15 Jun Nearly 100 TMCs and Business Travel Clients Attend Exclusive Travel Leaders “Executive Forum” in Chicago
The invitation-only event featured topics such as “bleisure” travel, duty of care, multinational travel and more
Plymouth, MN (June 15, 2017) – Travel Leaders Associates – America’s top retail travel agency brand recently concluded its 2017 Executive Forum, which took place at Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park, on May 23-24. The Travel Leaders Executive Forum, which was by invitation-only, provided an opportunity for Travel Leaders’ Travel Management Company members and their premier corporate clients and prospects to discuss the latest technology, trends, and developments impacting business travel delivered by top travel industry executives and guest speakers.
“The annual Executive Forum provides our Members and their clients a unique opportunity to better understand the latest trends and technology developments in corporate travel, and how it relates to their individual businesses and travelers,” said Roger E. Block, CTC, President of Travel Leaders Network. “Business travel is ever-changing and providing our agencies – and their top corporate accounts – with tangible information on bleisure travel, duty of care, multinational travel, payment processes and simplifying meeting management. It’s all an important way to build trust and client loyalty.”
Participants were able to learn from and ask questions of industry executives who are experts in their fields including:
- Paula Christy, Vice President of Distribution Channel Management, Hilton Worldwide
- Jeff Coggin, Assistant Vice President of Travel Agency Sales, Enterprise Holdings, Inc.
- Tom Doxey, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Operations for United Airlines
- Chris Hurst, Co-Founder and Chief Operations Officer, Stabilitas
- Parker Schlank, Vice President of Consulting & Analytics, Travel Leaders Corporate
- Alisa de Gaspe Beaubien, Chief Operating Officer, Groupize
- Colleen Black, Partner, GoldSpring Consulting
- Emil Marone, Sr. Director, Global Development, Comdata
- Matt McGrath, Vice President Corporate Sales, Carey International
- Kai-Gordon Weiland, Business Development Manager, LCC
“The 2017 Travel Leaders Executive Forum was, once again, very informative. The topics were right on point and our clients were left with a lot of options and food for thought,” said Carol Thomas, Manager of Corporate Technology for the Travel Leaders location in Toledo, OH. “The segment on ‘bleisure’ was quite informative. It brought to light a portion of business travel that has been left untouched; however, it’s an area that needs to be explored by every agency in their client reviews. It was also important to re-visit the Virtual Payment Technology; with fraud on the rise this will be a continued way to combat it with your clients. Overall it was a wonderful experience for our agency and our client partners.”
“The two-day event was highly informative and beneficial to myself and the various clients we had in attendance. The presenters were knowledgeable and engaging – all are industry professionals who clearly understand and can articulate their brands and the ever-changing world of travel we live in today,” said Kenneth Allen with the Travel Leaders location in San Antonio, TX. “Personally, the piece on bleisure travel was my favorite. As we all know, this has been a growing movement in corporate travel programs, and there are many approaches to it. It was nice to get the analytics from the presenter and feedback from the audience.”
This year’s Executive Forum sponsors included: Carey International, Comdata Payment Innovation, Enterprise Holdings, Inc., Groupize, Hilton, Travelport, and United Airlines.
Travel agencies interested in learning more about programs or the diverse offerings that Travel Leaders Network offers agencies in leisure and business travel, luxury travel, destination weddings and honeymoon travel – as well as active and adventure travel – may visit TravelLeadersNetwork.com or call 877-404-4172. Led by the flagship Travel Leaders-branded Associates, the nearly 7,000 travel agencies of Travel Leaders Network combined enjoy more than $17 billion in annual sales volume.
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About Travel Leaders Network
Travel Leaders Network assists millions of leisure and business travelers, annually, and is the largest seller of luxury travel, cruises, river cruises and tours in the travel agency industry. Led by flagship Travel Leaders-branded travel agencies (www.travelleaders.com), the network includes nearly 7,000 Associates and Member travel agencies locations in the United States and Canada and represents more than $17 billion in annual sales volume. Travel Leaders Network’s award-winning Agent Profiler agent-locator, marketing, technology, supplier partnerships and educational programs are designed around our travel agents’ commitment to our vacation and business travel clients in providing a progressive approach toward each unique travel experience. Travel Leaders Network is a Travel Leaders Group LLC company.