Canada National Business Travel Association event will be biggest ever

More than 260 business travel professionals and members of the media are pre-registered, with more registrants expected on site, to attend the two-day Sixth Annual Conference & Exhibitor Showcase of the National Business Travel Association (NBTA) in Toronto, making this its biggest event ever. More than 75 travel buyers or travel managers will be counted among the participants, another record for NBTA Canada.

The agenda includes an Exhibitor Showcase highlighting the business travel products and services of more than 36 exhibiting companies and breakout education sessions on topics such as risk management, strategic meetings management, business aviation, managing hotel spend, and corporate social responsibility as it relates to travel. Attendees will also take part in General Sessions, where they will learn from business leaders and inspiring presenters, such as Charles Décarie, vice president of procurement, Building Services and Workshops, Cirque du Soleil®; Douglas Porter, CFA deputy chief economist & managing director, BMO Capital Markets; Alan Deutschman, author, Change or Die and Walk the Walk; and David Pierzchala, vice president, Ipsos Reid.

NBTA Canada president, Tanya Racz, CTE, CCTE, said, “I want to thank our attendees, exhibitors, and sponsors for making the NBTA Canada Conference & Exhibitor Showcase such a success. This event has continued to grow, because we have such high-caliber participants who demand high-quality programming. I look forward to all of the learning and networking opportunities of the next two days.”

Today, 21 participants took part in a pre-conference session on the Fundamentals of Business Travel Management, breaking another record for NBTA Canada. Those who complete the course and pass the exam will earn the professional designation of CTE, or Corporate Travel Expert.

Michael W. McCormick, executive director and COO of NBTA’s global operations, said, “The 2010 NBTA Canada Conference & Exhibitor Showcase will be NBTA’s fourth industry event of the year, and all four have exceeded goals and grown year-over-year. I’m honored by the level of support NBTA has from the global business travel community, and I look forward to continuing this track record of success with our future programs.”

The Sixth Annual NBTA Canada Conference & Exhibitor Showcase will be held April 13-14 at the Toronto Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre.

NBTA Canada, the leading organization for corporate travel professionals in Canada, is part of the National Business Travel Association (NBTA), the world’s premier business travel and corporate meetings organization. NBTA and its additional regional affiliates – the Brazilian Business Travel Association (ABGEV), NBTA Australia/New Zealand, NBTA Europe, NBTA Mexico, and NBTA USA – serve a network of more than 17,000 business travel professionals around the globe with industry-leading events, networking, education & professional development, research, news & information, and advocacy. NBTA members, numbering more than 5,000 in 30 nations, are corporate and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers. They collectively manage and direct more than US$340 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually on behalf of more than 13 million business travelers within their organizations.