NEW IDEAS FRESH KNOWLEDGE MEANINGFUL MEETINGS Business Travel Market News Issue 5, Spring 2011

BTM goes from strength to strength

PLATINUM SPONSOR

Now into its 3rd year, BTM has firmly established itself in the annual calendar as THE event for European business travel buyers. The VIP Hosted Buyer programme is one of the proven successes that has helped to differentiate Business Travel Market from all other events in the market place.

Using the sophisticated online appointments diary system the VIP Hosted Buyer programme guarantees sponsors and exhibitors alike, face to face meetings with pre-qualified, senior business travel buyers from Europe’s leading corporations. Detailed demographic data of all VIP Hosted Buyers is

available in advance so exhibitors can carefully select who they would like to meet according to their target market. The system also enables the Hosted Buyers to request meetings, all meetings are consensual, both parties must confirm the appointment in advance.

In 2010, 300 Hosted Buyers attended more than 2000 meetings. In 2011 BTM will be building on the success of previous events and expanding the VIP Hosted Buyer Programme to 500 participants, a significant increase on 2010 in terms of both the number of Hosted Buyers and meetings that will take place. Recruitment of the Hosted Buyers is already

under way with 25 groups confirmed from 15 countries including Spain, Italy, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Poland, Ireland, Scotland and Russia.

This is excellent news for sponsors and exhibitors who last year enjoyed an average of 21+ pre-arranged meetings; 85% of which took place on time.

Loraine Holdcroft, VIP Hosted Buyer Programme Director said “The VIP Hosted Buyer programme has proved to be a great success ensuring that professional travel buyers and exhibitors alike

have meaningful and consensual meetings with the right contacts and decision makers. We continue to gain more and more support from European travel associations and professional bodies who see BTM as time well spent for their members.

Our rigorous qualification process ensures that all Hosted Buyers are the key decision makers and travel experts from within their corporations.

The Hosted Buyers value the format, they choose who they want to meet at a good time of year just before the RFP season in the Autumn.”

Why do Hosted Buyers attend BTM?Pre-qualified buyers with sizeable budgets are invited to attend the event on a complimentary basis(Hosted Buyers receive flights, accommodation, ground transportation and access to all conference sessions and social functions) in return for attending a

minimum of 6 meetings with major travel suppliers with whom they choose to meet.

Hosted Buyers plan their time at BTM around the conference sessions they have selected, the meetings they have pre-arranged, as well as the various networking events.

The buyers appreciate this mix and especially as it comes at no cost either to them or their organisations - except for their time!

Business Travel Market

For more information please visit www.businesstravelmarket.co.uk or call T: +44 (0) 20 7239 4922

2010 VIP Hosted Buyer Programme key stats:

• 300 buyers from 20 countries• 21 meetings on average per Exhibitor• 60% with travel budgets from 5million - 100million+

“All the BATM delegates have been pleased with the superb organization, the excellent workshops and the contacts/meetings with the exhibitors. It was a real success!”

Quote from Sophie van Haute,BATM (Belgian Association of Travel Managers)

For more information on the VIP Hosted Programme or if you are interested in hosting a group please go to www.businesstravelmarket.co.uk or contact loraine@businesstravelmarket.co.uk

Save the date – 22nd and 23rd June at Excel, London

“The event has again proved to be the most challenging, large benchmark trade show. We are sure that BTM is a must attend conference and exhibition for business travel professionals.”

Quote from Yuri Sarapkin, Russian Business Travel Agencies Association

Major brands support BTM once againQatar Airways, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Accor Hospitality, CWT, Eurostar, HRS and Grange Hotels have all confirmed their sponsorships again for 2011.

In addition the following companies have confirmed sponsorship for the first time in 2011. They include Airplus International, Mint Hotel, Skyline, FCM Travel Solutions and Egencia.

Further sponsors will be announced in our next edition of BTM News. BTM is also pleased to announce support from our

partners ACTE, Visit London and HBAA as well as several country associations. “We are delighted with the level of sponsorship renewals and new sponsors who have committed so far to BTM 2011. The level of support illustrates the real value that both sponsors and exhibitors gain from the event. In these tough economic times the ability to measure your ROI is key and the structure of the BTM event enables our exhibitors and sponsors to do just that through our one-to-one pre-arranged meetings” said Paul Robin, Event Director of Business Travel Market.

