The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) held their annual conference last week in Denver, Colo., which was attended by approximately 6,000 travel industry professionals, including a number of CWT attendees. One attendee offered me the following recap of the conference.

There were numerous education sessions for attendees to choose from that proved of interest to the variety of travel managers and travel buyers in attendance. Some hot topics this year included expense management, financial modeling, direct connect, mobility, online booking tools, strategic meetings management, policy compliance, and safety and security.

Based on the topics covered during the conference, it seems that increasing attention is being given to travel policy: it will continue to be important for business travelers to pay close attention to their company’s travel policy and ensure that they are in compliance. The total cost of travel has increased as air and hotel rates have risen, and companies are looking to optimize their travel programs in an effort to realize cost savings and control spend. Safety and security continues to be a hot topic as well, and is something travelers should pay close attention to. Becoming familiar with your company’s safety and security policies will ensure that you are safe and prepared on the road, and compliance with the policies will help your company locate and assist you in case of emergency.

Finally, with a focus on mobility, travel managers are looking for traveler input as to what types of mobile applications would be of best use as they’re looking for ways to align the most useful applications with their company’s travel programs.

Numerous industry leaders presented at the conference, providing some good insight on the issues that are facing our industry today, which continue to evolve as economics in the United States also evolve. Many of the CWT attendees also presented education sessions during the conference, which included topics such as online booking in Asia Pacific, country-specific trends in Europe, air and hotel sourcing academies, and two sessions on strategic meetings management.

Outside of the education sessions, GBTA hosts a large trade show. Airlines, hotels, rental car companies and other vendors presented the latest products and services they’re making available for travelers and travel managers. At the CWT booth, travel buyers learned more about the services CWT provides to travelers and travel managers, and also heard about the company’s community partnership with Habitat for Humanity. CWT is supporting a Habitat for Humanity home build in Denver as part of a larger corporate responsibility effort focused on creating an impact across North America in the communities in which CWT employees live and work. Various Habitat volunteer projects are also being organized across the country as a part of CWT’s partnership with this great organization.

GBTA’s 2012 conference will take place in Boston. What do you think some of the popular topics will be next year?

Safe Travels!

At my previous employer, I had participated in Habitat for Humanity several times by building homes within the city of Chicago.  It is sometimes very tough for us to find ways to participate in our community where we feel we are not only contributing but actually experiencing the result.  Fundraising is sometimes tough because you rarely know or see where that money goes to.

I like Habitat because you’re really getting involved in impacting a member of your community, whether it’s down the block or miles from where you live.  Plus, the family that will live there is working right next to you, which gives you the feeling that not only are they grateful for you to be there but for the opportunity they are working to gain.

As a woman, I didn’t always have the best understanding of construction “lingo.” This is a great crash course for the next time you run into a contractor.

Giving back isn’t just important to me, but to many of my colleagues and to CWT overall as well – so much so that we’re making it the focus of our biggest client event of the year, which takes place next week in Denver. We’re supporting the construction of a Habitat for Humanity home for a local family, and enabling our clients to leave their mark on the house while still having a great time as we take over Invesco Field, home of the Denver Broncos. We kicked things off in July with a ribbon cutting ceremony, and construction will wrap up on the home in October.

We’ll have lots more video and photos from the event to share, so check back here soon, and watch for more information on this effort on the blog. Or, for information on how you can participate in Habitat in your local community, view their site here.

Does anyone have some great volunteer stories to share?