The business sector is in for a treat. On May 21st and 22nd, the first and only trade fair specialising in Business Travel and MICE in Spain will take place at the Centro de Convenciones Norte de IFEMA: Expo Turismo de Negocios 2018 will be held under the slogan ‘Where business travel people grow’.
The event is organised by the Iberian Business Travel Association (IBTA) along with the industry associations AVASA, GEBTA and Travel Advisors, in addition to international support from GBTA Europe, the academic support of CETT-University of Barcelona, the collaboration of Madrid Business Forum, and is sponsored by Viajes El Corte Inglés.
The new event aims to become the leading trade fair for business tourism in the country, an active platform for inspiration, doing business and networking.
Expo Turismo de Negocios will also host the 10th National Business Travel Congress, which brings together leading international professionals to give engaging presentations and talks about current topics in the sector and the future challenges it faces. Risk management, new corporate travel policies, the impact of innovation, financial solutions, the implications of the globalisation of travel and negotiation techniques are all issues that will be addressed over the two days of the fair.
A highly technological fair
According to the organisation’s forecasts, more than 5000 professional visitors will attend the much-anticipated fair and national congress. Expo Turismo de Negocios has developed a very useful tool for professionals to make the best use of their time, and allow them to organise meetings, know who is attending and who they are going to visit and keep note of useful contacts made during the fair. ‘ExpoTN App my event planner’ is an intuitive mobile app to manage business contacts, add meetings with profiles of interest, access the agenda for the fair and congress, check the updated newsletter, etc.
The app is available as a free download from Google Play or the App Store.
Business Travel, a growing sector
Travel is essential for businesses to thrive. Thanks to business trips, companies know what’s happening in other markets, what are the latest trends in the sector and can also keep in touch with customers and other large corporations. All of this leads to an important process of internationalisation and globalisation for the sector, and the country’s economy grows.
Data from research carried out by the GBTA shows that Spanish companies invest 19 billion euros per year on business travel in Spain and global business travel accounts for an astonishing 1.3 trillion euros. These figures clearly endorse this important economic sector.
The business travel sector vibrancy is also seen in the increasing demand for Travel Managers by companies. The current situation is reflected in the opportunity of a fair such as Expo Turismo de Negocios, which was created as a knowledge platform for the business travel sector, a catalyst for existing trends, and a meeting point for companies and professionals.
Its mission is also to draw attention to the significant economic contributions of business trips to the global tourism industry. Under the impetus of Expo Turismo de Negocios, business travel is ultimately aspiring to be recognised for its value as a tourism segment capable of effectively complementing holiday tourism during periods of low demand.
