Leading Travel Industry Visionaries Share Predictions for the Future of Business Travel at GBTA Convention 2013

Alexandria, VA, 2013-05-23 — /travelprnews.com/ — The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the voice of the global business travel industry, today announced the speakers for the ‘Luminaries of Travel CEO Panel’ to be held on Tuesday, August 6, 2013, during the GBTA Convention 2013 in San Diego, California.  Philip Wolf, founder and retired chairman, PhoCusWright, will moderate the panel with leaders of major travel suppliers including David Kong, president and CEO, Best Western; Michael Batt, founder and chairman, Travel Leaders Group;  and, Steve Singh, CEO and chairman of the board of directors, Concur.  The panel is made possible by Avianca.

The Luminaries of Travel CEO Panel brings together industry leaders who demonstrate the power of value creation through branding and technology to challenge traditional business travel approaches.  These luminaries will tackle tough questions and discuss the risks and opportunities facing the future of business travel.

Philip Wolf is the founder and retired chairman of PhoCusWright, the source for travel tourism and hospitality intelligence.  He is the architect of the annually acclaimed PhoCusWright Conference. The event’s provocative Center Stage themes are relied upon as industry bellwethers, quickly becoming accepted wisdom each year.  CEOs from every major online travel company, along with top airline, hotel, GDS, and search executives, have taken the stage one-on-one with Wolf.

David Kong is a hospitality industry leader with more than three decades of experience and is leading Best Western International through a brand resurgence.  Since he was named president and CEO in 2004, Kong has led the company to its highest revenue per available room and unprecedented performance in guest loyalty and hotel satisfaction.  Best Western has over 4,200 hotels in over 110 countries with annual hotel revenues exceeding $6 billion.  Because of Kong’s strong background in international development, Best Western has become one of the largest, fastest-growing and most respected international hotel brands.

Michael Batt is the founder and chairman of Travel Leaders Group, a North America travel company that generates gross travel sales of almost $18 billion and directly employs over 1,000 staff managing operations of more than 6,000 company-owned, franchised and affiliated travel agencies in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia.   Prior to his current role, Batt served as an executive with Carlson Companies where he was president of Carlson Leisure Group.

Steve Singh has served as Concur’s Chief Executive Officer since 1996 and director since 1993, including serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors since September 1999. Singh currently serves on the board of directors for CornerStone OnDemand, Cleartrip, Buuteeq and ModuMetal. In addition, Mr. Singh serves as a director at the Washington Roundtable, chairman of the GBTA Foundation, a director of the W Fund, and a member of the Advisory Board for the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. Prior to Concur, Mr. Singh served as the General Manager of the Contact Management Division at Symantec Corporation.

About GBTA Convention 
The GBTA Convention, with nearly 7,000 attendees, is the largest, most comprehensive annual gathering of business travel and meetings managers, meeting planners, procurement professionals and suppliers anywhere in the world. The Business Travel Event of the Year ® features: more than 70 industry-leading education sessions organized into 20+ specialized tracks geared to specific levels of experience and a variety of disciplines; a 400+ company Exposition showcasing market choices not available at other industry gatherings; sessions featuring world-renowned speakers and industry leaders; a wide selection of professional development opportunities; and, much more. For more information on the GBTA Convention, visit gbta.org/convention.