The GBTA Convention annually brings together thousands of business travel professionals to connect, learn, grow and shape the future of the global industry. So, what can attendees expect at GBTA Convention 2026 in Chicago, August 3-5, and how can they make the most of their experience?

In this podcast, Alison Rogan, Vice President of the GBTA Board of Directors and Head of Travel, Events and Expense Management at HSBC; Kevin Sullivan, Treasurer of the GBTA Board of Directors and Managing Director of Sales at Southwest Business; and Edward Galvin, President of the GBTA Allied Leadership Council and Vice President & Head of North America B2B Commercial Payment Sales at Visa, provide an insider's preview of GBTA Convention 2026 in Chicago, highlighting what attendees can expect, must-see sessions, and new programming.

Music track is Space Jazz by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

This podcast is being put on by the GBTA US Accommodations Committee. Join us as Fred Veliyev, Principal Product Manager at CVENT Transient; David Mollov, Managing Director of Travel Industry Solutions at emburse and Annette Cummings, Senior Vice President at CerebriAI discuss the trends that emerged from the 2026 Hotel RFP Season.

Music track is Space Jazz by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

A big thank you to Visa for sponsoring this series and supporting the BTI research year after year. Their partnership helps make conversations like this possible. Thrilled to be joined by our guest, Alfredo Dellepiane who's here to help unpack the latest BTI findings for Latin America and share perspective from Visa. Thanks for being here!

GBTA Speakers: Mariana Perez Ponce de Leon (Regional Director Mexico, Central America and Colombia) y Daniel Duarte (South Regional Manager)

VISA Speaker: Alfredo Dellepiane, Sr. Director – LAC Agro & WCS Head, Visa Commercial Solutions, LAC

Music track is Space Jazz by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Simple meetings may represent the majority of meeting volume, but they often remain the least visible, least controlled, and most difficult to measure. In this three-part podcast series from the GBTA Europe Meetings & Events Committee, Jason Long, Senior Vice President of Global Business Development at HRS, speaks with industry leaders about how organisations are tackling data gaps, improving compliance, and using technology and AI to build more effective and measurable meetings programmes.

Across the series, listeners will gain practical insight into sustainability reporting, financial oversight, automation, and integrated technology strategies shaping the future of meetings management.

In this episode -

Jason Long speaks with Carol Fergus, Director of Global Travel and Events at Fidelity, about why simple meetings continue to create major visibility and reporting challenges for organisations. Together, they explore how travel leaders are working to connect fragmented data sources to better measure sustainability, savings, and traveller satisfaction outcomes.

Music track is Space Jazz by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Simple meetings may represent the majority of meeting volume, but they often remain the least visible, least controlled, and most difficult to measure. In this three-part podcast series from the GBTA Europe Meetings & Events Committee, Jason Long, Senior Vice President of Global Business Development at HRS, speaks with industry leaders about how organisations are tackling data gaps, improving compliance, and using technology and AI to build more effective and measurable meetings programmes.

Across the series, listeners will gain practical insight into sustainability reporting, financial oversight, automation, and integrated technology strategies shaping the future of meetings management.

In this episode -

Jason Long joins Gill Day, Senior Global Account Director at BCD Meetings & Events, to examine how integrated technology can help organisations gain greater transparency and control across simple meetings programmes. The discussion highlights how automation and connected systems can reduce manual processes, improve compliance, and create a stronger foundation for scalable programme management.

Music track is Space Jazz by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Simple meetings may represent the majority of meeting volume, but they often remain the least visible, least controlled, and most difficult to measure. In this three-part podcast series from the GBTA Europe Meetings & Events Committee, Jason Long, Senior Vice President of Global Business Development at HRS, speaks with industry leaders about how organisations are tackling data gaps, improving compliance, and using technology and AI to build more effective and measurable meetings programmes.

In this episode -

Jason Long speaks with Andrew Needham, CEO of Headbox, about the unescapable role of AI in meetings management. Together, we'll explore the pros & cons of how AI can be used in the meetings space of business travel. We will examine how it reduces manual effort, prevents leakage, strengthens decisions and increases the user experience.

Music track is Space Jazz by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

AI in corporate travel is no longer theoretical. It is operational.​

In this episode of Business of Travel, the GBTA Europe Technology Committee takes a practical look at how AI assistants are being deployed across managed travel programs.​

Host Lenny Hornsby speaks with Johnny Thorsen, a technology leader with hands-on experience implementing AI solutions, about availability, onboarding, ideal client fit, limitations, and measurable impact.​

The discussion moves beyond buzzwords to address real questions:​

• Where is AI working today?​
• Where does human intervention still matter?​
• What governance and data considerations must travel leaders understand?​

For corporate travel managers and global program owners, this episode provides a grounded framework for evaluating AI tools in managed travel.

Speakers:

• Heinz Lennard Hornsby (Lenny) – Chair of the GBTA Europe Technology Committee
• Johnny Thorsen – VP Strategic Business Development, Serko Ltd.

Music track is Space Jazz by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Diving into the European business travel outlook, using recent data from the GBTA Business Travel Index, our annual global benchmark sponsored by Visa, Chris Ely, Research Director, GBTA sits down with Romain Mialane, Visa, Sales Director, Europe.

What you'll hear:

• What Europe data really says
• How payments data adds context
• What travel managers should be paying attention to as we head into the next planning cycle.

Music track is Space Jazz by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License