With almost 20 years of experience in the business travel industry, Chris Pouney is the latest high-profile addition to the Business Travel Forums (http://www.bt-forums.com).

Industry expert, Pouney has been selected for the event due to his passionate belief in bridging the gap between buyer expectations and supplier delivery. Pouney offers his expert knowledge to a number of companies in industry sectors as diverse as construction to pharmaceutical, and his experience includes agency operations, account management and regional/global travel management. The workshop sessions he has put together for the Business Travel Forums will allow buyers to interact and develop the best practices both with each other and with suppliers.

The workshops will be unique to the business travel event. Buyers will gain the opportunity to discuss best practices and challenges that corporate travel managers face today in an informal environment. Furthermore, suppliers will gain insight into how to best address hotel industry challenges, how independent hoteliers can react to better support the needs of travel buyers, and how hoteliers can learn from larger multinational chains.

Chris Pouney, Corporate Travel Expert says, “There is no shortage of events in our industry matching buyers and suppliers but, with its rigorous qualification criteria for buyers, this event is unique in matching genuine decision makers with high quality independent properties. Added to that the opportunity for buyers to interact with each other and share best practices, I think this event demonstrates an excellent return on time investment for time-pressed buyers and hoteliers alike - I am delighted to be able to contribute to this inaugural event.”

Richard Barnes CEO at Worldwide Events says, “By coming to Business Travel Forums, attendees will not only benefit from face-to-face meetings and networking activities. They will also get something extra as they will be benefiting from further advice and educational content, such as current hotel industry challenges, business travel trends for 2011 and insight into the business travel world and independent marketplace.”