Last month, ITP held its latest global conference in Cape Town and this was attended by 45 delegates from 29 countries. Lasting two and a half days, the programme included presentations by guest suppliers Amadeus, Cornerstone and Carey Limousine and presentations from no less than seven new ITP partners.

The conference theme was ‘Gaining the Lions’ Share’ which relates to ITP’s current and future plans for gaining new business and increasing coverage around the world.

Our new Business Development Manager, Emese Gal, introduced herself and was welcomed by Jean-Claude and all those present. Her role will be to identify commercial opportunities which, by working together, could enable all of us to ‘Gain the Lions’ Share’ of profitable new business.

There was also a strong focus on the future when Jean-Claude outlined the new regional structure of the ITP Executive Board and later the Conference Moderator, Peter Dennis, described future Travel Industry developments including the fast development of mobile travel technology, an area also covered by Amadeus.

ITP partners took part in interactive break out sessions covering account implementation. They were also asked to submit a ‘wish list’ of products and services that they would like ITP to research and review and these will be prioritised by number of requests and followed up by the ITP team in Windsor.

Three partners shared examples of some recent successes covering new business, cost reduction and project management respectively. All three, from Australia, Russia and the US, gave an interesting insight into the reasons for their success and also lessons learned during the process.

We congratulated and presented partners Top Rejser, Denmark and Trans-Continental, Switzerland with an award to show our appreciation for their 10 years support and commitment to the ITP Partnership.

Cape Town proved to be an outstanding and cost-effective destination with excellent facilities but the success of the programme was a reflection of the positive involvement of all participants. Again, thanks to Dudley and his team at ITP – XL Turners Travel who did a superb job in selecting the location and managing the event.

ITP coverage has grown steadily over the last few years and those attending the Conference represented five continents. It was a long way to travel for some but as we grow our event locations will increasingly reflect the global nature of our network. We are already evaluating suitable locations for next year!

More pictures are available to view at www.facebook.com/itptravel