Four new conferences planned for ITB Asia
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This year’s ITB Asia will feature four new conference sessions. These include 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 ‘Asia for Asia Conference’ organised by Singapore Tourism Board, as well as the second instalment of the ITB Asia Association Day already confirmed.
“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 over 3,000 minutes of high powered content, about 40% more compared to 2010,” said Nino Gruettke, Executive Director of ITB Asia.
“To ensure that ITB Asia truly represents the travel industry, we’ve put together an exciting and more in-depth programme that will probe into the most relevant issues surrounding the industry this year. All sessions will be addressed by key industry players who will provide case studies and share first hand experiences and valuable insights not only from the Asia Pacific region but from around the world,” he added.
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 & 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 key industry figures including Paul Kerr, President & CEO of Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH), Robert M. Rush, President & CEO of LRA Worldwide, Maria Taylor, Vice President Loyalty & Direct Sales for Asia Pacific for Accor, Sung-A Hong from Starwood’s Loyalty & Partner Marketing division, Alfie Yee, Director of Marketing – Asia Pacific for Hilton Worldwide and Sim Beng Koon, Regional Director of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE).
“Delegates will learn the key to getting the balance right when executing loyalty programmes from these industry experts. They will also learn how to stay relevant to travellers’ needs,” added Gruettke.
The session on boutique hotels which will also take place on 19 October, will feature speakers from some SLH, Wanderlust, New Majestic, Hotel 1929, The Scarlet Hotel, 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. This session will take place on the second day of the show, 20 October.
The final conference session which is scheduled to take place on 21 October, 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. Speakers confirmed so far for this panel include Claire Chiu, Director of Business Development from Warwick International Hotels, Jeanette Ho, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Raffles Fairmont Hotels, Aya Aso, President & CEO of Agora Hospitalities, which manages the Nojiriko Hotel EL BOSCO, a boutique resort hotel in Nagano, Japan, and Barbara Gallay, President of FROSCH New York. Gallay also sits on various advisory boards including The Ritz-Carlton, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, and Starwood Luxury Collection.
This year’s ITB Asia will take place at Suntec Singapore from 19-21 October.
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