Advanced Principles of Business Travel Management™

(additional registration required for this add-on, 2-day professional development course, $450 CAD + HST)

Location: Metro Toronto Convention Centre

Global Leaders Reception (by Invitation ONLY)

Location: Fairmont Royal York Hotel

Advanced Principles of Business Travel Management™

(additional registration required for this add-on, 2-day professional development course, $450 CAD + HST)

Location: Metro Toronto Convention Centre

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Registration Opens 

1:30 PM - 2:00 PM

Kick-Start Professional Development Sessions

Choice of 2 Professional Development Sessions

• Improve Your Memory as a Travel Professional
• Do Birds of a Feather Flock Together? Learn the 4 Communication Preferences

2:00 PM - 2:30 PM

Kick-Start Professional Development Sessions

Choice of 2 Professional Development Sessions

• The missing Link between Customer Service and Customer Experience
• Stop Letting That Difficult Person Ruin Your Day

2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

SUPPLIERS ONLY – Session

Supplier based Professional Development Session

2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

BUYERS ONLY – Direct Talk – Part 1

Calling ALL Buyers!  This is your chance to be behind closed doors in a room of your peers for a Direct Talk session.  Guided by Buyers from GBTA Canada’s Advisory Board, with topics that are of current importance to YOU, this Direct Talk session will prove to be a valuable opportunity to share best-practices, discuss current issues and trends and come together.  As a travel buyer, you will have valuable feedback from your peers and make lasting connections on relevant business fronts.

3:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Connect First Open House

Welcome to all NEW attendees and those NOT SO NEW…

New to attending the GBTA Canada Conference… OR simply want to connect with your conference peers in advance of all the activities?  Connect First with the GBTA Canada Advisory Board and GBTA Canada Conference Taskforce Volunteers for this informational, networking gathering.  Veteran GBTA members will share their insights on how to make the most out of your conference experience.  You will hear first-hand from industry peers, buyers and suppliers alike, about how GBTA Canada has benefited them within their career paths, and tips on how to optimize your conference experience ahead.  You will have a chance to get to know others attending the conference with ice breaking activities, to Evolve your conference experience.

5:00 PM - 6:30 PM

Opening Reception 
Join your fellow conference go’ers for an opportunity to meet, mix and mingle before the conference kicks into full-swing.  NEW this year, the reception will take place on the conference Expo Floor so you can informally preview the exhibitors!

Location: Expo Hall

Networking Breakfast & Registration

Light continental breakfast

8:30 AM - 10:00 AM

Day 1 – Opening Centre Stage

GBTA Canada Opens our 15^th annual, Conference.  Join us to hear from industry insiders and leaders of business discuss the Canadian Business Travel Industry trends, and perspectives.

10:15 AM - 12:00 PM

Tech Talks
Technology innovators are changing the travel landscape as we know it.  This series of 15-minute power Tech Talks will enlighten you on the latest and greatest travel tech offerings

10:15 AM - 10:45 AM

Education Sessions (30 mins)
Choice of 3 concurrent education sessions:

• Travel Procurement - Understanding the Landscape of Airline Negotiations
• Strategic Meetings Management - Treating Travellers and Attendees as One
• Cannabis & International Travel

11:00 AM - 11:30 AM

Education Sessions (30 mins)
Choice of 3 concurrent education sessions:

• NDC – What You Need to Know
• Preventive Solutions for Pre-Travel Preparation
• You Build It - Creating the Perfect Hotel Program

11:45 AM - 12:15 PM

Education Sessions (30 mins)
Choice of 3 concurrent education sessions:

• 30 in 30: 30 Procurement Strategies and Tips that Apply to Travel
• Navigating the Future of Travel and Meeting Risk Management
• The Travelling Butterfly Effect: How an Al Enabled Digital Platform Transforms an Industry

12:30 PM - 2:30 PM

Day 1 – Centre Stage & Lunch

Sit down formal Lunch and Keynote speaker(s)

2:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Expo Hall

Engage with our largest and most diverse offering of exhibitors ever. 

Optimize your expo experience by:

• Reaching out to exhibitors to arrange booth-time meetings
• Connecting with your conference peers in the Network Lounge

6:30 PM - 10:30 PM

Big Night Out!

Toronto’s fun hot spot, The Rec Room – Back by Popular Demand!

Located at Roundhouse Park in downtown Toronto, just steps away from the CN Tower, Rogers Centre, Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Air Canada Centre and Billy Bishop Airport. The Rec Room redefines the meaning of fun with over 40,000 sq. feet of great games, mouth-watering eats and amazing entertainment, all packed under 1 roof!

The Rec Room is the place to let go, be playful and experience something new and exciting.  

7:45 AM - 8:45 AM

BUYERS ONLY – Direct Talk – Part 2

Breakfast included

Calling ALL Buyers! Continue the conversation…  This is your chance to be behind closed doors in a room of your peers for a Direct Talk session.  Guided by Buyers from GBTA Canada’s Advisory Board, with topics identified that are of current importance to YOU, this Direct Talk session will prove to be a valuable opportunity to share best-practices, discuss current issues and trends and come together.  As a travel buyer, you will have valuable feedback from your peers and make lasting connections on relevant business fronts.

9:00 AM - 10:15 AM

Centre Stage

Thought provoking industry experts and leaders of business come together to share their knowledge and expertise on business today and the future of business travel.

10:15 AM - 11:45 AM

Expo Hall

Engage with our largest and most diverse offering of exhibitors ever. 

Optimize your expo experience by:

• Reaching out to exhibitors to arrange booth-time meetings
• Connecting with your conference peers in the Network Lounge

12:00 AM - 12:45 PM

Tech Talks
Technology innovators are changing the travel landscape as we know it.  This series of 15 minute power Tech Talks will enlighten you on the latest and greatest travel tech offerings

11:45 AM - 12:15 PM

Education Sessions (30 mins)
Choice of 3 concurrent education sessions:

• 5 Ways Machine Learning and Predictive Analytics Can Improve Your Travel Program Today
• Business Aviation - Your Very Own Time Machine!
• Getting Caught in the Cracks - What You Don't Know About Immigration Compliance Can Hurt!

12:30 PM - 1:00 PM

Education Sessions (30 mins)
Choice of 3 concurrent education sessions

• Using Share Shift to Drive Hotel Program Improvements
• How Blockchain Technology Will Change Managed Travel
• Simplifying Corporate Travel - Exploring the Benefits of Virtual Payments

1:00 PM - 2:30 PM

Closing Centre Stage & Sit Down Lunch
Keynote speaker: Arlene Dickinson

Venture capitalist, TV personality, renowned marketer, entrepreneur and CEO, Arlene Dickinson, is one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women and has been awarded such many times over. CEO of Venture Communications, yet most widely known across Canada as a Dragon on Dragon’s Den, Arlene will impart with our conference delegates, her business savvy wisdom derived from lessons from the ‘Den’: Succeeding at Business and Being an Entrepreneur.