As the 42nd Annual NBTA International Convention & Exposition in Houston, the Business Travel Event of the Year, came to a close today, the National Business Travel Association (NBTA) highlighted the expansion of its global suite of business travel education and networking events. With the addition of new events, the association will host a record number of events geared toward the smart management of corporate travel and meetings for the coming year.

Craig Banikowski, CCTE, C.P.M., CMM, NBTA President & CEO, commented, "NBTA is expanding at an astounding rate, with interest in association involvement and industry education coming in from all over the world in all sectors of business travel. To further the industry and grow the NBTA brand, we've launched new events to address specific needs of targeted audiences who can benefit from the unparallel education NBTA is known for."

GovTravDC 2011 is the newest education and networking event from NBTA's Government Travel Group (GTG). Geared toward travel professionals working in or with the Federal government, this two-day event, to be held June 1-2 in Washington, D.C., will offer attendees the opportunity to hear from and exchange ideas with high-ranking government and corporate travel professionals. While GTG's bi-annual National Travel Forum, which brought together more than 1,000 government travel professionals this year in Orlando, offers a broad spectrum of topics, GovTrav 2011 will focus on specific topics that have and will impact the managed government travel community.

The first NBTA Sports Travel Conference, announced earlier this week, will also be held next summer. To be held July 12-13 in Indianapolis, home of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the event will provide a forum for travel professionals working in athletics at all levels and across all sports to address the specific challenges of varying travel spend.

NBTA global events for 2011 are as follows:

The Masters Program by NBTA
February 8-9
Washington, DC

LACTTE (Latin American Corporate Travel & Technology Exchange)
February 20-22
Sao Paolo, Brazil

NBTA Foundation 14th Annual Gala Dinner
March 14
New York, NY

NBTA Strategic Travel Symposium
March 14-15
New York, NY

NBTA Mexico Corporate Travel Conference
March 23-25, 2011
Mexico City, Mexico

NBTA Canada Annual Conference & Exhibitor Showcase
March 28-29
Toronto, Canada

ISM and NBTA Travel & Meetings Summit
April 19-20
New Orleans, LA

NBTA GovTravDC
June 1-2
Washington, DC

NBTA Legislative Summit
June
Washington, DC

NBTA Sports Travel Conference
July 12-13
Indianapolis, IN

NBTA International Convention & Exposition
August
Denver, CO

NBTA Australia/New Zealand Regional Business Travel Conference
August
Sydney, Australia

NBTA Europe Conference
September
Location TBD

SMEC-LA (Strategic Meeting & Event Conference -- Latin America)
Fall
Sao Paolo, Brazil

In addition to these major events, NBTA will also offer opportunities to take part in professional development programs in various locations throughout the year, including regionally tailored versions of those professional designation courses. For additional events and details, as well as professional development opportunities, visit www.nbta.org/events.

About NBTA
The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) is the world's premier business travel and corporate meetings organization. NBTA and its regional affiliates -- NBTA Australia/New Zealand, the Brazilian Business Travel Association (ABGEV), NBTA Canada, NBTA Europe, NBTA Mexico, and NBTA USA -- serve a network of more than 17,000 business travel professionals around the globe with industry-leading events, networking, education & professional development, research, news & information, and advocacy. NBTA members, numbering more than 5,000 in 30 nations, are corporate and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers. They collectively manage and direct more than US$340 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually on behalf of more than 13 million business travelers within their organizations. For more information, visit www.nbta.org.

About the 2010 NBTA International Convention & Exposition
Widely recognized as the must-attend event for business travel buyers, suppliers, industry leaders and business travel journalists, the 2010 NBTA International Convention & Exposition is taking place in Houston August 8-11, 2010. More than 5,800 travel professionals will take advantage of the Convention's programming, designed to empower attendees to maximize value for their companies, including more than 65 seminars on the most important topics in business travel, more than 400 companies exhibiting in the Expo and countless opportunities for networking with peers. For details, visit www.nbtaconvention.org.