-10 November 2023 in Ljubljana, Slovenia

Global Passenger Network (GPN) Wraps Up Successful 2023 Autumn General Meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia
LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA – November 13, 2023 – The Global Passenger Network (GPN) concluded its 2023 Autumn General Meeting from November 8th to 10th, hosted in the picturesque city of Ljubljana, Slovenia, renowned as one of Europe’s greenest cities.
GPN Slovenia – Nomago, the host for the 35th General Meeting, orchestrated a remarkable event filled with engaging activities, insightful tours, and delightful dinners, extending a warm welcome to all GPN Members and Partners.

On the first evening, the opening ceremony of the Meeting and dinner took place at the Mihovec Inn – a tradition Inn-style restaurant sponsored by SPIRIT Slovenja. During the opening ceremony, Chairman of GPN – Agnes Pastuszak welcomed all the participants, introduced Ales Mesec – COO at Nomago and announced the winners of the GPN Drivers Photo Competition and invited the GPN Partners – sponsors of the event to hand the awards to the drivers.

• 3^rd place : Petr Hurt – driver of GPN Czech Republic – Umbrella Holiday – sponsored by OSD
• 2^nd place : Jaap Pels – driver of GPN Netherlands – Royal Oostenrijk Group – sponsored by OSD
• 1^st place : Larz Lundhe – driver of GPN Sweden – Axelsson’s – sponsored by Green Energy

On the first day of the meeting, the participants were welcomed to the General Meeting by Agnes Pastuszak – Chairman of GPN and the Committee updates commenced starting with Thami Mourad – GPN Chairman of Partner Committee who made an update on the activities of this committee and its strategy for the next years. Furthermore, he presented the 5 new GPN partners which each presented their company, namely being:

• Flixbus presented by Niclas Bohn, Bus Fleet Strategy & Kamila Zalewska, Business Director Poland, Ukraine & Baltics
• Six Degrees Transport presented by John Fryer, Director & James Button, Director
• Stellar presented by Hassan Aouisse
• Fortal presented by Lionel Facchi, Export Sales Manager
• Europart presented by Balazs Toth, Managing Director at Europart Hungary

Tomas Jelinek – GPN Sales, Marketing & Technology Committee Chairman made a presentation on the committee’s activities and strategy for the next years which is focused on enhancing GPN brand awareness through exhibiting at trade shows, implementing marketing activities and strengthening the relationship between sales teams of the GPN members.

Luis Pedrero – GPN Membership Committee Chairman highlighted the growth of the organization from 6 members in 2006 with to an impressive 43 members worldwide today. The strategy is to continue growing the network but focusing on sustaining the quality. Our goal is to reach a total of 50 members by our 20th anniversary in 2026!

The meeting featured a panel on cost reduction strategies, with insightful contributions from industry leaders:

• Manou Staal, General Manager – Royal Oostenrijk Group
• Alexandre Delvallez, CEO – Saybus
• Karl Andreassen, CEO – Green Energy
• Mark Anderson, Managing Director – Anderson Travel

The participants then enjoyed a biking & walking tour of the city that ended in Ljubljana castle for a welcome drink followed by an amazing presentation from our host member – GPN Slovenia – Nomago regarding their company, their sustainability culture and their booking platform. The first day of the General Meeting was finalized with dinner at the extraordinary restaurant Aperitivo AS sponsored by Nomago.

The second day of the General Meeting commenced with an educational session titled “Implementing Transportation for Major Events” presented by John Fryer, Director at Six Degrees Transport and continued with a panel on sustainability and green energy practices where GPN members and partners presented their view on this topic and their practices in this regard.

Panelists:

• Bas Dubois, Managing Director Benelux – Volvo
• Mark Westendorp, Head of international Key Account Management & Global Tender – Daimler
• Keith McDonnell, Group Managing Director – EI Travel Group
• Paul Blaguss, Managing Partner – Blaguss

During the second part of this panel, we invited our Partners Scania & Flixbus to present “The first of Flixbus’ fleet transformation strategy step on the road” with panelists:

• Niclas Bohn, Bus Fleet Strategy & Kamila Zalewska, Business Director Poland, Ukraine & Baltics – Flixbus
• Sundeep Kumar P, Head of Travel Solutions | People Transport Solutions & Johanna Olsson, Product Management Analyst | People Transport Solutions, Travel Solutions – Scania

The GPN Marketplace facilitated meaningful discussions between members and partners. This session works like “speed dating” creating valuable business connections.

To conclude this General Meeting, the dates and location of the GPN 2024 Spring General Meeting were announced. We are happy that the host of the next General Meeting will be GPN Morocco – GM2 Tours and it will take place in Marrakesh on 28 February – 1 March 2024!

Agnes Pastuszak – Chairman of GPN said: “It was a great meeting with quality sessions that greatly interest our industry. The panels were on topics trending and we had the opportunity to hear from Members and Partners that shared their experience and initiated further conversations among the participants. We see our organization is growing and we are happy to welcome new partners that bring great value to GPN. A big thank you to all the members of the board that invest their time and efforts on GPN making it a network that brings opportunities to all on many different levels. I look forward to our next General Meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco. It will be in a different continent making it possible for GPN to expand its network within this region.”