ACTE Summit ready to Answer Tough Questions

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. October 14, 2008

AUGUST 16, 2007. European issues will be the focus of the international business travel profession when the Association of Corporate Travel Executives convenes its global education conference in Munich, 21 - 23 October, 2007.

In an unprecedented move, the association will conduct a European Travel Summit (legislative leaders, industry authorities, and travel management innovators) against a background of seminars and general sessions based on analytical information generated during the event.

According to industry insiders, this is likely to result in volatile debate on issues ranging from GDS evolution to privacy, to maintaining European standards under pressure from foreign transport agreements.

"We'll take our chances," said ACTE's Executive Director Susan Gurley. "ACTE has never hesitated to address the hot issues, the difficult questions, or the topics that may require reinventing the industry. Our fall conference will provide a global overview of the industry, through a sharp European perspective."

The issues themselves have been proposed by a global network of travel executives working in committee with ACTE to identify key topics and in assigning a priority to the same. Yet Gurley contends that simply identifying these issues is only the beginning. ACTE proposes to present this data to EC government officials already attending the travel summit portion of the event, along with recommendations for improvement or change.

"This conference has a dual purpose," said Gurley. "We committed to educating our membership on the latest travel management and cost containment techniques, and informing representatives of the EC how their actions impact our industry. Our goal is to foster a higher level of communication between industry and government, while emphasizing European concerns to a global travel industry."

The association has already taken a stand favouring the preservation of passenger privacy rights - as established by the EC - which could have been reversed in the recent Open Skies agreement.

ACTE is ideally poised to emphasize the European position. The association's board is primarily European with US members in the minority. Its educational foundation is virtually based in Britain. And its conference program is composed of European speakers, presenters, and panels selected for expertise and industry veteran status. The general sessions for the Munich include:

• Gianpiero Petriglieri, Affiliate Professor of Organisational Behaviour, INSEAD.

Gianpiero Petriglieri, MD, is a leading expert on leadership, experiential learning, and unconscious processes in individuals, groups and organisations. His research and writing are regarded as the final word on effective leadership development; the experience of becoming a change professional; and the emotional dilemmas of high potential managers. At INSEAD Gianpiero teaches "Leading People and Groups" in the MBA programme, and conducts sessions on leadership, team dynamics, and personal and professional change in executive education courses. He is also Visiting Professor at CBS Executive, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark.

• Martin Walker, Senior Director of the Global Business Policy Council, A. T. Kearney

Martin Walker is the Senior Director of the Global Business Policy Council, a private think-tank for CEOs founded by the A T Kearney business consultancy. He is also a syndicated columnist and Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of United Press International. Previously, in his 25 years as a journalist with The Guardian newspaper, he served as bureau chief in Moscow and the United States, as well as European editor and assistant editor.

A regular broadcaster on the BBC, National Public Radio and CNN, and panellist on Inside Washington and The McLaughlin Show, he is also a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars in Washington DC, a senior fellow of the World Policy Institute at the New School for Social Research in New York, and a contributing editor of the Los Angeles Times' Opinion section and of Europe magazine.

The trademark of ACTE conferences, intimate settings conducive to results with direct access to key players, will not be compromised in Munich. Furthermore, ACTE's policy is to work with national and regional organizations, not to compete for members.