THE third edition of the Business Travel Show Middle East 2010 (BTSME) was inaugurated by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, chairman of Dubai Airports and chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airline and Group.
Sheikh Ahmed (pictured centre) was accompanied by Abdulla Tawakul, senior vice president, corporate and regional network, Dnata, Calum Taylor, managing director Centaur Media, Majid Al Mulla, vice president air networks, Dnata, and Bader Al Ansari, associate director of events GCC, Jumeirah Group.
The 2010 show opened to much anticipation and speculation about the recovery of the business travel sector, both in the Middle East and globally. All indications are that confidence is returning to the market with a healthy mix of exhibitors and visitors from the region and abroad. According to Paul Grinnall, event director, there was an increase of five per cent in delegates on the opening day.
Members of the aviation sector attending included Virgin Atlantic, United Airlines, Air France, Air Charter International and Empire Aviation Group, while the hotel sector drew exhibitors such as Jumeirah Hotels Group, The Address Hotels & Resorts, Southern Sun, Atlantis The Palm, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts and Premier Inn. Support services such as ground transportation were represented by the likes of Europcar and Hertz, whilst the core component of corporate travel management companies and technology providers had an impressive presence through providers including Dnata, Alshamel, Travelport, Asuna Travel, FCM and Orient Travel.
And more than 40 key hosted buyers were chosen, including companies such as Capital Market Authority and BAE Systems from Saudi Arabia, Investco and Ahli United Bank from Bahrain, the Abu Dhabi Ports Company and Investco from Abu Dhabi and Symantec and the British Council from the UK.
Mike Sherrard, managing director Centaur Travel Group, the show’s organiser, said: “The commitment to reinstate efficient business travel policies was very clearly a shared goal amongst our exhibitors this year. The exchange of information and best practice was amongst our primary objectives and this was openly appreciated by the participants.”
The ACTE- (Association of Corporate Travel Executives) run education conference programme, featured two full days of keynote presentations and round table sessions.
Monique Swart, project manager ACTE, commented: “We could not be more pleased with the attendance and participation at this year’s show. We spent a good deal of time ensuring we offered a wide spectrum of topics and speakers which were not only expert, but topical, relevant and easily transferrable from the conference to application within the various sector services.”
Keynote speaker Michael Jackson, one of the best business-to-business speakers on the global professional speaker circuit, opened and closed the education conference programme.
By lunchtime on the second day, the event had recorded more than 2,000 visitors attending and Grinnall was confident of bettering 2009’s figure of 2116.
He said: “The general feedback has been very positive and with exhibitors like The Address Hotels already confirming their stand position for next year, we are confident of returning next year with a larger show. Our key focus is also to educate the trade at the grass roots level through our partnership with ACTE and help add value to businesses.”