The Business Travel Association (BTA) will host a joint conference with the Advantage Travel Partnership in March next year, combining the BTA Spring Conference and Advantage Business Travel Symposium in a single event.
BTA chief executive Clive Wratten announced the joint conference initiative at the BTA Autumn Conference in Gibraltar, noting it would be the first time the organisations have held a conference together.
The BTA suggested it could mark the start of a regular collaboration on industry events.
Advantage global business travel managing director Andrea Caulfield-Smith told the BTA conference the event “will be delivered through a conference as well as an expo”, showcasing products and services.
The joint conference will be held in central London, at a venue yet to be announced.
BTA commercial director Andrew Clarke said: “We’ve been talking to Advantage for some time now and long-term we’re looking to take a more collaborative approach.
“We’re looking to do more industry events together.”
The BTA held its annual one-day Spring Conference in London in March this year. The one-day Advantage Business Travel Symposium was also held in London but in February. It was the first Advantage Business Travel Symposium for five years.
The joint conference will be Caulfield-Smith’s first as global business travel managing director as she joined Advantage in April from Visa, where she was B2B global travel partnerships director.
The BTA reports its travel management company (TMC) members account for more than 90% of managed travel booked in the UK.
The Advantage Travel Partnership notes its Global Business Travel division has a collective annual turnover of £7.6 billion and accounts for more than 50% of the consortium’s membership.
Both organisations plan to continue hosting their own conferences overseas.
The Advantage Conference 2024 was held in Mexico over three nights in May and the 2025 conference is due to be held in Malta, also in May.
The BTA conference took place on Monday and Tuesday this week in Gibraltar.