GBTA Reschedules Convention for November

The Global Business Travel Association has rescheduled its 2020 convention, postponing it from late July to Nov. 7-11 of this year because of the coronavirus pandemic and various travel and meeting restrictions. The event will take place at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, the same site as originally planned.

The annual meeting is a major event for the business travel industry, typically drawing 7,000 travel professionals from more than 50 countries.

This is the first time in the gatherin's 52-year history that the GBTA has had to reschedule its signature event. "This unprecedented move comes in unprecedented times," noted GBTA COO and executive director Scott Solombrino in a statement. "We are all working to ensure the safety of business travelers and their families. We are hopeful that the pandemic will subside on a global level and that we will be able to help travel managers and sponsors determine how best to revive the industry when we meet in November."

The move follows several weeks of discussion with convention center officials, according to Solombrino. "We all agreed that there was no way to hold a safe, healthy and successful conference in July, so we agreed to push the dates out as far as possible in 2020," he added. "We will continue to work with the state of Colorado, city of Denver, the convention center and health officials to ensure we can have our convention in November. Our hope is that the pandemic will pass within the next few months and we will be able to resume our normal activities. But if that is not the case, we may need to push Convention back further."

The organization will continue to keep members and the public informed about the status of the event.