Messe
Berlin (Singapore), organiser of ITB Asia, ‘The Trade Show for the
Asian Travel Market’,
has announcedanother
four new conferences to
join the line-up for this year’s show.
These
include panel discussions on the boom in the luxury hospitality and
retail segments, new developments in
theChinese corporate travel market, travel buyer
and supplier collaborations,
and a first look at the lucrative cruiseindustry.
ITB
Asia 2012 will be held from 17-19 October at The Sands Expo and
Convention Center, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. Taking place over the
first two days of the show, the four sessions will enhance ITB Asia
2012’s already powerful line-up of events.
This
year, ITB Asia has forged new partnerships with
leading travel industry experts representing UNWTO,
MCI, National Association of Travel Agents Singapore
(NATAS), Panacea Publishing Asia, Global
Business Travel Association (GBTA),
Asia Cruise Assocation (ACA) and strengthened existing
programmes with WTTC, PhoCusWright, TTG Asia Media and Web In Travel,
delivering over 3700 minutes of high quality content altogether.
“Tourism
is one of the world's fastest growing industries and we need to
anticipate trends and prepare for the challenges to tap into the
enormous potential of this exploding market. To keep our
delegates at the forefront of travel, we have assembled a record
conference programme line-up and are bringing in speakers who are at
the top of their respective industries to deliver the latest
knowledge and insights to capitalise on these trends,“ said Nino
Gruettke, Executive Director of ITB Asia.
“Now
in our fifth year, our conference component continues to offer the
best-in-industry learning experience and unrivalled networking
opportunities. ITB Asia is at the epicentre of the booming
Asian travel market and we are committed to keep our
delegates a step ahead of their competitors,“ added Gruettke.
The
conference programme will kick-off on the first day of the show with
a keynote speech from Horst Schulz, President & CEO Capella
Hotels, who will share insights on "The Global
Hospitality Industry Today and Tomorrow".
The
programme will continue with the ‘Luxury Retailers vs Luxury
Hoteliers‘ panel discussion featuring speakers representing some of
the best brands in the business including Capella Hotels, LVMH and
Hilton Worldwide‘s Waldorf-Astoria and Conrad brands. In this
session, industry heads will weigh in to discuss the
flourishing relationship between luxury retail and hospitality
markets, and how both industries will stand to benefit from the
collaboration.
The
session addressing
new developments in Chinese corporate travel market will
also take place on 17 October. Led by Welf Ebeling, Regional Director
Asia, GBTA, The ‘GBTA: Corporate Travel Update from
China‘ session will discuss latest research findings on China’s
economy and growth of business travel expenditure. The
panel of experts includes Dean Fowles of Rio Tinto, Blake Hedger of
Carlson Wagonlit Travel as well as Cinn Tann of Jin Jiang
International Hotel Management.
The
recent development of regional cruise facilities will
provide a catalyst for further cruise tourism development
throughout the region. Leveraging on this trend, ITB Asia is
introducing its first in-depth panel session on the cruiseindustry.
Taking place on the second day of the show, ‘Asia Cruise Association
Panel session: Navigating the CruiseIndustry Towards
Greater Profits‘ will be facilitated by the ACA, a leading
association devoted to the growth of thecruise industry in
the Asia-Pacific region. The session will serve as a dedicated
platform for delegates to convene and learn about aspects of managing
a profitable cruise business. Interested participants can
also join in the training session for prospectives interested in the
ACA business.
The
final conference session led by Association
of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) on ‘Building
a More Collaborative Relationship Between Buyers & Vendors‘ is
scheduled to take place on 18 October. Moderated by Kurt Knackstedt,
Category Lead, Global Sourcing, Travel and Expense
Management at Rio Tinto, the conference session will address and go
through key aspects of building successful relationships
between travel buyers and suppliers. The panel will be
represented by experienced industry professionals including
Peter Ko, Global category Manager fromTravel Standard Chartered
Bank, Edwin Cheng, Regional Director of Asia Pacific Pegasus
Solutions, as well as Timothy Tan, Regional Director of Sales of
South East Asia Mandarin Oriental Hotel group.
ITB
Asia is an international platform that unites professionals and
leaders from the travel and tourism industry to
network and exchange invaluable first-hand experience and insights to
the business. The leading travel trade show attracted over
7, 500 attendees from over 90 countries in 2011, and promises to be
even bigger and better with the 15 percent increase in exhibition
space and variety of conference programmes. ITB Asia is also a
partner event of TravelRave, a mega travel and tourism
festival week organised by the Singapore Tourism Board to be held in
Singapore in October 2012.