Europe’s corporate travel market will get five days of focused, deal-making activity, thanks to Business Travel Week, which is scheduled to run from 9-13 February 2009.

Created by Centaur Media and supported by the Institute of Travel Management (ITM), the initiative has been created following months of industry research carried out by Centaur Exhibitions and its sister businesses Centaur Conferences and YouGov Centaur.

Business Travel Week has been designed to unite the European business travel industry, provide buyers and suppliers with a platform to stimulate debate, push the sector into the limelight and heighten its profile throughout the rest of industry.

Incorporating a mix of exhibitions, conferences, awards and networking events, the highlight of Business Travel Week, according to its organisers, will be the well-established and highly popular Business Travel Show. Celebrating its 15th anniversary, this event already provides a spotlight for 250 travel-related companies to highlight their newest products, initiatives, packages and technology to more than 7,000 business travel buyers, bookers and managers.

Centaur is inviting third-party companies to host additional events, such as awards evenings, drinks parties, open house days or press events, to sit under the Business Travel Week umbrella alongside the current line up of activity, which includes:

Exhibitions
- Business Travel Show, 10–12 February 2009
- Business Meetings Showcase, 10–12 February 2009
- Travel Buyer Technology Showcase, 10–12 February 2009
- Business Travel Online Showcase, 10–12 February 2009
- Travel Technology Show, 10–11 February 2009

Education and training
- Business Travel Show Conference, 10–12 February 2009
A three day conference for travel buyer and a two day conference for the agency community; each will include a selection of keynotes, debates, panel sessions, research, training and workshops.

Awards
- Cellars in the Sky: The Airline Wine Awards, 10 February 2009 (Daytime)
- The Business Travel Innovation Awards, 11 February 2009 (Daytime)
- The European Travel Manager Awards, 12 February 2009 (Evening)

Networking events
- The Business Travel Show Exhibitor Event, 10 February 2009
- The Business Travel Week VIP Buyer Party, 11 February 2009
- The ITM Lunch keynote speaker, 11 February 2009
- The European Travel Managers’ lunch with keynote speaker, 12 February 2009

“Business Travel Week will provide the European business travel professional with much more than one show ever can and that’s why Centaur is committed to investing in and developing the week over the next one, two, 10 years,” said event director David Chapple.

“Our destination goal is to create a high-profile, annual focal point in the industry calendar when professionals can enjoy a concentrated burst of networking, learning, sharing and deal-making, much in the same way as London Fashion Week works for the fashion industry.

“We have chosen to stage the week in London because the city has always been a major centre for the business travel industry. For that reason, we truly believe it provides the perfect grounding for pan-European celebratory activity.”

Meanwhile, Paul Tilstone, ITM executive director, said: “I love the idea of Business Travel Week, encouraging businesses to focus on a wide variety of business travel and meetings issues across a number of activities. Such an approach has worked well in other industries. With the Business Travel Show as the core I look forward to seeing how the week will develop."