08:00-

09:00

Registration, Networking & Coffee

09:00-

09:05

Chairperson’s Welcome

Corporate Travel Community, Executive Director, Dr Benson Tang

09:05-

09:20

CTC Outlook: State of the Corporate Travel Industry {Download Presentation}

Corporate Travel Community, Executive Director, Dr Benson Tang

09:20-

09:50

Guest Speaker

Michael Pascoe, Economist

Michael will share a wealth of experience and opinions from a career spanning over five decades. Considered one of Australia's most experienced and thoughtful finance and economics commentators in newspaper, broadcast and on-line journalism, we are absolutely thrilled to share with you this wonderful opportunity.

09:50-

10:35

CTC Think Tank: A meeting of the minds

In 2022, it was clear that while corporations are travelling again, the landscape of the industry looks very different to what it did pre-pandemic. From planning to return, the travel journey has become more complex. With an increasingly mobile workforce, companies need to meet new standards for duty of care and address changing sets of criteria when it comes to risk and cost management.

In this important discussion, we bring together industry leaders to help travel managers navigate the post-pandemic travel landscape.

The new traveller journey - what does it involve and how are major travel suppliers supporting clients?

What’s at stake for companies with a mobile workforce when it comes to duty of care and risk management?

What role does the travel supplier have in a post-pandemic world?

What role will innovation and technology have on the future of corporate travel?

How are companies pivoting towards carbon neutrality?

What are the toolkits that travel managers will need to be successful to measure and report on carbon footprints and reduce the overall impact of travel on the environment?

Moderator: Independent Consultant, Carl Jones

Panel:

FCM, Global Chief Operating Officer & Managing Director of Australia, New Zealand, Melissa Elf

Serko, Head of Global Travel Management, Dinesh Kumar

Informa, Group Travel & Events Director, Melissa Watson

Transurban, Global Procurement Travel & Expense, Stephanie Masiano

10:35-

10:55

Industry Leader Keynote - Exploring the T&E Landscape: Navigating the Future of Corporate Travel {Download Presentation}

With the rapid return of business travel, it is increasingly important for organisations to adapt to the needs of today’s business travellers. Travel managers need to evolve programs and systems to deliver an enhanced T&E user experience for travellers, and also enable core efficiencies for the business. This session will provide an overview of the payments ecosystem and share findings from a global survey conducted by Mastercard of more than 500 travel decision-makers across 3 markets – Australia Pacific, Europe and North America. Topics covered will include; key trends shaping the next generation of corporate travel spend management, early insights into emerging technologies in the travel space, and keys to shaping a T&E program strategy that optimises spend, delivers increased compliance, and creates a better traveller experience around the world.

Speaker: Mastercard, Commercial Solutions Director, Hilary McMahon

10:55-

11:00

The CTC Corporate Branches an introduction

A selection of masterclasses designed to educate and inform the industry on the entire corporate travel ecosystem. In these sessions, we bring together key experts to explore the specific issues facing corporate travel managers and the wider industry.

Corporate Travel Community, Executive Director, Benson Tang

11:00-

11:30

Coffee Break & Networking

11:30-

12:00

Practical Applications of Environmental Sustainability Initiatives {Download Presentation}

The travel industry as a whole continues its collective efforts to meet ambitious and highly public environmental goals. Yet, the implementation of strategies and tools for corporate travel is only starting to get underway.

Despite grand ambitions and investment, progress in the transition has been slow. Not to mention differing messages being presented to Travel Managers.

In this session, we bring together a collection of important environmental sustainability organisations to explain what technology, products or services exist today to help Travel Managers actually lower their carbon footprint.

All of the highlighted businesses in this session are available now and can help businesses start to improve their impact on the environment.

Chairperson: Corporate Travel Community, Executive Director, Benson Tang

Session 1: Serko, Senior Product Manager, Lilly Mannerswood & Serko, Strategic Account Manager, Amy Richards

Session 2: Uber, Head of Implementation and Account Manager, APAC, Sarah Forsterling

12:00-

12:15

CAPA Envest Airline Sustainability Benchmarking Review

Envest Global, Executive Director, Steve Limbrick

12:15-12:55

CTC Environmental Sustainability Branch Masterclass

Sustainability has become a corporate travel priority, but increased costs, limited data and lack of transparent information still present barriers to making business travel more sustainable. Collaboration will be critical to supporting an enhanced corporate travel policy for travel buyers.

