Crossroads Milan - Paragon Business Travel Conference & Expo, a pan-European business travel conference to be held 15-16 May in Milan, will bring together more than 300 business travel professionals, including 100 buyers, who will come to Milan from more than 20 countries.

The event is co-hosted by the Paragon Partnership, The Global Alliance of Business Travel Associations, and 11 business travel associations, including nine from Europe:

• Austrian Business Travel Association
• Belgian Association of Travel Management
• Brazilian Business Travel Association (ABGEV)
• Danish Business Travel Association
• Finnish Business Travel Association
• Business Travel Association of Germany (VDR)
• Netherlands Association for Travel Management
• Norwegian Business Travel Association
• Iberian Business Travel Association
• Swedish Business Travel Association
• National Business Travel Association (U.S.-based, global organisation)

 
Designed to address the challenges faced by the European business travel community, the Crossroads Milan programme offers European-focused speakers, educational sessions and networking opportunities, with a major Expo.

The educational programme is designed by buyers, for buyers to help attendees meet their distinct professional goals. Sessions will cover best practices, including a special offering of the Fundamentals of Business Travel Management/CTE designation course, and next practices, including Strategic Meetings Management.

The Expo will give attendees the opportunity to connect with 50 exhibitors who will demonstrate their latest travel product and service offerings.

General Sessions will feature industry and business thought-leaders addressing the most important topics in business travel, beginning Thursday, 15 May with Charles Petruccelli, President of Global Travel Services for American Express. Petruccelli commented, “I am honored to address a premier gathering of European business travel professionals at Crossroads Milan. There are many issues facing business travel today from commoditisation and disintermediation to the increasing importance of value creation. I will take advantage of this opportunity to share some insight into the most pressing topics as I see them. We are part of an industry that is constantly changing and I am pleased to have this forum for us to come to together and discuss the issues.”

Other General Session highlights will include presentations by Dale Moss, Managing Director, OpenSkies, and Nigel Barlow, Author, Strategic Coach and Consultant, Service Legends Ltd and the Re-Think Project, as well as a panel discussion on “Content Aggravation in Europe” featuring the following panelists:

• Moderator: Dee Runyan, Executive Vice President, BCD Travel
• Suzanne Neufang, Vice President – Product Marketing & User Experience, GetThere
• Albert Pozo, Vice President, Multinational Customer Group, Business Travel, Amadeus
• Raj Singh, President and Chief Operating Officer, Concur
• Yves Weisselberger, Chief Executive Officer, KDS