The Institute of Travel Management (ITM) has announced that Nikki Parsons, Global Director of Travel, Arcadis, will be the next Chair of its Board of Directors. She takes over the role officially on 1^st May 2023, when the current Chair, Alison Rogan, Global Head of Travel and Expense – Barclays, who has led the ITM Board since June 2020, steps down.

Nikki Parsons
Global Director of Travel | Arcadis

The Chair is responsible for driving the strategic vision of ITM, providing leadership to the Board and ensuring the association has maximum impact for its members. The Chair also works closely with ITM’s CEO and Secretariat to achieve agreed objectives, as well as acts as an ambassador for ITM in the business travel industry.

Tenure of the role is two years with one additional term as outgoing Chair. There will be a handover period between Alison Rogan and Nikki Parsons over the next three months. Inauguration of the incoming Chair and farewell to the outgoing Chair will take place at ITM’s Annual Conference in late April.

Nikki Parsons has been a pro-active member of ITM since 2017, joining as an Associate Director, a role she held for five years, before becoming a Board Director in 2022. She has also been a member of ITM’s Future Role of the Travel Manager taskforce; taken part in ITM’s Mentoring Programme as a mentor; sat on the ITM Events Committee; and contributed to White Paper content on traveller wellness.

Her career as a business travel buyer spans 20 years. Prior to her current position at Arcadis, she spent nine years as Global Head of Travel & Meetings at AIG. This included stints in Singapore, where she implemented a managed travel and meetings programme across Asia Pacific, and New York leading the global team, before returning to the UK in 2016. Prior to AIG, Nikki Parsons held travel management positions with Merrill Lynch and Standard Bank in London, and Citi in Singapore.

Alison Rogan, outgoing ITM Chair and Global Head of Travel and Expense, Barclays commented: “My three years as ITM Chair has been a tremendously memorable and rewarding experience. I am incredibly proud of the successes we have achieved as an association, all of which were designed to support our community through one of the most challenging periods for the industry in recent history. Most notably for me were the efforts of the numerous taskforces focused on the topics of EU travel regulations, payments and the future role of the travel manager, all designed in helping  to tackle some of the major issues we would face as part of the return to travel.  It goes without saying that the support I have received from everyone throughout my tenure has been truly amazing and I cannot thank you enough. I wish Nikki all the very best in the role and in taking ITM forward to its next chapter.”

Nikki Parsons, incoming ITM Chair, and Global Director of Travel, Arcadis said: “I am really excited and honoured to be appointed as the next ITM Chair. I am looking forward to building on the legacy of Alison’s achievements during what was an incredibly challenging time for our industry. In particular I intend to focus on how we encourage the next generation of talent into business travel management as this is something that I feel very passionate about. The travel manager role looks and feels very different, not just from when I began my career, but since the pandemic. We need to ensure ITM continues to reflect this shift and provides the right level of support and professional development, not only to our members, but in order to develop a pipeline of future talent. We must also continue to build and take advantage of ITM’s sense of community, which is at the heart of the organisation.”

Scott Davies, CEO, ITM added: “On behalf of all of ITM’s members we are enormously grateful for the time, energy and passion Alison has generously given to the UK & Ireland’s business travel community, during such extraordinary times. I am personally grateful for her incredible support.  We look forward to welcoming Nikki and strongly feel that her expertise and thought leadership will amplify ITM’s efforts to be the UK & Ireland’s go-to business travel organization for all corporate Travel buyers, suppliers and industry practitioners, providing educational content, knowledge sharing and networking to connect the travel community.”