Generation BTA LIVE brings business travel careers to UCB | News

November 2026

Generation BTA LIVE: your chance to grab a career in business travel 

By Ethan Dean-Richards

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When Taylor Swift goes on tour, somebody needs to book her flights. When Manchester United go on tour, someone needs to arrange their travel schedule.

On Thursday 19 November , from 11am to 4pm, University College Birmingham's Faisal Mustafa, Jeba Ali and Paul Bamber are bringing the Business Travel Association's (BTA) biggest ever live event to McIntyre House.

As well as revealing everything about the hidden world of business travel and opening the Business Travel Industry Discovery Village, the event will answer two simple questions:

What exactly does the business travel industry do?
How can you get jobs in it?

All heading for destination UCB, 28 world-leading organisations, including Virgin Atlantic and British Airways (see the full list below), are gearing up to answer questions on careers and training in the sector.

Before takeoff, we chatted to the organisers of the event to find out what a huge opportunity this is for our students.  

What actually is the business travel industry?  

Helen Turner, BTA Membership and Education Manager: "Business travel is basically anybody who's travelling for their job or for work. 

"When Taylor Swift goes on tour, somebody has to organise that tour for her. So, travel management companies- that's what they do. They organise all of this sort of travel behind the scenes for anybody who travels for their job."

Andrew Whittaker, Chair of the Generation BTA Board: "Where travel management companies really come to life is when there is global disruption. So, for example, when Heathrow closed not long ago, we had thousands of people who were stuck globally.

"If people haven't used a travel management company, frankly, you're on your own. The job of a travel management company is to make sure that we get everybody back or onto where they need to be safely."

Travel management companies (TMCs) also help businesses get a better deal when they travel, negotiating contracts with airlines, car hire companies and hotels, as well as, for example, keeping track of environmental sustainability targets. 

What will attending this Generation BTA LIVE event do for our students interested in the industry?

Faisal Mustafa, UCB Lecturer in Tourism, Aviation and Hospitality:

"Fundamentally, we want to make students aware that outside of the business-to-consumer (B2C) side, there's a whole side of tourism, aviation and hospitality that they're probably not aware of - the business-to-business (B2B) side.

“A whole world of employment and business opportunities await our students in this area, which is simply not discussed enough.

“This event is all about discovery and networking with professionals from the B2B world." 

Jeba Ali, UCB Employee Engagement Coordinator: "Often students would love to know more about businesses before they apply, and we've created opportunities to have a one-to-one with them.

“It's really hard to get one-to-one sessions with these leading businesses, and sometimes organisations don't know how they can reach out to the next labour market, so having these conversations with employers opens up doors."

What is the BTA's message to students?

Helen Turner: "You're never going to get the opportunity to have all these employers in one place at the same time or all of these industry people.

"Come and learn about the industry, find out why it's a brilliant industry and why it's a great industry to be part of."

Key information about Generation BTA LIVE

A career in Aviation And Airport Management

Date and time: Thursday 19 November 2026. 11am-4pm

Location: McIntyre House

Industry showcases 

Hear from travel management professionals, British Airways and Generation BTA Board Members about the industry:

Higher Education students (18+): 11am-1pm

Further Education students (16 to 18): 2pm-4pm

Business Travel Industry Discovery Village: 11am-4pm

Where TMCs and industry partners host Discovery Desks for students to network and get answers to their questions about entry routes such as apprenticeships, graduate schemes and work experience. 

Which companies will be attending UCB's Generation BTA LIVE event?

28 organisations from across the business travel industry, including TMCs, airlines, rail, hotels, coach, travel technology and events:

BTA members: ALTOUR, Amex GBT, arrangeMY, BCD Travel, Clarity, CTM, DGI Travel, Flight Centre Travel Group, Good Business Travel, Hotel & Travel Solutions, Identity Travel, Inntel, Navan, Perk, Travel Counsellors

Industry partners: Amadeus, Avanti West Coast, Big Green Coach, British Airways, Cvent, Emirates, Enterprise, Premier Inn, Sabre, Travelfusion, Travelodge, Virgin Atlantic, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts