20/01/2003
London, UK - The Third Global Travel & Tourism Summit on 'Building New Tourism' is shaping up to be a major event in the industry calendar this year. Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, has kindly agreed to give the keynote address at the event, scheduled to take place from May 15-16, 2003 in Vilamoura, Portugal.
Armstrong will head up an impressive list of CEOs and chairmen from leading Travel & Tourism companies around the world, who will present papers and participate in panel discussions about key issues facing the industry at this critical time of economic and political uncertainty.
Building confidence in the face of terrorism, managing risk in an uncertain world, understanding shifting customer behaviour, and finding new ways of doing business - these are some of the many topics to be debated as industry leaders join forces to address some of the issues facing the industry today. Delegates from both industry and the public sector will also have the opportunity of contributing to the discussions from the floor, as well as networking with industry leaders and WTTC Members during the social events.
"Our Third Global Travel & Tourism Summit takes place at a very opportune time for the industry and governments," said Jean-Claude Baumgarten, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) President, in announcing the first line-up of confirmed speakers. "The overwhelming response we have received to date reflects the strong support from industry leaders and WTTC Members and non-members alike. Such support highlights the global economic importance of Travel & Tourism, an industry which represents more than US$4 billion of economic activity worldwide and 198 million jobs.
"It is critical that we join forces," said Baumgarten, "to develop new strategies for doing business in this uncertain, insecure world."
The results of the discussions and debates will form the basis of a new Blueprint for Tourism to be published by WTTC after the Summit.
The following highlights some of the confirmed speakers and panel session participants representing almost all sectors of the industry and all major Travel & Tourism destination and source regions of the world:
- Phil Bakes, Chairman & CEO, FAR&WIDE Travel Corporation
- Jean-Claude Baumgarten, President, WTTC
- Philippe Bourguignon, Former Chairman & CEO, Club Méditerranée
- David Clifton, Managing Director, Europe & Asia, Interval International
- Edouard Ettedgui, Managing Director, Mandarin Hotels,
- Bernard Frelat, President & CEO, Rail Europe
- Christian Gaeller, Senior Researcher, Deputy Director, University of St Gallen
- Laurence Geller, Chairman & CEO, Strategic Hotel Capital
- Mary Gostelow, Journalist
- Peter Greenberg Editor, CNBC
- Peter de Jong, CEO, Pacific Asia Travel Association
- André Jordan, Chairman, Lusotur S.A.
- Geoffrey Kent, Chairman & CEO, Abercrombie & Kent
- Ramsey Mankarios, Kingdom Holding Group
- Paul McManus, President & CEO, The Leading Hotels of the World
- David Mongeau, Vice Chairman, CIBC World Markets,
- Paulo Neves, President of the Algarve Tourist Board
- Sir Ian Prosser, Chairman, Six Continents PLC & Chairman WTTC
- Jorge Sampaio, President of the Portuguese Republic
- Paul Slattery, Director, Otus & Company
- Michael Skapinker, Management Editor, Financial Times
- Ron Stringfellow, Executive Chairman, Southern Sun
- Tom Wallace, Editor-in-Chief, Conde Nast Traveler
- Philip Wolfe, CEO, PhoCusWright
- Peter Yesawich, Managing Partner, Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell
- Aris Zarpanely, Vice President UK & Overseas, Siversea Cruises
The Summit is being hosted by the Portuguese Government through Icep (Investment, Trade and Tourism) Portugal, the Algarve Tourism Board and Lusotur SA. Other sponsors include Air Portugal, American Express Company, FAR&WIDE Travel Corporation, Insignia Hotels and Six Continents PLC. Over 100 leading companies from the Travel & Tourism industry have agreed to support this event, which has a dedicated website providing more detailed information, sponsorship opportunities and registration. The dedicated site is: www.globaltraveltourism.com.
The World Travel & Tourism Council is the forum for global business leaders in Travel & Tourism comprising the presidents, chairs and CEOs of 100 of the world's foremost companies. It is the only body representing the private sector in all parts of the Travel & Tourism industry worldwide.
