The African Business Travel Association (ABTA) recently held its launch event in Accra, Ghana. The event, which took place at the Legacy Labadi Beach Hotel, was attended by just below 50 of the region’s leading business travel professionals -- from Corporate travel bookers and buyers to Travel Agents, Travel Management Companies, Airlines, Hotels, Car Rental and GDS providers. Monique Swart, Founder of ABTA said: “We were delighted with the great level of support that ABTA received at our Ghana launch, which is testament to the local business travel professionals and their eagerness to stay abreast of local and international business travel trends.” A key issue discussed by delegates was that of transparency in the region, which according to Swart is one of the main challenges facing many emerging African Markets. “We see that Corporate Travel clients often don’t fully understand the value they receive from their travel partners, leading to resistance in paying the service fees which are required when Agents no longer earn airline commissions. This, unfortunately, can lead to a lack of transparency in the billing process.” Delegates also discussed the global trend of Travel Agents -- often only fulfilling a ticketing function -- evolving into full service Travel Management Companies (TMC’s)-- offering clients full Travel Management services to help them manage their travel portfolio’s in a collaborative partnership. Through ‘Education, Innovation and Collaboration’, ABTA provides a platform for African Business Travel professionals to work together toward continually elevating the standard of the Business Travel Industry across the Continent and serves its Members by providing relevant and instantly useable benefits as well as an unlimited supply of opportunities for learning and professional development. ABTA aims to continually engage the Ghanaian market by hosting industry surveys and initiatives to assist in providing a free-flow of information on local, regional and international trends, and will be returning to Accra to host two additional events in 2013.