The Business Travel Magazine’s first Dinner Club of 2023 took place at The Corinthia, London, on February 20.

Travel buyers, TMCs and suppliers from across the sector enjoyed networking at a champagne reception and then sat down for a three-course meal.

Due to Covid, the after-dinner speaker had to pull out at the last minute so instead guests took part in an informal discussion about the business travel recovery and key industry issues and trends in 2023, including the growth of team travel, longer stays and blended travel, consolidation in the aviation industry, higher prices and how to measure the ROI of a business meeting or trip.

A number of the invited guests were attending the Dinner Club for the first time, including Matthew Pancaldi, VP Global Accounts and Government for American Express GBT, Lynsey Walker, Category Manager Travel, HR and Fleet at WSP, Guy Snelgar, Global Business Travel Director at The Advantage Travel Partnership, Travel Planet UK CEO James Diaz, and Nikki Parsons, Global Director for Travel at Arcadis, who will take over as ITM Chair in May.

The sponsors for the evening were United Airlines, 3Sixty, TripBAM and South Western Railway.