Education will play a central role at this year’s Business Travel Show Dubai, with interactive discussion panels and an in-depth look at the Business Travel Show Dubai/YouGovSiraj survey results.

The show, a joint venture between Centaur Media and Dnata World of Events, which takes place on October 20-21 at Madinat Jumeirah, will feature a two-day educational conference, aided by free keynote speeches, running alongside the main exhibition.

Topics will include: Mandating a Travel Policy – Dealing with management obstacles and non-compliant travellers; Strategic Meetings Management – Trends in the Middle East; Time is money – sourcing the best price in the shortest time and Traveller Safety and Duty of Care.

’The aim of the Educational Conference is to educate and promote discussion within the business travel industry. Discussion of hot topics such as ’Sourcing the best price in the shortest time’ has never been so important as in today’s current economic climate and we hope that the Conference will create a forum for the industry to exchange ideas and create best practices,’ said Sally Maltby, event director for show organisers Centaur Exhibitions.

Industry experts from across the Middle East will deliver a comprehensive programme addressing pertinent issues to those involved in organising, buying or arranging business travel and meetings.

David Radcliffe, chief executive officer, Hogg Robinson Group (HRG), will present a keynote speech at the educational conference on the topic of ’Future Trends in the Business Travel industry in the Middle East.’

’Regional consolidation of corporate travel accounts is becoming increasingly prevalent and it is particularly noticeable in the Mewa region.

’Multinational corporations recognise the importance of working across borders and the benefits that can be achieved, such as seamless service delivery, consolidated management data and opportunities for cost improvement. We do see this trend continuing apace in this region,’ he said.

Other industry leaders presenting at the two-day conference include Imran Changezi, director of global sales, corporate – Jumeirah Group; Afsha Kohli, events & logistics officer, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar; Hennie Strauss, CitiGroup business services head: Middle East, CitiGroup NA; Walter Knight, director of business development, Avari Hotels & Suites; and Aditya Varma, area manager: UAE, Air Arabia.

The educational conference will also take a closer look at the results of the pre-show survey, conducted by YouGovSiraj this summer.

The findings will be presented by Jane Wilson, director of travel & tourism research at YouGovSiraj, who carried out the initial survey and analysis.

For the second consecutive year, the educational conference is organised in association with ACTE (Association of Corporate Travel Executives), a not-for-profit association established to provide executive-level global education and peer-to-peer networking opportunities.

ACTE is currently serving more than 6,000 executives in over 80 countries.

Monique Swart, regional director for ACTE Middle East & Africa believes that this year’s show will follow on from its overwhelming success seen at last year’s launch. She said: ’As education partner, ACTE is in the process of developing learning sessions specifically geared towards supplying business travel professionals in the region with pertinent and relevant travel management knowledge based on local trends. We are looking forward to a well-attended and educationally rich event,’ she added.

The two opening keynote speeches and YouGovSiraj research presentation will be open to all delegates free of charge.

The interactive sessions can be booked in advance, before October 16, at a cost<