The inaugural FACTS Summit & Expo, which opened 25 November at ICC Sydney, attracted 1,500 delegates, 160 speakers, and 100 exhibitors from across the global corporate travel, business events, travel payments and aviation ecosystem. FACTS launched at a pivotal time for an industry navigating rapid technological change, shifting traveller expectations and increasing sustainability pressures.
FACTS co-founder, Derek Sadubin said: “FACTS was created to give the corporate travel and business events sector a strategic forum equal to the scale of its transformation. The pace of change is now exponential. Whether it’s AI, digital identity, airline retailing, traveller wellness or the decarbonisation challenge – the entire ecosystem is being reshaped. FACTS is about bringing leaders together to share insight, confront the hard questions, and shape what the next decade of travel looks like.”
Suzanne Neufang, CEO of GBTA, the event’s strategic partner, said: “Australia is a global leader for business travel, with GBTA’s latest Business Travel Index projecting an annual spend for the market of A$42.7bn in 2025. As well as being a trailblazer in its own right, Australia is fuelling the sector’s growth across wider Asia Pacific, currently the world’s top business travel region.
“Globally, however, our sector does face headwinds, which impact Australia as much as any other country. These include ongoing uncertainty around trade policies, inflationary pressures and shifts in global supply chains.”
Across the conference’s two days, delegates heard from top international and Australian leaders including: Massimo Morin, Global Head of Travel, AWS; Cam Wallace, CEO International & Freight, Qantas; Libby Minogue, CMO, Virgin Australia, and senior executives from Amadeus, BCD, CT Connections, CTM, Cvent, Emburse, FCM, Serko, Visa and more.
Speaking at the conference, Katie Fraser, general manager, customer and operations, for FCM Meetings & Events, shared how forward-thinking procurement teams are seizing this golden opportunity to become strategic enablers rather than just watching costs. “Events are powerful tools for building culture, engaging people and driving business results,” Fraser said. “When events make up most of your travel spend, procurement becomes the game-changer for companies that get it right.”
The shift from conferences being logistics exercises to strategic business investments means procurement’s role has evolved. Fraser’s session on more innovative event sourcing showed how early collaboration between procurement, account managers and event teams delivers better value, reduces risk through proper planning, and creates partnerships that drive real business impact.
“The companies that nail events procurement are seeing the strongest returns from their travel programmes,” Fraser said. “This is about procurement teams becoming opportunity creators, not roadblocks.”
FCM Meetings & Events’ 2025 Trends Report shows that rising expectations and more complex events create golden opportunities for strategic procurement teams to add real value. The research reveals attendee experience ranks as the top priority for event planners (4.5 out of 5), followed by safety and security, and effective project management – all areas where procurement partnerships can make a huge difference.
Fraser’s key winning strategies for procurement teams include: Events must start with a purpose, and have clear measurable outcomes showing return on investment and return on experience Getting involved early at the planning stage, rather than just handling contracts Using long-term event partnerships for better value and investment Setting KPIs that focus on teamwork and results, not just cost reduction Understanding events as business drivers, not travel extensions.
More information: www.factsevent.com