GBTA Establishes New Advisory Boards in India and China to Strengthen its Expanding Presence in Asia Pacific
SINGAPORE - The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world's premier business travel and meetings trade organization, is expanding its engagement with the business travel industry community in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region with the creation of two new GBTA advisory boards in India and China.
Announced yesterday during the GBTA APAC Conference 2025 — held in partnership with the WERC® Regional Summit at the Raffles City Convention Centre — these new advisory boards bring together regional professionals from leading organizations to provide strategic advisement, industry knowledge, and local market insights as GBTA continues to expand its footprint across APAC.
For GBTA India, Ajay Bhatt, Group Head, Corporate Services for Godrej Industries Group, will serve as Chairperson of the country's 15-member Advisory Board which includes:
Siva Sankar Ala, Director- Travel & Hospitality, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd .
. Sri Arardhi, Co-Founder, Fast Collab Systems Pvt Ltd.
Rajan Bahadur, CEO, Tourism & Hospitality Skill Council of India THSC
Monica Bhatnagar, Assistant Project Officer, World Bank
Rajan Dua, Founder & Managing Director, Udaan India Private Limited
Dev Karvat, Founder & CEO, Asego
Amarnath Lal Das, India Travel Lead and Global Crisis and Compliance, Accenture Solutions PVT. LTD
Manian SGS, Associate Director, Mindsprint
Gaurav Shekhar Nagwekar, Head Travel Logistics & Corporate Service Administration, Reliance Industries
Jehangir Press, VP - Strategic Accounts Management Group & Commercial Director Qmin, Indian Hotel Company Limited
Sudha Prasad, Sr Manager - Compliance (Travel Industry), Mphasis Limited
Prasad Shriyan, Vice President - Corporate Travel, Thomas Cook
Santosh Sharma, Co-founder & CEO, Foresee Aviation
Sakshi Vij, Managing Director, Carzonrent India Pvt Ltd.
The 10-member Advisory Board for GBTA China includes:
Jonathan Kao, Managing Director, North Asia, BCD Travel
Becky Cao, Vice President - Sales and Marketing, China, Langham Hospitality Group
Michael Du, Managing Director, CIBT
Lingyun Fan, APAC Travel Manager, General Motors
Anja Jia, General Manager of Client Success, Trip.Biz
Ibrahim Orhanli, General Manager, Eastern China, Turkish Airlines
Liping Si, Travel Operations Lead - APJ, ExxonMobil
Samuel Wang, Travel Manager, APAC, Adient
Yoyo Wang, Regional Senior Sourcing Manager of General Service, MGS Commercial APMEA, Mars
Sophie Xu, Global Procurement-Procurement Manager, BeiGene
The addition of these boards follows the successful formation of a GBTA Advisory Board in Australia earlier this year. GBTA has also added local staff based in Singapore, Australia and India to better support members and partners, reinforcing its long-term commitment to the APAC region.
Our mission in APAC is to empower the business travel community through meaningful connections and tailored support and offerings. By leveraging the insights of our advisory board members and fostering collaboration, we're able to address the unique needs of the region, ensuring that APAC remains a dynamic hub for business travel. Catherine Logan, GBTA Regional Senior Vice President for EMEA and APAC
India and China represent essential and growing markets for business travel with immense potential for innovation,. Our regional initiatives such as our APAC Conference exemplify our commitment to dialogue and partnership in a region that plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of the industry. Elle Ng-Darmawan, GBTA Regional Director for APAC
The GBTA APAC Conference 2025, taking place 27-28 May, is a platform for business travel professionals in APAC and beyond to network, gain insights from industry leaders and participate in peer-to-peer learning.
For more information about the GBTA APAC Conference 2025, go to apacconference.gbta.org. To learn more about GBTA APAC, visit the regional website here.
About GBTA
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world's premiere business travel and meetings trade organization headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area and serving stakeholders across six continents. GBTA and its 8,000+ members represent and advocate for the $1.48 trillion global travel business and meetings industry. GBTA and the GBTA Foundation deliver world-class education, events, research, advocacy and media to a growing global network of more than 28,000 travel professionals and 125,000 active contacts. For more information visit gbta.org.
About the GBTA Foundation
The mission of the GBTA Foundation, the US 501c3 charitable arm of the Global Business Travel Association, is to help the global business travel industry create a positive impact and better future for people and the planet. The GBTA Foundation focuses on the strategy and execution of GBTA's global sustainability programs, supporting initiatives related to climate action; diversity, equity and inclusion; and other talent-related topics via education, research and advocacy. For more information visit gbtafoundation.org.
Debbie Iannaci
GBTA Global Communications, PR & Research
+1 305 301 7057
GBTA
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