GBTA's focus is on education
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) will focus on three major conferences in India in 2018 to bring more education to the market, because the needs of the market grow along with its size
Michael W. McCormick, Executive Director & COO, Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), was in Mumbai recently to share his perspective about how the India market (and the Asia Pacific region) for business travel is playing out against the background of the global marketplace. “The big headline though is that India is the fastest-growing business travel market among all the major markets. It moved into the top 10 in size and at the current growth rate it will reach number eight in the world within a few years,” he says. This is big news, not just for Indian corporate companies but also for service providers who assist their travels. The market dynamics are changing, McCormick says, with China surpassing the US last year and becoming the world's largest business travel market.
“The world order is changing where growth is tied directly to jobs and the economy. Business travel drives business growth. The growth in India has been phenomenal. The only country where the growth is similar in size and type is China,” he adds.
Of course, China's growth story started 10 years ago that has continued in scale till date. According to McCormick, the volume is amazing. “But you see a similar pattern and growth trend happening in India. Part of that has been the buildup in the infrastructure – in both airlines and hotels and everything else that is needed to service the market – has also grown substantially with more investment coming in,” he says. It obviously takes time for that kind of investment to come into the marketplace and mature. But there is continued investment and that bodes well for the Indian market.
He also sees more and more Indian companies investing in business travel now. “This is in terms of domestic as well as international travel and India will see more and more inbound business travelers as well,” he forecasts.
The programmes that GBTA has developed in India are bringing in expertise to the marketplace. McCormick says, “Business travel is truly an investment and when companies have that mentality then they start to see the return on investment. The good news is that companies in India are seeing a high RoI. But they then start asking how they can get more for their money. ‘How can we invest that money wisely?' So that's when our programmes come into play. Because the way that you do that is now by limiting these expenses so much as it is using it wisely.”
Business travel drives business growth. The growth in India has been phenomenal
SAFETY ON PRIORITY
When McCormick talks to buyers globally, the single biggest issue he says they are dealing with is safety apart from things like contracting, etc. Managing risks has become a priority. “In the last 10 years, the overall marketplace for
business travel – the way companies travel, the global economy that we are all in, dependencies between countries – has changed travel patterns forever. The days of having a predictable travel destinations and even the percentage of travel that is done domestically verses internationally has changed. These overall patterns have changed the way we look at everything. You have travellers going to destinations where they are more likely to travel alone, more likely to go to a destination they are not familiar with or places that have different levels of security risks,” he says.
We are focusing on 3 major events conferences and bring more education to the market
As a result, companies have tweaked their responsibility to their employees and they have to be very aware of being able to contact their travellers at all times and be able to issue advisories, be able to help and assist them in need.
“These issues have changed the priorities for companies. We also work closely with government officials,” McCormick adds.
INDIA FOR GBTA
Speaking about the India market, McCormick says, “We are very excited about India. We have been very happy with the response we have received in the last two years. It has met all our projections for growth or exceeded them. We are trying to focus on three major events conferences and bring more education to the market. The size of the market is growing as are its needs.”