MESSE Berlin (Singapore), organiser of ITB Asia, has announced four new conference sessions for this year’s show including panel discussions on loyalty programmes, boutique hotels, women in action and a business travel plenary session.
This year’s conference programme is already the show’s largest line-up to date, with the addition of the inaugural TTG Travel Agent Conference, the Asia for Asia Conference organised by Singapore Tourism Board, as well as the second instalment of the successful ITB Asia Association Day.
“The conference component has always been a key element of ITB Asia’s knowledge-sharing platform and this year’s programme is all set to be even bigger and better with more than 3,000 minutes of high-powered content, about 40 per cent more compared to 2010,” said Nino Gruettke, executive director of ITB Asia.
The conference programme will kick-off on the first day of the show with a keynote speech from Paul Brown, Hilton Worldwide’s president of global brands and commercial services, who will address the impact of demography and technology on Mice business in Asia.
The panel on loyalty programmes, held on the same day, will be represented by industry heavyweights including Paul Kerr, president and CEO of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, Robert Rush, president and CEO of LRA Worldwide, Maria Taylor, vice president loyalty and direct sales, Asia Pacific for Accor, Sung-A Hong from Starwood’s loyalty and partner marketing division, Alfie Yee, director of marketing, Asia Pacific, Hilton Worldwide, and Sim Beng Koon, regional director of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE).
The session on boutique hotels, which will also take place on October 19, will feature speakers from some of the best brands in the business, including Small Luxury Hotels of the World, Wanderlust, New Majestic, W Hotels Worldwide and Design Hotels. In this discussion, boutique hotel industry leaders will share some of their trade secrets and big chains will also reveal their strategies on countering competition from the niche players.
The business travel plenary session will include research findings on ‘The economic impact of business travel in Asia Pacific’ by Adam Sacks, managing director of Tourism Economics. The company designs market strategy models, tourism policy recommendations, tourism forecasting models and tourism economic impact studies.
The final conference session which is scheduled to take place on October 21, will put the spotlight on female travel leaders. These ‘Women in action’ will share the stories of their journeys, what they have done to achieve success and their vision for the future of travel and tourism.