FCM Travel Solutions hosted its Middle East and Africa Regional Conference in Dubai this October 28 to 30.

The company’s growth over the last several years in the region has tripled as its footprint is approaching 30 countries in MEA, 95+ globally and at this conference FCM announced further expansion into three new markets, Congo, DRC and Gabon.

The purpose of FCM’s annual MEA regional conference is to bring key suppliers, experts and colleagues together to share best practices and re-enforce their vision to ensure they continue to be one of the strongest travel management companies in the Middle East and Africa.

This year, the conference’s theme was ‘Think Fluid’ and CX, customer experience was high on the agenda, ‘what does the customer want from a TMC?’ Experts from the CX world shared their knowledge, in attendance was Craig Lee, 'Customer Experience Leader' from Activate Experience, focussing on how to make the entire journey seamless. Key clients such as Bacardi Group and KCA Deutag joined FCM for a ‘Client Panel Advisory’ session sharing a procurement and finance perspective.

FCM believes there has been an increased trend in the region from travel buyers wishing to consolidate their markets across the region, a desire for complete visibility of travel and expense expenditure and seek expert proactive advice on how best to maximise their spend. Over the last 12 months FCM has implemented some keys global clients into their business and have seen a change in the buyers’ profile. Thus, travel buyers of the future, the millennials and the role platforms such as Salesforce.com and LinkedIn play in FCM’s digital strategy were a focus of the three-day event in Dubai.