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CTW 2003 Rescheduled to 2nd – 4th December

CTW in Strategic Partnership with American and Australian Business Travel Associations for 6th Regional Conference

Singapore, 25 April 2003 – Corporate Travel World (CTW) 2003 has been re-scheduled to run from 2nd to 4th December 2003 instead of the previously published dates of 17th – 19th September 2003. To accommodate the new event dates, the venue has been changed from the Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre to Meritus Mandarin, Singapore, which will also be the Official Hotel of CTW 2003.

With the objectives of ensuring the continuing success of the show and to safeguard the well-being of all delegates and visitors, this decision has been made in response to the current serious health concerns in the Asian region, attributable to the pneumonia virus known as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), and following the travel advisories from the World Health Organisation and many governments.

Managing Director Darren Ng says, “ All of us in the travel industry hope that the medical authorities will have the outbreak of SARS properly managed and contained within the next six months. We also hope to see a return of confidence to travel and pick-up of business by then. As we see an open window in the first week of December, we believe the new dates are appropriate to re-schedule CTW 2003. ”

To reflect and discuss the changes and challenges that recent events have inflicted on the travel and tourism industry, the 6th CTW will take on the theme of ‘Charting the New World of Corporate Travel’.

As travel gets more and more globalised, the current political and economic climate worldwide will continue to affect business travel, particularly in Asia-Pacific, given the growing concern about business viability for airlines, security and health issues.

“ Recognising the need to keep industry members in Asia-Pacific abreast of the expanding globalisation of the business travel industry as well as issues and developments around the world, we are pleased to announce that we are partnering - for the first time this year - the National Business Travel Association (NBTA) and the Australasian Business Travel Association (ABTA), ” said Mr Ng.

"We partnered with CTW Asia-Pacific in 2002 and look forward to working together again in 2003," said NBTA President and CEO Kevin Iwamoto. "Our partnership is a great way to expand the global network of the business travel community. The NBTA Global Travel Management Exchange Forum (GTMEF) held at the CTW Asia-Pacific conference is an invaluable opportunity for US travel managers and their global counterparts to come together and discuss the most critical industry topics."

"The Australasian Business Travel Association fully supports the CTW Conference in December 2003 by contributing to the professional development of Business Travel Managers in our region through knowledge share and information distribution," said Glenn Buckingham Chief Executive of ABTA. “ABTA is supporting this partnership with CTW and the NBTA by providing a speaker, Westpac Banking Corporation’s Contracts Manager Genevieve Sulway, who will present on the topic of travel management policy and compliance.”.

CTW is a two-day conference and exhibition on Travel & Entertainment (T & E) management for the Asia-Pacific region. It is a platform for hundreds of corporate travel managers, travel agencies and suppliers to meet and discuss the impact of global and regional issues on the development of business travel into and out of the region

Notes:
Organised by TTG Asia Media, Corporate Travel World Asia-Pacific (CTW) will be held for the sixth year since its debut in 1998. It is Asia’s first conference and exhibition on T&E (Travel & Entertainment) Management and has been endorsed by regional and global travel managers as well as the National Business Travel Association (NBTA) in the United States and Australasian Business Travel Association (ABTA).

Objectives of CTW Asia Pacific :

• Help corporate travel managers to understand the importance of corporate travel management, hence get the best ROI from Travel & Entertainment expenses.
• Learn from international professionals and practitioners on travel policies and issues that are affecting companies within the Asia-Pacific.
• Help companies, big or small, to find better and more efficient ways to source for suppliers of travel products and services as well as to minimise T&E costs.
• Provide a platform for suppliers and delegates to meet, network and develop business relationships.

The National Business Travel Association (NBTA), established in 1968, is the leading educational, information and networking resource in the business travel industry. The mission of the organisation is to represent American corporations on issues of business travel and to provide industry research and educational offerings for corporate travel professionals.

The Australasian Business Travel Association (ABTA) is the authoritative voice of business travel management in Australia, and the industry’s foremost organisation committed to the personal development of skilled travel professionals.

For information on CTW, please contact:
Joanna Soh, Project Manager
TTG Asia Media Pte Ltd
9 Battery Road 3
#17-02/12 Straits Trading Building
Singapore 049910
Tel: (65) 6395 7555
Fax: (65) 6536 0896
E-mail: ctw@tttgasia.com
URL: www.corporatetravelworld.com

For information on GTMEF and NBTA, please contact:
National Business Travel Association
110 North Royal Street, 4th Floor
Alexandria, VA 22314
USA
Tel: : (1 703) 684-0836
Fax: (1 703) 684-0263
E-mail: educate@nbta.org, info@nbta.org
URL: www.nbta.org

For information on ABTA, please contact:
Australasian Business Travel Association
P O Box 812
Rockdale NSW 2216
Australia
Tel: (61 2) 95991844
Fax: (61 2) 85095551
E-mail: abta@abta.com.au
URL: www.abta.com.au