The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) recently held its first executive forum for the region in Dubai titled ‘Changing trends- the road ahead.’ ACTE is an international member driven organization that serves as a resource to the largest and most influential business travel community in the world.

With more than 6,500 participants in their educational events and members in over 50 countries, this non-profit organization facilitates understanding of market trends and issues in business travel and creates environments to develop strategies and solutions. The half-day forum was attended by 109 delegates from 49 organizations that included corporate travel buyers, destination management companies, travel companies, hotels and the airline industry.

‘I am delighted that the first ACTE Middle East event in Dubai was so well-received by the industry. I was very impressed with the passion that the market shows for education and I am really looking forward to building on our progress at the Business Travel Show Dubai in October and ACTE session in December.’ said Jo Lloyd, Regional Director ACTE, EMEA. ‘What emerged from our event is that there are a number of corporate travel issues that are exclusive to the region and the team at ACTE is very much looking forward to working with the industry in the Middle East to provide a common voice and a neutral platform to discuss these issues.’

The forum’s opening session focused on airline commission and the impact on the corporate buyer with panel participants from Virgin Atlantic, Etihad Airways, British Airways and Emirates Airline. Other discussion topics were hotel purchase, corporate credit cards and the changing trends of the travel industry in the Middle East. During the forum ACTE also announced its partnership with the Business Travel Show to be held in Dubai October 29 - 30 and the next ACTE Middle East session in December this year.

Commenting on the partnership between ACTE and the upcoming Business Travel Show, Sally Pugmire, Event Director, Centaur Exhibitions, the organizers for the event said: ‘The Business Travel Show is proud to carry forward its association with ACTE into the Middle East market. As the leading event for the business travel industry to share ideas and network with each other and suppliers; we are confident ACTE’s participation in the our very first Middle East-based show in the Middle East will be beneficial to attendees and the industry as a whole.’

The first-time forum of ACTE received positive feedback from all attendees with most delegates expressing interest in the upcoming session on December 3. ‘I found the panel session on Airline Commissions very interesting and relevant, and was also encouraged to see that other companies are going through the same processes as we are, with respect to the Hotel Policy Session. This was very useful for benchmarking purposes. I look forward to seeing more Educational Forums from ACTE in the future,’ says Sunny Ramadas is senior procurement specialist at FedEx.

The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) is a not-for-profit association established to provide executive-level global education and peer-to-peer networking opportunities. Membership spans all of business travel, from corporate buyers to agencies to suppliers, and accords all sectors equal membership. ACTE members drive change in the industry by identifying the issues, predicting the trends, encouraging open discussion, building consensus, finding solutions, and sharing best practices. Comprised of corporate travel managers, purchasing agents, CFO’s, travel management company representatives, suppliers of business travel products and services, consultants, and journalists, ACTE members are part of a growing, global network of travel professionals benefiting from a world of knowledge.
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