ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 30, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The GBTA Foundation – the education and research arm of the Global Business Travel Association – announced today at GBTA Convention 2014, "The Gift of Knowledge" initiative and United Airlines' $75,000 commitment as a founding leadership partner. Through the initiative, GBTA will be utilizing funds raised to develop and implement an innovative and comprehensive program to further develop the travel management profession in China.

With the growth of the business travel industry in China, the number of qualified business travel professionals has struggled to keep up with the rise in demand. There is a clear and urgent need for holistic education and training of business travel professionals in China. 

"By 2016, China will be the single largest business travel market in the world," said Daphne Bryant, GBTA Foundation Executive Director. "This unprecedented growth signifies the rise of China as the global leader in business travel, making the need for innovative education and training more pressing than ever."

Through collaborative partnerships with leading educational institutions and visionary leadership from its members, GBTA has changed the landscape of business travel management across the globe and plans to bring this same industry-leading education to China.

"United is proud to partner with the GBTA Foundation to launch this groundbreaking new education initiative," said Jake Cefolia, United's vice president of Atlantic and Pacific sales. "As the airline with the most trans-Pacific service to China, United is fully vested in the advancement of country's business travel profession." 

GBTA is partnering with Fudan University, one of the most prestigious higher education institutions in the country, to assist in the construction, delivery and integration of educational curriculum, providing a clear path for future leaders in the business travel industry. GBTA will create educational modules to be offered as elective courses in Fudan University's Master's of Travel Administration (MTA) program and students who complete these courses will be prepared to take the Global Travel Professional (GTP) certification. A steering committee will ensure all content is delivered with a local perspective that caters to the unique audience of business travel professionals in China.

About the GBTA Foundation
The GBTA Foundation is the education and research foundation of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world's premier business travel and meetings trade organization headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area with operations on six continents. Collectively, GBTA's 7,000-plus members manage more than $345 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA provides its growing network of more than 28,000 travel professionals and 125,000 active contacts with world-class education, events, research, advocacy and media. The Foundation was established in 1997 to support GBTA's members and the industry as a whole. As the leading education and research foundation in the business travel industry, the GBTA Foundation seeks to fund initiatives to advance the business travel profession. The GBTA Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For more information, see gbta.org and gbta.org/foundation.

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SOURCE Global Business Travel Association