel expenditures annually. The association provides industry-leading networking, education & professional development, research, news & information, and advocacy. For more information, visit www.nbta.org.
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