THE World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) - the forum for business leaders in the travel and tourism industry – will hold its 9th annual Global Travel & Tourism Summit in Florianópolis in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina on May 15 and 16.
The WTTC works with governments and other stakeholders to raise awareness of the importance of one of the world’s largest generators of wealth and employment. Many of its members, chairs and chief executives of the world’s 100 foremost travel and tourism companies will be congregating at the Summit, which this year carries the theme: ‘Real Partnerships - Energising Economies’.
The theme is particularly pertinent in terms of the global challenges currently facing the industry, and it has been acclaimed as an exemplary public-private partnership as it will bring together national, state and local governments from Brazil and other parts of the world, together with leaders of the private sector from every continent.
In welcoming the Summit to Brazil, Jeanine Pires, president of Embratur said, “The Government of Brazil, Embratur, the Brazilian Ministry of Tourism and the State of Santa Catarina have partnered with WTTC to realise the world’s highest level gathering of global industry leaders to discuss ways in which the industry can overcome the economic downturn and play a role in re-energising economies worldwide.”
Speakers include Geoffrey Kent, Abercrombie & Kent Group of Companies; Jean-Claude Baumgarten WTTC; Jeff Clarke, Travelport; Peter Greenberg, NBC Today Show; Deepak Ohri, lebua Hotels & Resorts; Jeanine Pires – Embratur; Christopher Rodrigues CBE, VisitBritain; John Walker, Oxford Economics and Howard Rosenberg, Pulitzer Prize winning former television critic and author of No Time to Think.