The Association of Corporate Travel Executives held last week a captivating forum at the Sheraton Bangalore at Brigade Gateway.  The ACTE Bangalore Executive Forum welcomed business travel executives from all over the region, including representatives from corporations like Cisco, Texas Instrument, Cognizant, Sabre, Goldman Sachs, Larsen & Toubro, ISG Technology, Accenture and more.

“The level of inter-activeness, the depth of questions, and wish-to-know curiosity from the attendants are much stronger than we’ve seen before,” said Ron DiLeo, ACTE Executive Director. “We are seeing resurgence in the business travel market in this region of the world, as evidenced by the ACTE Index, which should be very encouraging to the industry.”

The ACTE Bangalore Executive Forum, “Navigating a Changing Landscape & Keeping your Travellers Safe,” was designed to enhance understanding of the corporate travel market, offer attendees the opportunity to network with colleagues and openly discuss the future of the business travel industry.

On the agenda were two education sessions and panels designed to penetrate the main issues affecting Bangalore professionals and regional visitors:

·      “Airline Industry Update: Navigating a Changing Landscape” - The India airlines industry is experiencing unprecedented challenges and huge financial losses.  This session explained the impact of rising oil prices, a shifting competitive landscape and a talent shortage in the industry.  The panel discussed how travel professionals and business travelers are coping with this crisis.

Ø  Moderator: Benson Tang, Regional Director, Asia, ACTE

Ø  Panelists:
o   Amarnath Lal Das, General Manager - India Travel, Accenture
o   Suresh Makhijia, Director - Program Management, India, Carlson Wagonlit Travel
o   Sanjay Pai, Head of Travel and Aviation, Larsen and Toubro

·      “Duty of Care: Keeping your Travellers Safe on the Road”- For many organisations, working and travelling in high-risk locations is mission critical. This panel highlighted where business travellers are exposed to the most risk, and what companies should be doing to mitigate and minimize risks.

Ø  Moderator: Umesh Mehta, Regional Security Manager - South Asia, International SOS

Ø  Panelists:
o   Micheal Anthony, Commodity Manager - Worldwide Procurement & Logistics, Texas Instruments
o   Darren Brown, Vice President - Office of Global Security, Goldman Sachs
o   Aditya Loomba, Director, ECOS (India) Mobility & Hospitality Pvt Ltd
o   Rajesh Loomba, Chairman of the Convention Committee, Indian Transport Association

·      “Industry Update – India’s Aviation Industry”- Benson Tang, Regional Director, Asia, ACTE on behalf of Mohd Askari, Research and Market Analyst, Centre for Aviation-CAPA, led a presentation discussing the region’s airline industry.

According to Michael Anthony, Commodity Manager – Worldwide Procurement and Logistics, of Texas Instruments (India):  “We are proud to be a part of this forum.  ACTE brought together solid content and an excellent mix of professionals.  We were able to come together and address important industry issues for Bangalore.”