GBTA expands into India, teams up with ProKonsul

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Gaurav Sundaram, president, ProKonsul has also been named regional director, GBTA India 

THE Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) has launched GBTA India, and is looking to establish a broad-based membership among the Indian business travel community and develop quality educational content and events.

India is currently the 10th largest business travel market in the world, but with double-digit growth rates expected for business travel spend, the region will likely be a top-five business travel market in the next 15 years.

“The business travel market in India is one of the healthiest in the world and given its exponential growth rates, there is a clear need for innovative education and training to ensure there are enough qualified business travel professionals to keep up with the rise in demand,” said Michael W. McCormick, GBTA executive director and COO.

GBTA has partnered ProKonsul, a specialised business travel management consultant, to deliver its core activities of education, research, advocacy and networking in India and Asia-Pacific.

Gaurav Sundaram, president, ProKonsul, said: “GBTA’s entry into India and its partnership with ProKonsul represent very strong commitments to one of the fastest-growing markets in the world.The Indian market has a significant demand for professional education, quality research and industry networking opportunities that GBTA has global leadership in.”

Industry stakeholders in India likewise welcome the move.

“GBTA will significantly improve the standards of professionalism in the business travel industry in India through its focus on education and research. In ProKonsul, GBTA has a very strong local partner,” said Subrato Sarkaar, joint president-corporate administration for the multinational Aditya Birla Group.

Ankur Bhatia, director, Amadeus India, commented: “We believe that this is a natural progression to India’s projected growth in business travel.”

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