Melbourne’s Illuminate event to highlight key trends in corporate travel
New travel technologies, product, hotel, aviation and ground transport trends currently shaping the corporate travel sector are under the spotlight today as part of the Illuminate conference being held at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Over 400 guests have registered for the travel conference, being hosted by Flight Centre Travel Group’s (FCTG) corporate division. The conference is shaping up to be one of Australia’s largest corporate travel events.
Attendees will be a mix of industry suppliers from the aviation, hotel, ground transport and technology sectors, plus travel and procurement representatives from FCTG’s corporate clients, which cover the full spectrum of the business travel market including:
- Small to medium sized business customers of Corporate Traveller
- Large market corporate and government clients of FCM Travel Solutions
- Entertainment and sports client representatives from Stage and Screen
- Academic clients that book their travel through Campus Travel
- Conference, travel and event clients of cievents
The event is opening with a panel session featuring the Flight Centre Travel Group founders Graham Turner and Geoff Harris. Graham Turner who is the CEO of the global travel company and his long-time friend and business partner Geoff Harris, who was also part of the Boost Juice empire, and now is heavily involved with the not-for-profit sector – will be talking past, present and the future of the travel and broader business industries.
FCTG Executive General Manager James Kavanagh, who will be moderating the opening session, said he was looking forward to the day, which for the first time was an all-brand event for FCTG’s corporate division.
“This year’s event is double the size of last year’s event in terms of the production and involvement from the industry,” he said. “We have a massive line-up of guests, key-note speakers and announcements from different parts of the corporate travel sector. It should be both entertaining and informative for everyone who attends.
“The objective of the day is to update, inform and inspire our customers and our industry suppliers with everything that’s new and innovative in the corporate travel sector.
“Topics will touch on the latest trends in corporate travel tools for customers, the hotel and aviation sector plus we also have a special keynote speaker in the afternoon, which we’ll be keeping under wraps until we welcome him on stage.
James said one of the highlights of the day for attendees was the client panel.
“This is a really important session as it’s where we get to hear directly from our customers who are involved with the procurement and management of travel in their organisations. This is always a highly-attended session for delegates, as it’s a good way to learn about the challenges and achievements from those who are responsible for driving change within the travel category,” he said.
Illuminate also will feature an exhibition of all the latest and greatest products from across the travel industry including technology demonstrations, competitions and giveaways.
ENDS.