As travel continues its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, corporations are refocusing on their green agendas. A majority believe sustainability will be either a ‘moderate’ or ‘high’ priority in the next 12 months, while many have become more focused on the sustainability objectives of their corporate travel programme.

In this discussion, we look to the community to provide examples of best practices in developing environmental sustainability initiatives, and ask/review:

What is the travel buyers’ perspective of sustainability?

Are they getting pressure from above to include sustainability in RFPs?

How important is sustainability to them? Are travellers already asking for more?

Understand what the industry can offer today.

How to select a best in market current offset program or how to measure best in market proposals from suppliers.

Why it is important for suppliers to offer solutions to customers.

Moderator: Envest Global, Executive Director, Steve Limbrick

Panel:

AMP, Senior Commercial Manager, Tanaz Pochkhanawalla

ATPI, Sustainability Officer, Louisa Toure

13:00-

14:00

Lunch Break & Networking

14:00-

14:30

CTC Innovation Education Forum - Navigating the Future: Are Customers Ready for Travel Innovation?

Flight Centre Travel Group, Chief Technology Officer Corporate, Jonathan Clark

Embark on a thought-provoking journey into the heart of travel innovation in this engaging session. In an era where technology is reshaping the way we explore the world, this session aims to unravel a fundamental question: Are customers truly prepared for these transformative changes?

Join us for an insightful exploration as we dissect the latest advancements, from AI-driven booking platforms to sustainable travel solutions and examine their impact on the modern traveller. Through interactive audience participation, we will unveil the key insights and emerging trends that are defining the future of travel.

Discover how businesses can bridge the gap between innovation and customer readiness, ensuring seamless, delightful, and future-proof travel experiences. Don't miss this opportunity to gain a unique perspective on the travel industry's transformation and learn how your organisation can stay ahead of the curve.

14:30-

15:00

Risky Business – Travel Risk Management in 2024 {Download Presentation}

Throughout 2023 organisations worldwide have encountered significant health & security challenges brought about by economic unrest, war, disease and struggling health systems. The frequency and intensity of these events have fundamentally changed the risk landscape of business travel - both domestically and internationally.

A recent study by market leading research firm Ipsos and International SOS found that 85% of risk professionals agree the world has become more dangerous over the past twelve months - the highest percentage since they started asking the question back in 2014.

Join us for an interactive session where you can test your travel security and travel risk management prowess, preparing your travel program for 2024

Speakers:

International SOS, Regional Security Director, James Robertson

International SOS, General Manager ANZ, Jessica Beatson

15:00-

15:30

The value of intelligent travel data – travel smarter, not harder

Egencia, Senior Sales Manager, Tim Shepherd

Before the pandemic, business travel was largely seen as a perk of the job. We saw a shift in prioritising it as part of company culture. Now, we’re entering the age of the intelligent future where business travel is done efficiently and prioritised to keep costs low.

Travel technology helps companies automate and optimise the travel process, providing significant savings for both your company and employees while also improving efficiency in finding compliant and relevant search results.

In this session, we’ll deep dive on how Amex GBT Egencia gathers data-driven insights to personalise the customer experience—whether that's identifying cost savings, strengthening policy compliance, offering self-service options, and more.

Del. data and machine learning based pres, with pre-recorded video.

15:30-

16:00

Coffee break & Networking

16:00-16:20

CAPA Outlook: The megatrends facing aviation in 2024 {Download Presentation}

CAPA - Centre for Aviation, Head of Research, Simon Elsegood

16:20-17:05

Deconstructing NDC: Unravelling Realities, Dispelling Myths, and Setting the Record Straight

Moderator: Partnership Travel Consulting, Director, Alex Fitzpatrick

Panel:

Aeronology, CEO, Russell Carstensen

Amadeus IT Pacific, Managing Director, Kaylene Shuttlewood

Independent Consultant, Carl Jones

17:05-

17:15

CTC Australasia Awards for Excellence Presentation

17:25

Day 1 Closing Remarks

CTC Sydney Corporate Travel Summit & Awards