Synergy's Behind-the-Scenes Look at GBTA Atlanta 2024
As we’ve settled back home after an insightful, inspiring, and oh-so-fun few days at GBTA Atlanta, we can’t help but reflect on how proud we are to collaborate with all the remarkable individuals who make up this robust and resilient industry.
The GBTA Convention 2024, held from July 22-24, marked the largest assembly of the global business travel sector, bringing together 5,400 delegates from 50 countries. Over three days, our industry came together to connect and engage in a dynamic exchange of innovative ideas, where expertise, unparalleled networking opportunities, and creativity took the front stage.
Key topics focused on current issues impacting the sector and its professionals, such as industry trends, understanding human behavior, driving innovation, addressing sustainability challenges, and envisioning the future of business travel.
Join us as we delve into our best bits from this transformative week.
Synergy Global Housing at GBTA 2024
Synergy Housing was proud to have our dynamic team—Claire Barrie, Mary Corrales, Reagan Riley, and Cara Lingle—in attendance at the GBTA Convention. Exhibiting alongside our parent company, The Ascott Limited, showcases the combined strength of our companies and the diverse range of lodging options Synergy’s clients and guests can choose from worldwide. fully furnished serviced apartments to aparthotels to co-living our offerings are tailored to suit the needs of groups, solo travelers, families, VIPs, interns, and many more.
At the convention, we introduced Synergy’s participation in the Ascott Star Rewards Loyalty Program (ASR). A stay-based rewards system that sets us apart in the served accommodation sector. We are excited to announce that Synergy will begin offering this rewards program for new bookings at two of our premier New York City properties, Synergy Chelsea and Synergy Madison. Additional properties and locations throughout the US and EMEA regions will soon follow, providing even more opportunities for our guests to redeem points in each of Synergy’s and Ascott’s key locations.
The Fragility of Connected Technology and the Importance of Resilience
A significant talking point at the convention was the fragility of our connected technology, highlighted by the IT global outage caused by CrowdStrike. This incident led to many attendees experiencing flight delays and cancellations both before and after the conference—a very timely example highlighting just how quickly things can go wrong and bringing to life the need for resilience and innovation in our technology-dependent world.
Of the outage, Suzanne Neufang, CEO of GBTA said “This week demonstrated the vital role of managed travel programs and their support systems, as we experienced the industry’s resilience in navigating the global IT system disruption to convene in Atlanta.”
At Synergy, we uphold these principles by standing with our guests and clients every step of the way ensuring their needs are met, even in the face of unexpected challenges.
The Transformative Power of AI in Business Travel
The GBTA Convention also highlighted how AI is reshaping the business travel landscape. From managing guest preferences to booking to data and so much more, AI enhances both speed and accuracy in travel management with its precision improving daily.
The convention touched on AI’s power to predict and empathize with traveler needs, highlighting the opportunity to bring a new level of service and personalization to the industry. As AI approaches the capability to manage the end-to-end travel process, we are moving beyond the peak of AI hype and entering into a phase where real, long-term tangible benefits for our industry are being realized including the use of AI in predicting buying patterns for better service offerings, ensuring compliance with travel policies and promoting more informed travel decisions. With the growth in adoption of AI, however, our industry must remain vigilant in ensuring the protection of data across our industry stakeholders, whilst also leveraging AI to monitor and mitigate data breach threats.
Celebrating Innovation: Mary Corrales and the "Pathfinder" Solution
A standout moment for Synergy at GBTA 2024 was the presentation of the innovative solution "Pathfinder" by Mary Corrales, Director, Global Business Development at Synergy, and her GBTA Ladders team. The GBTA Ladders, Season 10, featured numerous teams competing to develop innovative concepts to help business travel professionals. Following the team’s Season 10 win, Mary and her team showcased this revolutionary tool designed to review travel itineraries against state and government websites, ensuring travelers have the correct travel documents in advance. This groundbreaking tool holds the potential to streamline travel processes, helping both travelers and corporates remain ahead of the game.
GBTA Ladders is a unique team-based mentor program that allows members to expand their professional development within the travel and meeting industry. The program focuses on facilitating the exchange of ideas and invigorating interest in the business of travel, hitting the heart of what matters most to the business travel professionals of tomorrow. Congratulations to every single individual involved in the making of this innovative and futuristic tool.
A Transformative Week
The GBTA Convention 2024 in Atlanta was a landmark event, showcasing the resilience and innovation within the business travel industry. The conference underscored the significance of business travel, highlighting the ever-evolving dynamics in which our industry operates. As always, GBTA provided a comprehensive overview of our industry, providing all the tips and tricks suppliers and buyers across the world can adopt to navigate the challenges and opportunities that come our way.
How Synergy Can Support Your Travel Program
At Synergy, we specialize in managing the end-to-end management of serviced accommodation programs, wherever in the world you need to be, and for however long. Our goal is to make it easy for you to achieve your business travel objectives through the delivery of a cost-effective serviced accommodation solution that complements your overall business travel objectives.
- Consultative, end-to-end program management that targets your specific business travel goals
- Access to over 1,000,000+ fully vetted serviced apartments, spanning 85+ countries and 2,000 cities
- Access to award-winning, high-touch service teams who go above and beyond to deliver your business travel objectives
- A consistent guest experience no matter where in the world your travelers head
- Innovative and flexible corporate housing solutions to meet the ever-evolving requirements of the modern-day business traveler
Ready to learn more about how Synergy can enhance your travel program?
