|
Check-in With Suzanne
Blended Travel Musings
As we leave February and head into March, it’s clear that the year 2025 is off to a crazy, fast start. What’s also clear is that the promise and opportunity of traveling for work continues to fuel our organizations, outcomes and careers.
Last week I journeyed cross-country for a personal trip, and was reminded how, as travelers and those supporting travelers, business and leisure trips can’t help but blend.
How many of us, when on a flight heading to a vacation, pull out a device to “clean up our e-mail” before intending to shut it off for a few hours or few days? Do we also access the unread e-journals or podcasts that we haven’t had time to get to – and amidst the respite of a no-meeting flight, take the time to catch up… consider new ideas, and, well, think?
There are also learnings, experiences and meet-ups at the destination which run in parallel, no matter the reason for travel. Leisure travel brings connections with family and cultures and an appreciation for new experiences and places. Work travel brings better understanding amongst colleagues and collaborators to drive toward mutually beneficial outcomes – an appreciation for each other, if you will. And while tele- and virtual communications continue to help mediate meetings that wouldn’t happen in real life for any number of reasons, face-to-face simply “works” better. In-person ROI is why we invest the time and treasure to make it possible – whether for leisure, business, or a blend of both.
At GBTA, our mission is to support you in making “travel for work” work – by giving insights into industry trends, economic impact, ROI measures, and travel procurement best practices – and advocating with policy makers with those tangible insights in-hand. We help you to find the balance between your organization’s need to travel/supply travel and broader sustainability goals – whether climate-, people- or budget-focused.
After all, we connect you to the industry, to each other and to career growth and opportunities.
In that vein, I look forward to seeing you at our upcoming GBTA Conferences – Toronto in April, Singapore in May, and our 2025 Convention in Denver this July – where we’ll be making those connections with – and for – you.
See you soon!
Suzanne
|
