GBTA eyes 300 members by 2018

With a membership of less than 100 at present, Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) has embarked on pan-India educational drives to increase its membership to 300 by 2018. The association will also organise its annual conferences-cum-expo in Delhi and Mumbai this year.

GBTA India’s agenda for 2017 is focused on aggressive membership drive targeting both the buyers and the industry; to prompt them to join the association and take advantage of networking, research reports, educational seminars and professional certifications. According to Gaurav Sundaram, Regional Director-India, GBTA, the overall objective is to educate a larger number of buyers and corporate users of the science of business travel, the value of partnerships with their travel management companies, importance of peer-to-peer networking and knowledge sharing.

He feels these workshops are ways to take GBTA closer to the clients; share content which they can integrate into their operations and convince them about the value and power GBTA can bring to them by becoming a member of the association. “We hope to increase our membership to 300 by 2018. Currently the GBTA membership in India is less than 100. We have already commenced our workshop series in primary cities starting from Mumbai this February, going to cities like Bengaluru in March, Gurugram and Noida in April and finally in Hyderabad in May. We are offering a 50 per cent rebate for 60 days to become members of GBTA and avail benefits at a lower rate to commemorate our anniversary in India,” he said.

GBTA will also be organising two annual conferences cum expos in Delhi on August 18, at Pullman Aerocity Hotel and Mumbai on October 6, at Taj Lands End Mumbai. This year’s activities will conclude with a Business Travel Forum at ITB Singapore on October 27, 2017, informed Sundaram. Enumerating other initiatives of the association, he further adds that an ethics committee has been set up to formulate an ethics charter for its members. Once the members subscribe to this charter, it will ensure standard delivery of services and adoption of best practices in business.

“We have already commenced our workshop series in primary cities starting from Mumbai this Feb”

– Gaurav Sundaram Regional Director-India GBTA