Business Travel Show and Travel Technology Europe 2018

13 March 2018

It was useful for us to attend a business travel and technology show and conference to get further insights of the industry. This experience was possible thanks to Santander and the Business School who provided us with the funds that made this trip possible.

Day 1: Wednesday 21 February

Before the day, we signed up to attend several sessions and panels with industry experts. We also prepared some interviews as part of our aim to gather primary data from entrepreneurs, managers and CEOs and of the industry. On arrival at the large conference centre (Olympia, London), we registered, grabbed our Pokens (Digital Business Cards) and got to work. We attended some sessions and talks during the day, then proceeded to interact with Businesses (TMC’s – Travel Management Companies, Hotels, Car rentals and several others) and corporate travellers.

The conference ended at 5 pm and by that time we have had a tour of the conference centre capped with insightful findings from our conversations and networking with people.

Day 2: Thursday 22 February

We started the second day by attending more sessions and talks as well as some discussion panels, where we interacted with professionals in the industry about topics like: upcoming trends, A.I. in the travel industry, and other emerging technologies. We conducted many interviews on that day from junior managers to venture founders. Additionally, we collected a lot of information and contacts of potential business partnerships. It was also valuable to us on an individual level as we were able to network with many people that are experienced in areas of interest towards our personal and professional development.

Overall, the two-day conference has been very instrumental to our group and individually, as a means of practising our communication skills, building professional relationships and understanding the industry first hand. This opportunity has given us a lot more insight beyond academic perspective and made us aware of the value of getting involved in the real “day to day” of the industry instead of relying only on secondary data. Since our return back to Edinburgh, we have put together our different findings, both opportunities and challenges and started drafting a recommendations and implementation plan.

It has been an amazing eight weeks working together and learning from each other and in the remaining weeks, we hope to work out useful outcomes based on our findings.

David Jaramillo Saldarriaga, Jiadai Long, Adaora Lilian Oragudosi, Andrea Novelo Alejo, and Liam Newman are MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation students at the University of Edinburgh Business School who recently went to the Business Travel Show and Travel Technology Europe 2018 Conference in London.