Creating Connections and Making Meetings Happen: Seamless Event Travel Management

Events and conferences are the beating heart of the industry. For many of us, a big reason that we love what we do is because our jobs create the opportunity to meet new people, gain new experiences in global locations, expose ourselves to new challenges and ideas, and catch up with people whose career trajectories match our own.

Whether you’re seeing familiar faces or walking into a room of the unknown, conference halls and exhibition floors provide a vital shared space for the industry to assess priorities, share developments, and revitalise operations.

As the energy industry constantly evolves, there’s comfort in the familiarity and optimism that events can bring. Seeing people take the stage to talk about their new technologies or breakthroughs, visiting the stands of some of the biggest names in the market, and meeting a mix of old friends and new can leave you with the feeling that the industry – and our networks – are heading in the right direction.

It’s this feeling that makes ATPI – a Direct Travel company proud to attend and support a growing list of industry events and conferences around the world. From the North Sea to the Middle East, and the Americas to the Asia-Pacific, if there’s a show floor for people to network and gain new knowledge, then there’s a chance that ATPI’s travel management team has played a role in getting feet on the ground.

Event travel management

Despite how much industry events can dominate calendars and itineraries, many organisations still manage corporate travel and event attendance as two separate entities, coordinated by differing parties and split into different supplies and processes. If you’re jet setting across the world to attend events and make mission-critical meetings and networking opportunities, this fragmented approach just won’t suffice.

Mixed suppliers, individual thinking and planning, and disconnected decision-making create a process that is difficult to sustain, causes internal headaches, and risks overlapping or missed opportunity.

ATPI’s commitment to providing streamlined and holistic travel experiences includes event travel management support, covering flights, rail, accommodation, ground transport, traveller assistance, duty of care responsibilities, and on-the-ground, localised aid. Connecting the event with the journey, ATPI coordinates delegates from their starting location, through their travel plans, their accommodation, and reaching the event itself. Through a centralised process, coordinated bookings, and easily accessible support, we’re here to reduce uncertainty, mitigate limited internal capacity, and allow attendees to focus on their event plans.

Why it matters

Managing traveller information, departure locations, travel preferences, passport and Visa details, accessibility requirements, hotel choices, and arrival and departure times (including disruptions) to align with event sessions and activities under one roof avoids the risk of errors, duplication, and outdated data.

This is especially true for company’s attending international events, where internal teams from across the globe all converge in one location, using different airlines, and all with strict itineraries to follow, whether its active participation in technical sessions or in-person meetings. Different travel and service needs can open a pandora’s box of complex logistics, so when different elements are managed with tunnelled vision, any small change or disruption can very quickly create wider problems that threaten plans across the event week.

Delayed flights impacting transfers, late arrivals having a knock-on effect for hotels, changes to event schedules: without a centralised partner and process, booking teams and managers can easily lose awareness of who is where and how they are getting from A to B, jumping between different supplies to try coordinate changes.

For those responsible for the industry event, there are too many moving parts to fully contemplate. Changes and disruption are part of the game. A delay or change of scenario for a keynote speaker or guest of honour could result in mass change to the event lineup, resulting in new dates and times for your own participation. What could be a headache or a withdrawn opportunity is avoided with a single integrated team who can coordinate the necessary adjustments across every touchpoint.

Upcoming events

As far as energy-specific industry events go, they don’t come much bigger than ADIPEC. Taking place in Abu Dhabi in early November, every year the show welcomes hundreds of thousands from overseas, creating competition for airfares and accommodation.

Thankfully for ATPI and our global clientele, our ever-growing presence across the Middle East, including a strong foothold in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman, our network of suppliers and collaborators eases any concerns around availability. This year, that position is especially crucial as conflict in the region created mass disruption in Q1 and Q2. While mass disruption has eased, certain flight paths and options have remained in flux, with airlines and aviation authorities taking the necessary time to reassess routing, restore airspace access, and strengthen capacity with confidence.

Over the last four months, recovery has been phased rather than immediate, with some routes still awaiting to be back to full strength. For ADIPEC, the knock-on effect is on the supply chain of airlines and available transport; a challenge that ATPI’s in-country teams are more than equipped to support.

Event travel, like any reason for travel, rarely goes exactly as expected. But on-the-ground support can be the difference maker, providing points of visibility for round-the-clock contact and support, helping to resolve issues before they affect wider event and travel plans.

ATPI’s teams in the Middle East will be attending ADIPEC to network and meet with our existing clients and build relationships with new ones. The event allows us to connect, discover, and learn what the future focus and drivers are across the sector, enabling us to ensure that we show up and are ready to support them across their travel requirements through service, support, and technology. Visible on the ground, we will be there manage your travel to and from the show, the duty of care you’re owed while in the region, emergency response if there were to be any disruption, and allowing you to focus on what you came for: enjoying the show.

Our teams aren’t just another supplier; we are embedded into our customers business with a 360-degree customer-centric ethos.