US: The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) has changed the name of its GBTA Hotel Committee to the GBTA Accommodations Committee.
The new name, which applies to both the former GBTA Hotel Committee and Europe Hotel Committee, was chosen to reflect the changing marketplace as the GBTA felt the term “hotel” no longer fully reflects the various accommodation solutions that buyers are using and considering for their travel programs.
Jan Jacobsen, global accommodation manager for AIG and a member of the GBTA Accommodations Committee, said: “As the range of accommodation options available to business travellers continues to increase, we felt that that the name of the committee needed to change to reflect the realities of the market. While hotels are still a very important element of most corporate travel plans, there has been a significant rise in the use of aparthotels and serviced apartments, and the big players in the home sharing space are also looking to gain a foothold in the corporate travel market, so we felt the time was right to change the word ‘hotel’ in the name of the committee to the broader term ‘accommodation’.”
The committees’ mission is “to provide strategic direction and best practices on business travel issues that are unique to the hotel and lodging industry. The committee provides leadership to GBTA members and the global business travel community through educational opportunities, resources, strategic direction and universal standards for international hotel and lodging professionals, as it relates to the hotel industry”.
In addition to the committee name changes, GBTA is beginning the process to update the Accommodations RFP Global Format, previously known as the GBTA Hotel RFP Global Format 2013. Volunteers at GBTA Convention 2018 in San Diego will kick off the process next week, ensuring it takes into account all industry changes. On Sunday August 12, attendees can attend a session to discuss what should be captured in the updated RFP. For more information, click here.
