March 2018

President's Report

The Mission of OVBTA continues to be
“Growth Through Strong Educational Programs.”

Welcome to the GBTA – Ohio Valley Business Travel website. On behalf of Executive Board and Board of Directors, we welcome you.  Whether you are a guest visiting our site for the first time, or a member learning about our upcoming meetings and educational programs, we encourage you to attend a meeting. We are committed to the ongoing development of our members as we strive to enhance their careers in the travel industry through top-rated educational programs and opportunities that allow them to grow professional and personally.

OVBTA is committed to enhancing the travel profession by sponsoring educational and informational programs for our members, and by providing top-rated speakers to address travel-related issues, concerns and current "hot topic" items. Our events are an excellent venue for the sharing of travel-related information and professional expertise where we are focused on perfecting the science of business travel management. We provide a great way to network and learn from each other.  Click here for upcoming events and meetings

As the collective voice of business travel professionals from across Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, the Association provides an important forum for the constructive exchange of information and ideas among its members. Additionally, we offer many educational opportunities throughout the year designed to help members understand and apply new and emerging travel management techniques. This is accomplished in a variety of ways including regular quarterly meetings, frequent communication and quarterly networking events.

Interested in joining OVBTA? Given the turbulent and oftentimes remarkable changes occurring in our industry, there’s never been a better time. We’ll help you find ways to reduce your travel costs, increase your skill base and expose you to a vast new wealth of travel management expertise. Click here to join or to learn more about OVBTA membership. 

I want to personally extend an invitation for you to join us at our 2018 meetings to experience first-hand everything that we have to offer for both you and your organization. Please feel free to reach out to me or a member of our board with ideas, feedback or questions you may have about OVBTA. Your input and support is vital to our chapter’s success, the advancement of the travel industry and our many colleagues in various local businesses.

Thank you for your interest and support. I look forward to seeing all at the 2018 OVBTA Meetings. 

Wini Cloran Ohio Valley BTA President

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Legislative Action

FAA Bill Signed Into Law

October 10, 2018. Washington, DC:

In a rare act of bipartisanship in today’s political landscape, Democrats and Republicans worked together to pass a bill that reauthorizes the budget for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for five years. Before the President signed the FAA Bill into law last Friday, the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 93-6 and it passed the House by a similarly large margin with a vote of 398-23.

Why is this such a big win for business travel?
As the voice of the business travel industry on Capitol Hill, GBTA staff tirelessly advocates for policies that better the business travel industry. Our Government Relations Committee provides insight to help us identify the issues that matter most, our Chapters engage in advocacy through our annual Government Relations Challenge, and most importantly, many of our members attend our Legislative Summit each year to take our collective voice to the Hill and meet with their Senators and Representatives.

In this one bill, virtually all of the priority issues we have included in our Legislative Agenda for the past five years have now become a reality.