“This was FCm Travel Solutions’ first time as an exhibitor at Business Travel Market, and we are pleased with how the show went for us. The appointment programme worked well, and everyone we booked a meeting with turned up to meet us on the stand which is really positive. This show is very much about quality rather than quantity. We made a number of new introductions and I will be surprised if several of those don’t lead to significant new business wins.”

“I am only pleased that the effort and professionalism put in by everyone demonstrates yet again what comes out- Quality!”

Quote from Alex Armstrong, Head of Sales, FCm Travel Solutions UK (Exhibitor)

Quote from Paul Wait, Virgin Atlantic (Sponsor)

“The Business Travel Market (BTM) Conference & Exhibition at London’s ExCeL in June was the single most successful sales & marketing project ever undertaken by Oscar.”

Quote from Steven Smith, Call-Oscar Ground Transport (Exhibitor/Sponsor)

In partnership – ACTE and BTM announce an exclusive partnership dealACTE and BTM recently announced a new strategic partnership agreement.

The agreement will boost participation in Business Travel Market by ACTE members qualifying for Europe’s only fully hosted programme for corporate travel buyers, whose numbers will increase to 500 at this year’s event.

ACTE will also be the exclusive provider of the educational content for BTM’s conference, and have formed an education planning committee of senior representatives from

the trade and buyer communities.

The objective of the education planning committee is to ensure that relevant, timely topics are discussed openly in an interactive environment during the educational sessions at BTM, to appeal to professional travel buyers from Europe.

Based on feedback from 2010, 14 educational sessions will take place during the two days at BTM. The education planning committee created a list of over 50 topics which have now been whittled down to 14 to ensure that only the most relevant and topical subjects are covered.

There are four education streams, these are:

A. Special InterestB. Programme ManagementC. Personal DevelopmentD. Marketplace/Trends/Environment

Details of all 14 education sessions are available at businesstravelmarket.co.uk.

“Buyers’ time is very precious, and they will only leave their offices if there is a strong return on that investment. BTM has been well received by the market, but working with ACTE on our conference content will take things to another level. This partnership with ACTE will greatly enhance our offering

and scope, especially where access to global research is concerned.” said Paul Robin, Event Director of Business Travel Market.

The move has been welcomed across Europe. Herman Mensink of the Netherlands-based Prism Group said, “The partnership will take the already excellent education content of BTM to another level, which will help make the most of buyers’ time to emphasise this is a must-attend event.”

Members of the education planning committee include

Arja Niileksela-Tiainen

Darren Williams

Matt Beck

Paul Wardlow

Alison Smith

Tom Stone

James Grant

Marianne Samman

Peter Ducker

Xavier Houart

Tony Pilcher

Catherine Lundberg

Julia Surry

Herman Mensink

Toby Guest

Ian Heywood

Toby Joseph

Cargotec (Finland)

Eurostar (UK)

Reardon Commerce (USA)

Starwood Hotels & Resorts (UK)

CWT (UK)

Sirius Management (UK)

Amadeus (Global)

Lufthansa (Europe)

HBAA (UK)

Atlas Corp (BeLux)

Pilcher Associates (UK)

CMM Consulting (Sweden)

AirPlus (UK)

Prism (The Netherlands)

Goldman Sachs (Global)

Heywood Associates (UK)

Jumeriah International (Dubai)

For more information please visit www.businesstravelmarket.co.uk or call T: +44 (0) 20 7239 4922

An exhibitor’s perspective - “60 second interview” with Paul Wardlow of Starwood Hotels

Official Partners

2011 Platinum Sponsor

Founding Partners

2011 Sponsors

UK Exclusive Trade Magazine Partner

1. Why did Starwood Hotels & Resorts decide to participate in 2010?

2. How many of your hotels were on your stand?

3. How many pre-arranged meetings did you have in total?

4. How do Starwood measure the ROI from such an event?

5. What was the most memorable part of BTM last year?

6. What exciting developments does Starwood have planned for 2011/2012?

“We looked at multiple shows domestically and internationally and found that Business Travel Market offered a great opportunity to meet with new European corporate travel buyers as well as existing global accounts. It is important to connect with our clients centrally but also give the 12 hotels and 5 regional representatives the opportunity to hear first hand, how we can make ‘doing business’ easier now as well as in the future. With the pre-arranged meetings service as well as walk by visitors our expectations were well met.”

