UK-based Mark Cuschieri, executive director for global travel at UBS, was named the Global Business Travel Association's new board president at its annual convention in Dallas this week. He takes over from PayPal travel manager Denise Truso who was elected in 2021.
Cuschieri landed the role following an election process and sees him step up from the vice president position he secured two years ago when, similarly, he became the first person outside of North America to assume the position.
In his election manifesto, Cuschieri said his vision for GBTA was an organisation that "attracts and develops the best talent to the industry, is the source of global insights, a thought leader and a go-to source of information, trends, and research insights in business travel, and the home of industry collaborative innovation and advocacy."
He also highlighted the organisation's global potential. "GBTA has grown this last decade into the beginnings of a truly global organisation, and we’ve all seen the benefits of that: more diverse thinking, greater connectivity, increased understanding.
"But we’ve only scratched the surface. Imagine the numbers we could be, the insights we could have and the value we could create, if we could engage just a fraction of the true size of the global business travel and meetings management workforce."
Cuschieri has also served as the chairman of GBTA Europe's advisory board and, in the UK, as chair of the Institute of Travel Management from 2015 to 2018.
In January this year he was named on BTN Europe's 2023 Hotlist, which cited his European influence on the GBTA and his focus on sustainability. "Sustainability is the topic of our times," he said. "But caring about
sustainability doesn’t mean giving up on travel altogether. People and
economies need to travel for business – and have an environmental
responsibility to do so sustainably."
In other GBTA election results, Rosemary Maloney, manager of global travel, expense and card at Alteryx, was named vice president, and UK-based Carol Fergus, director of global travel, events and ground transportation at Fidelity International, secured the direct seat, director-at-large position.