• Long-Term Reauthorization: GBTA has been calling for a long-term FAA Reauthorization to provide stability to the nation’s air traffic control system, ensuring the ongoing safe, secure and efficient facilitation of air travel. This bill marks the first five-year extension since 1982. This follows years of instability created by three authorization extensions from 2015-2017, a federal government shutdown in 2013, a lapse in the FAA authorization in 2011 and 23 short-term extensions from 2007 to 2012.
• An End to the Diversion of Security Fees: Over the past year, GBTA has been one of the lone organizations supporting the FASTER Act, which would end the practice of diverting a portion of the 9-11 security fee charged on each air ticket toward the national deficit. GBTA argued that this money should go towards security and improving TSA’s efforts as it was intended. This bill ends the current practice of diverting 60 cents on every fee charged by 2027.
• PreCheck is PreCheck: PreCheck is a win for all passengers, leading to increased traveler satisfaction and overall safety. This new bill mandates that only those prescreened passengers enrolled in trusted traveler programs can use the PreCheck lanes. It also enacts measures to increase marketing and enrollment capabilities through authorized third parties, which will ultimately continue to strengthen the benefits of PreCheck.
• No Voice Calls on Planes: GBTA has long-advocated for #NoCallsOnPlanes as the vast majority of business travelers oppose voice calls on planes. This bill calls for a regulation prohibiting calls on planes. As we always say, sometimes silence really is golden.
• Passenger Facility Charges (PFCs): The bill did not include an increase in the PFC, which is a tax on air travelers and essentially a tax on the cost of doing business. The bill also calls for the formation of an expert panel to investigate the need for infrastructure, resources and the impact of increasing the fee – specifically calling out for representation from the business travel industry to act as a stakeholder on the panel. This is the direct result of our efforts to demonstrate the diverse needs of the leisure and business travel industries and showcase the important economic impact of our industry.
• Rental Car Taxation: This bill prohibits discriminatory taxes on rental cars at airport locations, meaning that state and local governments can no longer put a tax on a rental car that they wouldn’t put on any other purchase. For example, specific car rental taxes used to pay for new stadiums targeted at travelers renting cars who are not from their voting district would be prohibited.
• Business Traveler Protections: Finally, the bill included some consumer protections that will look out for our business travelers including mandates to set new minimum requirements for seats on airplanes; a call to refund passengers for services they paid for but did not receive; and for regulators to determine if it is unfair or deceptive for airlines to tell passengers that a flight is delayed or canceled due to weather alone when other factors are involved.

Thank you to all of our members who have been a part of our advocacy efforts over the years. It was your collective voice that allowed our industry to achieve this tremendous milestone. The fight is never over though when it comes to advocacy as we must remain vigilant on these issues and stay on top of our next priorities. I encourage you all to attend our Legislative Summit next spring to make our voice even stronger. You can also stay up-to-date on GBTA’s advocacy efforts in Washington, D.C., Brussels and around the world by subscribing to GBTA’s bi-weekly Politics of Travel email from GBTA’s Vice President of Government Relations, Shane Downey.

I would also like to thank our long-time friends and colleagues at Cornerstone Government Affairs. Our partnership over the past eight years has been exceptional and your contributions to our success immeasurable.

In closing, it is worth again calling out the outstanding bi-partisan work in Congress and the White House to look past ideological differences and put the future of the business travel industry – and business travelers that drive our economy – first. We hope that this is a model for future success for the global business travel industry and our leaders in Washington.

Best Regards,

Michael W. McCormick
GBTA Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer

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Calendar of Events

2018 OVBTA - GBTA Events

Below are the upcoming 2018 events for the OVBTA and GBTA. Click the date links for additional information on each event.

• November 19, 2018 - OVBTA Welcome Reception at the Hilton Columbus, Easton, OH
• November 20, 2018 - General OVBTA membership meeting at the Hilton Columbus, Easton, OH

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Welcome New Members

A Very Warm OVBTA Welcome to Our Newest Members!

All of us at OVBTA are very excited to have you on board and look forward to meeting you and getting to know you better. Be sure to attend as many meetings as you are able to and introduce youreslves to your fellow members at the upcoming meetings.

One of the best ways to maximize the benefits of your OVBTA membership is to get involved and volunteer for a committee. With nearly 200 members, there are many opportunties to help out on different committee and we're always looking for assistance and fresh ideas! For information, ask any of the board members at any OVBTA meeting or email communications@ovbta.org.

Another great way to support OVBTA is to take advantage of sponsoship and fundraising opportunities. Whether it's donating or bidding on auction items, becoming a corporate sponsor, donating to support the GBTA PAC to insure our voice is heard by legislators, there are are areas where your support is needed and appreciated. To learn more about these opportuntities, email Mary Pelino at fundraising@ovbta.org

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Follow OVBTA

Take a moment to connect with the OVBTA on social media. These are closed and moderated groups so be sure to submit your name and join in on the conversations.

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