ARC was one of hundreds of companies to attend GBTA Convention 2025, which took place this year in Denver, Colorado. From data to distribution, the annual gathering of the business travel industry offered valuable opportunities for ARC attendees to grow and connect with ARC’s partners.
Below, several ARC attendees share their takeaways from the event and the value they find in connecting with the industry.
Paige Blunt – Senior Manager, Direct Connect and ONE Order
I left GBTA this year with a better understanding of artificial intelligence-enabled NDC shopping, the analytics behind AI decisions, and the value that AI has in customer support. Given AI's already-significant impact on the industry, it’s important for everyone in the modern retailing ecosystem to be familiar with it.
GBTA always offers a great opportunity to meet with people from our partner companies whom I don’t usually work with. This helps me understand how the buyer/agent/airline relationships work from their perspectives and gives us the chance to explore additional opportunities to collaborate.
Ryan Lynch – Senior Manager, Strategic Marketing and Communications
GBTA’s education sessions and keynotes demonstrated how seriously the industry is taking AI. The use of AI will put even more emphasis on the data we gather and how we analyze it. I expect AI to become a main focus at future events as companies think about how they’ll respond to a rapidly changing environment.
However, along with AI, one theme from the conference was that we now live in a world where companies must learn to operate amid political and economic uncertainty. The industry economic panel allowed attendees to hear ARC’s President and CEO, Lauri Reishus, Hilton’s Jess Petitt, and BCD Travel’s Rose Stratford discuss this uncertainty and how the gloomy economic outlook and downturn in travel from earlier this year were not reflected in each of their company’s data.
Matt Muroff – Senior Manager, Product Management
It’s rare to have so many airline and travel industry executives in one place, so from a customer perspective, GBTA always offers a unique opportunity to have more meaningful conversations at one time than we’re able to have throughout the year.
With everything ARC is doing with our data solutions, there was plenty to discuss with new customers onboarding and potential customers inquiring about how we can help them grow and adapt to the industry.
GBTA is a great time to establish relationships and reconnect with past colleagues, peers and business partners. There are many exciting things happening throughout the industry, and ARC remains connected to its growth.
Pete Ross – Director, Agency Relationships
As a new member of the ARC team, it was great getting to know my colleagues and being introduced to customers. The overall economics of business travel are fascinating—from the value it delivers in increased sales to the connections made between businesses.
Despite lingering uncertainty, travel continues to grow year over year and will account for $2 trillion in business travel spend by 2029. As we were given this information at the event, we were encouraged to think and lead differently. I found the session on the future of work particularly insightful.
I left with an appreciation for all the work that goes into making this a successful event for ARC and GBTA. A big thanks to the ARC team!
Mo Zahran – Key Account Manager
This year, it was refreshing to see the conversations around NDC more focused on modern retailing and improving the traveler experience.
There were several great sessions on distribution, but the one on NDC serviceability really stood out to me. For one, it debunked several myths and highlighted all the progress made in driving NDC adoption. More importantly, it reinforced the point that, regardless of how many adoption barriers have come down, the journey is not yet complete. Industry collaboration across all stakeholder groups is now more important than ever.
GBTA is about conversations. I was reminded of why the travel industry is so resilient. I feel like I returned with insights that will directly impact how ARC will support our customers in the months ahead.
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ARC remains focused on the future of business travel by helping our partners with innovative data and solutions. We’ll see everyone next year in Chicago for GBTA 2026!