Information technology and customer relationship management will be under the spotlight at 21 seminars to be held over the four days of World Travel Market (WTM) in London next month.
"This year's seminar programme is the most comprehensive ever organised in the 22 years of World Travel Market," said WTM group exhibition director Fiona Jeffery.
"The issues raised by information technology and customer relationship management are set to have a major effect on the travel industry worldwide.
"It is the role of World Travel Market to raise and tackle these issues; to give as many visitors the opportunity to learn from the experts and to utilise the knowledge to the benefit of their businesses."
Fifteen seminars have been organised under the umbrella "Raising the e-standard". The detailed programme will run over the two Meridian Days on November 12 and 13 and the Discovery Days on November 14 and 15.
The seminars include:
The Secret of Attracting and Retaining Customers On-line - James Vaile, Managing Director, Expedia;
The Customer Counts - The Reality of Customer Relationship Management - Paul Richer, senior partner, Genesys;
The Horizontal Mantra - A New Generation Approach to Total Travel And Tourism Integration - Peter Dennis, business development director, World.net Services Ltd;
Customer Relationship Management: The Differentiator in Today's Marketplace - Tim Wright, staff vice president e-commerce, Worldspan;
The Stresses of Customer Relationship Management - Is it Worth it? - Haico Van Der Steen, director, Focus 20:20;
Towards Next Generation Customer Management: Trends in Customer Relationship Management Within the Global Travel Industry - Stephen Wood, consultant, KPMG;
Travelling the Last Kilometre to the Customer - Effective Speech and Language Technology Solutions - The Euromap Project;
Understanding the European e-travel Marketplace - Giovanni Bisignani, CEO, Opodo;
Giving Visitors the Smart Key to the City - Enhancing Tourism with Smartcard Technology - Gary Watts, managing director, Applied Card Technologies;
Attracting and Retaining Customers Through Faster Online Alternative - Paybox;
The Next Generation of Travel Reservations Technology - Neil Beck, CEO, Datalex
Prices for each of the 15 "Raising e-standard" seminars are £21 ($31). Additionally, six free Discovery Day seminars have been organised during WTM.
WTM will be held at Earls Court in London from November 12 to 15.
