5 April 2018
Attending the Business Travel Show/Travel Technology Europe Conference in London has considerably enriched our knowledge of the industry, and helped us to develop a comprehensive understanding of the consumer profile that we had been researching for our client consultancy project.
We attended this conference to support research we were conducting on behalf of our client as part of the Innovation Management in Practice course. This experience was possible thanks to Santander and the Business School who provided us with the funds to make this trip possible.
Day 1
Prior to attending the conference we had signed up to attend several sessions and panel debates with industry experts. We had also prepared some interview questions as part of our aim to gather primary data from entrepreneurs, managers and CEOs of the industry for our research project. On arrival at the large conference centre, Olympia, London, we registered, grabbed our Pokens (Digital Business Cards) and got to work. We attended some sessions and talks during the day, then proceeded to interact with Businesses (TMC’s – Travel Management Companies, Hotels, Car rentals and several others) and corporate travelers.
The conference ended at 5 pm and by that time we had had a tour of the conference centre, capped with insightful findings from our conversations and networking activities.
Day 2
The second day started with more sessions, talks and discussion panels, where we had the opportunity to interact with industry professionals and discuss topics including A.I. in the travel industry, emerging technologies and upcoming trends. We conducted many interviews with professionals from junior managers to venture founders. Additionally, we made contact with potential business partnerships, something our client was keen for us to investigate.
The day was also valuable on an individual level as we were able to network with many people who gave great advice regarding our personal and professional development.
Overall, the two-day conference was instrumental to us, both as a group and individually. We were able to practice our communication skills, build professional relationships and develop an understanding of the industry first hand. This opportunity has given us a lot more insight beyond academic perspective and made us aware of the value of getting involved in the real “day to day” of the industry, instead of relying only on secondary data. Since our return to Edinburgh, we have collated our findings, identified the opportunities and challenges that our client might come up against and drafted our recommendations. In the remaining weeks, we hope to develop useful outcomes based on our findings, before forming a strategic plan for implementation.
It has been an amazing eight weeks working together and learning from each other as we consult on this client project.