In announcing the The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) Keynote Speakers and Agenda for 2014 China Conference the association dropped this bombshell on the industry. China will become the largest bsuiness travel destination on the planet in two short years. For the travel and tourism industries this is epic.

The GBTA’s China Conference will take place in Shanghai March 31 – April 2. GBTA President Donna Kelliher’s keynote speech centers on the important question, “Can Business Travel Management be truly global?” She will discuss this with GBTA China Board Chairman Victor Lim.

“GBTA’s forecasts predict China will be the world’s top business travel market by 2016, so we are proud to be hosting this second annual conference in this growing region,”said Michael W. McCormick, Executive Director and COO of GBTA. “Over the past few years, GBTA has expanded its presence across the globe and bringing this conference back to China is a great opportunity to discuss doing business in China from both a local and expatriate viewpoint.”

The second keynote will be given by Dr. Wang Yonggang of Fudan University and is titled, “Top level design, technology innovations and growth of China’s Business Travel Industry.”

The GBTA China Conference is designed for those involved in all aspects of business travel procurement in China and across the globe. After a very successful first event in April 2013, this conference is going to be more exciting and substantial in educational content.

The conference will be held in Mandarin with simultaneous translation into English and is designed to deliver relevant and educational information to the broader audience.

Talking about the event, Welf Ebeling, Vice President, Operations for Asia Pacific said: “The program of this year’s event has been designed by a panel of local travel managers and industry experts, focusing on the needs of China’s fast growing business travel industry.

As the wider Asian travel sector also looks for growth in the year’s ahead this will obviously be an interesting conference for governments and private companies alike.