MADRID, Spain – More than 150 senior business leaders, policy makers, and travel industry experts, are gathering in Madrid on March 24, 2015 to discuss the future of the travel industry and the contribution technology, innovation and regulatory change can make to delivering a holistic travel experience.
The Conference entitled โThe Future of Travel’ will debate the future of the industry, which now accounts for at least 9.5% of global GDP*. Examining issues such as whether Europe can become a single travel area, the potential for a โmultimodalโ travel future and inspiring the new explorer generation of travelers.
Simon Vincent, EMEA President, Hilton Worldwide commented: โNow more than ever it is important for us to consider the future of travel and the way industries such as hospitality will evolve over the coming years. The growing prosperity of emerging markets is set to change the face of the demographics of international travel. Coupled with exciting advances in technology, we stand at a point in time where the travel industry can take the lead in driving economic growth and create an estimated 73 million new jobs by 2022.โ
โEveryone talks about the magic of travel but few enjoy the shop and book process, which includes up to 48 flight searches on average. Investing in technology and travel intelligence helps to remove the pain of travel, to bring travelers the confidence they need to click and go,โ said Greg Schulze, Senior Vice President, Global Tour & Transport at the Expedia group.
Discussing his views on the next decade of travel Luis Maroto, CEO, Amadeus commented: โThe travel industry is poised for a golden decade with average growth rates of 5.4% over the next ten years. Rapidly emerging economies such as China, Brazil and Indonesia will reshape our industry as non-OECD economies represent 50% of global air traffic for the first time by 2023. The fundamentals of the business travel sector will evolve as we expect links between those rapidly developing economies and Western markets to be a source of significant opportunity for years to come.โ He continued: โSet against these developments our industry stands at a crossroads – with the potential over the next decade to foster a truly โmultimodalโ experience for the traveler afforded by advances in both infrastructure and technology. At Amadeus we are committed to working with the industry to shape a more personalized, connected and sustainable future.”
Key speakers include:
โข JOSE MANUEL SORIA LOPEZ, Minister of Energy, Industry and Tourism, Government of Spain
โข TALEB RIFAI, Secretary General, UNWTO
โข MICHAEL OโLeary, Chief Executive Officer, Ryanair
โข LUIS MAROTO, Chief Executive Officer, Amadeus
โข TONY TYLER, Chief Executive Officer & Director General, IATA
โข JOSE VIEGAS, Secretary General, International Transport Forum, OECD
โข SIMON VINCENT, President, EMEA, Hilton Worldwide
โข ALISTAIR HANN, Chief Technology Officer, Skyscanner
โข LEE MCCABE, Global Head of Travel, Education & Consumer Services, Facebook
โข GREG SCHULZE, Senior Vice President, Tour & Transport, Expedia
The Future of Travel is organized by The Economist Events, and sponsored by Amadeus. For the latest program, please visit www.travel.economist.com. You can also join on Twitter at #econtravel and @EconomistEvents.
Video sessions of the event can be accessed from the March 24 by selected journalists. For more information please contact [email protected]
eTN is a media partner for The Economist Events.