The Future of Business Travel Leadership: Re-shape, Re-frame, and Reinvigorate

Featuring Liz Fraser, Chief Revenue Officer at Serko, in this thoughtful conversation, we explore how leadership in business travel is transforming to meet the demands of a rapidly changing world. From redefining purpose and embracing AI to reinvigorating company culture and building diverse, future-ready teams—this episode uncovers the mindset shifts, skillsets, and strategies that will shape the next era of leadership. Whether you're an emerging leader or a seasoned executive, this is your roadmap to leading with impact in the future of business travel.   Music track is Space Jazz by Kevin MacLeod  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License 

The business travel industry is fueled by innovative supplier companies who focus on serving the needs of both corporate travel programs and the travelers these corporate customers send out on the road for work trips.   GBTA is fortunate to have many of these innovative supplier companies serving on its Allied Leadership Council – which is made up of its top industry supporters across several travel categories.   In this podcast series, GBTA Allied Leadership Council members along with key executives from their companies discuss top company focus areas, the latest business travel trends they’re seeing, and what the future holds for corporate travel programs.    ·   Moderator Suzanne Neufang, CEO, GBTA – New York, NY, USA ·   Frank Passanante, Senior Vice President & Global Head of Sales & HRCC, GBTA Allied Leadership Council Member, Hilton ·   Marizel De La Torre, Vice President Global Distribution, Hilton     Music track is Space Jazz by Kevin MacLeod  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License 

The business travel industry is fueled by innovative supplier companies who focus on serving the needs to both corporate travel programs and the travelers these corporate customers send out on the road for work trips. GBTA is fortunate to have many of these innovative supplier companies serving on its Allied Leadership Council – which is made up of its top industry supporters across several travel categories. In this podcast series, GBTA Allied Leadership Council members along with key executives from their companies discuss top company focus areas, the latest business travel trends they’re seeing, and what the future holds for corporate travel programs.    ·       Lukasz Dabrowski – Senior Vice President, Global Supplier Relations, HRS ·      Kari Wendel - Vice President, Meetings Solutions, HRS ·       Moderator Suzanne Neufang, CEO, GBTA – New York, NY, USA   Music track is Space Jazz by Kevin MacLeod  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License 

On episode 2 of this 4-part series we shift to another industry that was an early adopter in the return to travel after the COVID-19 lockdowns, Film & Television. Hosts Amy Thiessen and Greg Bell chat with Sony Pictures executives, Steven Kent and Pamela Aberg, once again getting two very different yet unifying perspectives.  Pamela sits on the travel management side of the business and Steve is the ultimate road warrior having amassed over 11 million airline miles.  We continue to learn that the value of relationships, attention to detail, and honesty & transparency are more important than ever in our ever-changing global travel industry.  With some entertaining stories along the way…  Steve Kent, originally from Pound Ridge, NY, joined Sony Pictures in 1995 and never left. Early in his career he served as vice president of production for then Columbia TriStar Television, working on series such as Dawson’s Creek and Early Edition. Before joining Sony Pictures Television, he spent nine years as supervising producer for the popular soap opera Santa Barbara, garnering three Emmy Awards for his work.  He currently oversees international productions such as Outlander (Scotland), Fantasy Island (Puerto Rico), and Wheel of Time (Prague). Pamela Aberg is a native of Los Angeles (North Hollywood) and started working in the travel industry at the tender age of 15 as a part time, after school job. She started working for Sony Pictures Travel in 1990 as a corporate agent - around the same time that Sony had purchased Columbia and TriStar Pictures.  Her work experience at SPE Travel has covered virtually all facets of travel - from corporate, production and publicity. Pamela now Co-Directs SPE travel and has been instrumental in the growth and development of SPE’s highly effective in-house Travel program.  GBTA’s Sports, Media & Entertainment committee (SME) currently has 20 committee members from high-level positions within the travel community. Our buyers represent many of the leading sports, media and companies in the world, from professional sports teams and leagues, players associations, movie studios, film production companies, music labels, and so on. On the supplier side we also have top reps from the major travel companies from the airlines, lodging, ground transportation.  The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world’s largest professional association representing the $1.4 trillion business travel industry. Our global membership includes 9,000-plus business travel professionals from every continent. Collectively, our members directly control more than $345 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually, and also represent every facet of the global travel industry marketplace. The goal of the SME podcast is to leave you with up to date insights and relevant, actionable guidance.