SOME of the hotel industry’s most knowledgeable and experienced leaders will be sharing their expertise at a number of hotel-focused seminars at this year’s World Travel Market 2012, the leading global event for the travel industry. The event, which runs from November 5 to 8 is well known for the quality of its seminars which cover numerous topics related to the industry, including airlines, cruise and responsible tourism. With the quality of speakers confirmed to appear at WTM 2012, organisers are confident that delegates choosing to attend sessions will be richly rewarded.
Speaking on on-going economic issues and how best to beat them on November 6, Hilton Worldwide senior vice president development Europe and Africa Patrick Fitzgibbon has 15 year’s experience working for Hilton Worldwide and leads a team of more than 24 hotel and property development experts.
He will be joined by Institute of Hospitality president Sir David Michels, a role he was appointed to this year having accrued more than 40 years in the hotel industry, working for brands including Hilton International and Stakis. Nor is Sir David the only senior speaker from Institute of Hospitality. Its chief executive Philippe Rossiter will be drawing on nearly 10 years of experience in the role when he discusses Risk Management on November 6.
The Risk Management seminar will be strengthened by Oxford Brookes University Strategy Risk Management Senior Lecturer Dr Alex Paraskevas who has spent more than 18 years in the academic world after working for more than a decade for Marriott Hotels and Resorts.
A seminar focusing on customer service and the on-going battle to retain customer loyalty on November 7 will feature Guoman and Thistle Hotels managing director Heiko Figge who is responsible for 37 hotels in the UK.
Meanwhile Ecole Hoteliere in Lausanne deputy director of INTEHL, the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Ian Millar will be predicting the future of marketing in 2020 in a session on November 7. In doing so he will be drawing both on his present work at the hotel school but his past experience working on the Board of Directors for Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals. A final seminar for the hotel industry, also on November 7, will focus on hotel design, and consider issues including the cost of building sustainable hotels and whether or not hotels are too over designed these days.