The African Business Travel Association (ABTA) which has gained tremendous interest and support from business travel professionals across Africa over the past four years will be hosting its inaugural Kenya launch event in Nairobi later this month. ABTA has been active in Angola, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa and is now expanding into Kenya, hosting its first event in this region which will be attended by corporate travel buyers and travel procurement professionals, as well as the regions leading TMC’s, Travel Agents, Airlines, Hotels and Travel Technology providers.
ABTA Founder Monique Swart says “As the economic heartbeat of East Africa, we are very excited to finally bring ABTA to Kenya after having our eyes on this region for quite some time. The event has gained a lot of interest from travel professionals from the Corporate, Travel Agent, TMC and Supplier sectors and we are looking forward to having record attendance at this first ABTA Kenya Event, as well as having the opportunity to meet and engage with new travel industry colleagues in this region.”
As the only association of it’s kind in Africa, ABTA’s key focus is to bring together all business travel professionals in one place in order to discuss and debate industry challenges, brainstorm solutions and share best practice, specifically focused on the business travel environment. Chris Pouney, Director of Severnside Consulting UK and ABTA event moderator says “We know from our travels across Africa that these ABTA events are one of a kind. There are no other opportunities for travel professionals from all sectors within the business travel community to get together to drive the development of the industry. There are plenty of events and conferences focusing on tourism, but not on the business travel sector. ABTA is slowly changing this in all major hubs across Africa.”
The launch event is being supported by major travel brands including Amadeus, BCD Travel, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Diners Club, FCm Travel Solutions, Hilton Hotels, South African Airways, TravelPort and Wings Travel Management to name a few. The Agenda will deliver panel discussions around local best practice in corporate travel management, insights into key business travel trends, challenges and opportunities, and open industry discussions focusing on challenges and solutions around payment terms, visa’s, service delivery and more.
“Kenya is one of Africa’s key emerging markets and as such, there are limitless opportunities for travel professionals in the region. With more and more global and multi-national companies opening their doors in Kenya monthly, the growth potential for the business travel industry is really exciting. It is now up to us as the travel community to come together regularly to ensure that we are working together to support business travel into the region which has an overall benefit for all sectors.” says Swart.
For more information about this ABTA event, readers can visit the Events tab on the ABTA website or contact monique@abta.co.za.