“We had 12 hotels and 5 regional representatives along with 5 Global associates. For 2011 we have already exceeded this number of attendees.”

“We had a total of 65 confirmed appointments over the course of the two days. There was also a steady flow of walk bys and so we were more than on track with our hotels expectations.”

“We recorded the ROI by hotel and regional feedback through Zoomerang surveys. We had a 95% success rate, with our hotel representatives saying they would return to the show in 2011. Alongside this, hotels highlighted that in general they walked away with a minimum of 2 active or qualified leads each. This means that across the board we were looking at potential 24 plus new accounts.”

“The most memorable part was seeing the use of the Link@Sheraton powered by Microsoft being used in a way that we see it working in Sheraton Hotels. The opportunity to connect with the office or loved ones while visitors to the show walk through, to say hi or do business.”

“We have just opened a new W Hotel in London, in Leicester Square which has to be seen to be believed. We are also on track to open our first Aloft hotel in London at Excel, opening in September 2011.”

For more information please visit www.businesstravelmarket.co.uk or call T: +44 (0) 20 7239 4922

It’s all about ROIGenerate new business, retain customers and get your brand noticed at Business Travel Market 2011.

Date for the DiaryOn the 31st March2011, BTM will be hosting a launch event for sponsors, exhibitors and London based buyers. The event will be used to showcase the improved registration system and the meetings diary.

The BTM team will all be on hand to answer any of your queries to ensure you maximise your ROI from the event.

The newly rebranded Mint Hotel have kindly offered to sponsor the event and the evening

will be hosted in the new Mint Hotel at Tower Bridge.

Invitations will be sent out prior to the event with more details.

Prospecting for new business and identifying the relevant contacts is a costly and time consuming process for all suppliers.

The Business Travel Market model has been designed to cut out the first stages of the sales cycle providing suppliers with the right contacts, from the right companies, at the right time.

Can you afford to miss out?

• Meet 500 pre-qualified senior travel managers from 20+ countries invited through the BTM VIP Hosted Buyer Programme

• Target the buyers you wish to meet using our sophisticated appointments system with full buyer profile for each Hosted Buyer

• Pre-arrange 1-2-1 meetings with Hosted

Buyers for the event so that you can manage your diary effectively and efficiently

• Measure your ROI based on the pre-arranged meetings you have and the new business generated

• Meet an additional 2,500 visitors over the two days

• Timing - June 22-23rd pre RFP season when buyers are looking to do business.

Networking Opportunities

31st March BTM Exhibitors/Sponsors Reception at Mint Hotel Tower Bridge

21st June BTM Hosted Buyers Pre-event Reception at Grange Hotel Tower Bridge

22nd June Official BTM Party sponsored by CWT

Do not miss your opportunity to have meetings with hundreds of buyers like these

There are various ways to get involved in BTM, stand costs start from £2,500 and sponsorship starts from £4,000.

For Participation Informationcontact Neil Simpson, Sales Director

T: + 44 (0) 207 239 4908 M: + 44 (0) 7769 260 246E: neil@businesstravelmarket.co.uk

Global Travel Manager

VP Travel Manager EMEA

Regional Travel Advisor

Supervisor of Travel Services

Corporate Service Procurement Officer

Travel Project Manager

Travel Manager EMEA

Global Travel Buyer

Global Sourcing Manager

Contract Manager

Aberdeen Asset Management

Bank of America

BP International

Deutsche Bank

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Microsoft EMEA

Nike EMEA

Orange

Santander UK

Yorkshire Water

A small selection of Hosted Buyers that attended meetings with suppliers at BTM 2010

For more information please visit www.businesstravelmarket.co.uk or call T: +44 (0) 20 7239 4922

In addition to sponsors and partners, brands that have confirmed participation for 2011 include: