The seventh national TravelManagers conference has come to a close but not before breaking a number of records, including the highest ever supplier attendance.
Back this year was also the very popular Q & A with the House of Travel Board of Directors and an open forum discussion with the TravelManagers’ National Partnership Management Team.
“We find the open nature of these sessions fantastic with the personal travel managers asking a wide range of questions and obtaining clarity of a multitude of topics. It’s an open forum and anything goes which highlights the mutual respect and transparent nature of our organisation. It is hugely powerful for the personal travel managers,” says TravelManagers Executive General Manager Michael Gazal.
Secrets of my Success – James Hermiston
The 2014 TravelManagers’ conference has attracted 39 partner suppliers, a record attendance. Late morning and early afternoon is dedicated to partner supplier networking sessions, allowing the personal travel managers an opportunity to be updated on the latest products and services.
“The support received from our partner suppliers for this year’s conference is unparalleled with premium partner and conference sponsors commitment being second to none. The personal travel managers gain huge value for having one-on-one time with the supplier and we know from supplier feedback it works incredibly well for them also,” says TravelManagers’ National Business Partnership Manager, Suzanne Laister.
A select group of personal travel managers shared their ‘Secrets of Success’ in a new collective group discussion format facilitated by Keith Abraham.
“TravelManagers has such a huge array of talent within their personal travel managers. This session is always popular and allows the personal travel managers to share their secrets of success and how they have built their business to the level it is today. It’s hugely inspiring for personal travel managers to listen to their colleagues’ stories, their successes, experiences and their passion for what they do. These sessions are designed to motivate, provide ideas, insight and inspiration to help all personal travel managers grow their businesses,” says Gazal.
In addition day three of the conference saw a new small group corporate interactive workshop with tailored content specifically designed for the corporate focused personal travel managers. The session will be facilitated by Simon Alcaraz, Corporate Operations Executive at the national partnership office.
“Following feedback from our corporate personal travel managers we took the opportunity to provide a dedicated workshop with invited guest speakers from a wide range of corporate based suppliers including Radius Travel, Edwardian Group London and Singapore Airlines. With a focus on pitching for new clients the Association of Corporate Travel Executives talked about the various educational tools and networking events available,” says Alcaraz.
TravelManagers closed the conference with a surprise announcement of its new charity partnership with Singapore based global charity based Buy1GIVE1 (B1G1).
The final key note speaker was B1G1 co-founders Paul Dunn and Masami Sato. Dunn told his story of how a chance meeting in Bangalore set him on a path of discovery that ended up with him funding an orphanage for Tsunami-affected children in India while Sato explained how TravelManagers support will contribute towards 6 different projects.
“It was the chance meeting in Bangalore that led to the creation of B1G1 a not-for-profit organisation that moves giving from an ad-hoc, event-driven model of charitable donations to a very specific transaction-based giving model – a world where every transaction gives back and makes a difference,” says Dunn.
“Instead of our traditional one off charity team building event this year, after much investigation and research, TravelManagers is hugely excited to announce its new long term partnership with B1G1. The concept where every travel transaction will result in day-to-day giving to people in need really resonates with TravelManagers and is something we have committed to on a long term basis,” says Gazal.
The final night of the conference will see the TravelManagers’ team enjoy a Gala Awards ceremony followed by dinner where the top performing and most improved personal travel managers will be recognised for their outstanding performances.
Without doubt destination Singapore has provided a memorable conference experience.
“We spend a great deal of time, energy and money ensuring our national conference is the best it can be for everyone – ensuring it meets the needs of our experienced personal travel managers as well as those that are new. It also needs to meet the requirements of our national partnership team and our suppliers. It is a golden opportunity to bring people together and we strive to ensure it is an educational, inspirational and networking opportunity for all,” says Gazal.
Awards Presenter Jasmine Jackson – NPO
Were you at the conference? What did you think?