President Bill Clinton Speaks at Final Day of 2012 GBTA Convention

Successful Convention Concluded with Record Breaking Attendance and Travel Industry Leaders Discussing Radical Ideas for Innovative Business Practices

BOSTON, July 26, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- President Bill Clinton, founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation and the 42nd President of the United States spoke as the final keynote speaker at the annual 2012 GBTA Convention in Boston. The President was welcomed by attendees from all over the globe and discussed the current globalized political and economic landscape, his William J. Clinton Foundation and Clinton Health Access Initiative work and what it takes to succeed in today's world.

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"The future looks good for business travel," said President Clinton. Discussing the need to exchange ideas and meet face to face to spur innovations that address health and environmental issues he said, "We live in the most interdependent period and we have to ask ourselves, how we can become more competitive?" He continued, "What works in the modern world is cooperation and networking. Debates are healthy but it can't be seen as a weakness to cooperate."    

President Clinton's appearance this year was sponsored by Boeing. The President spoke at the GBTA Convention in 2009 and returned again this year along with President George W. Bush who spoke at Convention the previous day. This was the first time two United States Presidents participated making GBTA Convention history.

At the "Practically Radical CEO Panel" Bill Taylor, co-founder of Fast Company moderated a discussion with business leaders who have transformed their organizations and the way business is done. The panel included Ted Teng, president and CEO of Leading Hotels of the World, LTD, Linda Verba, executive vice-president and head of retail banking for TD Bank, and Brad Gerstner, founder and CEO of Altimeter Capital Management, LLC.

The roundtable discussion explored lessons on strategy, innovation and leadership behind the radical ideas that revolutionize business. Linda Verba said, "You have to be fearless about reinventing yourself. The skill-set you have now is different from what you needed 5 years ago." Speaking about innovation, Ted Teng said, "When you're the first to do something you galvanize the industry."

GBTA concluded the event breaking attendance records announcing 1,475 travel buyers attended the 2012 GBTA Convention with 6,671 attendees total, making this one of the largest GBTA Conventions in history and one of the largest gatherings of travel professionals in the world. Next year's event will be in San Diego, CA on August 4-7, 2013.

About the Global Business Travel Association Convention
The GBTA Convention, with nearly than 6,000 attendees, is the largest, most comprehensive annual gathering of business travel and meetings managers, meeting planners, procurement professionals and suppliers anywhere in the world. The Business Travel Event of the Year® features: more than 60 industry-leading education sessions organized into 15+ specialized tracks geared to specific levels of experience and a variety of disciplines; a 400+ company Exposition showcasing market choices not available at other industry gatherings; sessions featuring world-renowned speakers and industry leaders; a wide selection of professional development opportunities; and, much more. For more information on the GBTA Convention, visit www.gbta.org/convention.

About the Global Business Travel Association
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world's premier business travel and meetings organization. Collectively, GBTA's 5,000-plus members manage over $340 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA provides its network of 17,000 business and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers, with networking events, news, education & professional development, research, and advocacy.  For more information, visit www.gbta.org.

SOURCE Global Business Travel Association