19 MAR 2019:  The recent Connect Business Travel Conference held at the Gaylord Palms in Kissimmee, Florida, saw corporate travel executives get together with key suppliers to do some serious business. We had an opportunity to talk with Will Seccombe, the president of Connect Travel and Connect Marketing. He took no time in getting down to the basics – “13,630 individual appointments between North American Suppliers and 100 buyers from 29 countries.”

Seccombe, who as a former CEO of Visit Florida, is no stranger to the market says, “we felt there was a real opportunity to help facilitate the sales process and help people grow their business. It’s the right time of the year for product development, it’s a really great opportunity to drum up new business products with the format that we use, with great incredible inspirational presentations like Randy Garfield (retired president of Walt Disney Travel, whose excellent presentation we had just attended. Watch for our conversation with Garfield next week).

Seccombe also spoke of the other eminent speakers, including Tom Garzilli, CMO, and Carroll Rheem, P Research and Analytics both of Brand USA; Carol Dover president/CEO Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA); Dana Young president/CEO of Visit Florida, and Derek Price director North America, Expedia Group Media Solutions. There was a ‘State of the Cruise Industry with Navin Sawhney, CEO of Ponant and Scott Knutson VP sales & marketing at Costa Cruises NA and a ‘Women in Tourism’ panel consisting of Devon Dow, global business director, Mailman; Stacey Mitchell, director, Monroe County Tourist Development Council; Stacy Ritter, president/CEO, Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB; and the moderator, Laura Mandala, CEO, Mandala Research.

There was plenty of entertainment – the Harlem Globetrotters, an opening night party at Epcot, and a closing one at Discovery Cove and the keynote speaker was the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush – who was amusing, self-deprecating, and refused to be drawn into commentary on the current incumbent of the White House, while managing to get several points across.

These are all a great way to build relationships said Seccombe, but the heart of the business and the reason for the success of the conference is those 13,630 individual one-on-one appointments where people can really facilitate the sales process of those businesses.

Suppliers attended from throughout North America. “We obviously are here in Florida and have a good base in tourism, it’s the number one industry in the state, but we’ve got buyers from all across North America, Canada, really great opportunities,” said Seccombe.

When it comes to buyers Connect focuses on the decision makers who can actually contract and close business.

He says, “we’re able to recruit the best buyers because we host them, and we take care of their travel. They are selling North America – they are selling a lot of North America and these are the people that can make the decisions and contract. This year we have buyers from 29 countries, the biggest delegation is from China and huge delegation from India, and delegations from Latin America and Europe, and from the Middle East … Scandinavia, it’s just a great opportunity. The way that our appointments work is the buyers can request who they want to meet with, the suppliers can request who they want to meet with again. You’re able to manage a business development process and really know who you’re going to meet with in advance. It’s not just people randomly walking by a booth.

“We know the model works, and we believe that there’s a great opportunity for this to continue to grow,” says Seccombe, noting the success of matching the decision makers with suppliers in “a really effective format” has seen a 50 percent increase in growth since last year.

“I think it will continue to grow” he says, “and our belief is that as long as we have the decision makers we can grow, and we want to make sure we continue to build on that experience and to continue to build connections.”

So next year it’s back to Kissimmee and the Gaylord Palms, where, says, Seccombe, “we have a fabulous host, a great experience – they have been very supportive.”

We took the time during the conference to talk to a number of the attendees – both buyers and suppliers – several from overseas – and, without exception, they praised the format, the quality of the conference, and the ability to conduct some ‘serious business’ or ‘close a deal.’

You can’t ask for much more.