“Travel Industry on the Road to Recovery and Growth” will star the ITB Asia Conference 2022

ITB Asia Conference 2022: exciting conferences and keynote sessions have been announced for this year’s. The event is the premier knowledge hub for travel executives, an amazing opportunity to get inspired on the latest trends and development in travel. Co-located with MICE Show Asia and Travel Tech Asia, ITB Asia will once again offer an in-person event from 19 – 21 October at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.

ITB Asia Conference, organized by Messe Berlin (Singapore), has also announced “Go Big & Go Forward: Travel Industry on the Road to Recovery and Growth” as their overarching theme for this year’s conference. Katrina Leung, Managing Director of Messe Berlin (Singapore), affirms: “Tourism reopening across countries worldwide has been having a positive impact on global travel demand. Travel and MICE businesses need to go big to tap on and maximize the growth potentials created by various trends in specific industry sectors and go forward to overcome the challenges in the market including the competition and also the global economy”.

The 2022 conference programme will have over 90 sessions, where over 160 leading industry leaders and innovators discuss main critical topics for the future of MICE, corporate travel, leisure travel and travel technology.

For the 15th installment of the annual trade show, several new and established conference partners will be welcome, counting with: Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), International Association of Professional Congress Organizers (IAPCO) Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE).

The Knowledge Theater will be the main stage where industry experts will talk about their leadership visions on “The future of travel”, “New trends” and “Key issues facing the travel industry”. In that same order,  MICE Show Asia will take place on the leading MICE & Corporate Travel conference stage, where speakers and partners (from IAEE, IAPCO, ICCA, MPI, SITE and more) will discuss “MICE global trends”, “Sustainability and wellness in MICE” , “Inclusive: Events that embrace everyone”, “New Normal: New requirements, new contracts, new relationships” and “New era of Corporate Travel: How TMCs & tech companies are joining forces”. Travel Tech Asia is the most important travel technology marketplace for digital travel leaders. This conference will bring us talks on “How technology is changing the way we travel and the need for companies to adapt to the changing trends” also “How the travel industry can leverage technology to take their business to the next level”.

On Day One, 19 October, ITB Asia’s keynote presentations focus on what’s happening in Asia Pacific’s travel, tourism and MICE markets,addressing strategies for the industry to move forward. At 9 a.m. Michael Dykes, Vice President, Market Management (APAC), Expedia Group will share his presentation “Travel in Action, Digitally”, talking about how technologies transform products, enabling a seamless traveler journey, but also empowering the travel industry for better efficiency and creativity. At 9.15 a.m. Rajeev Menon, President, Asia Pacific (Excluding Greater China), Marriott International, will be talking about “Rebuilding Confidence: How COVID-19 Fostered a More Resilient Future for Travel”. The morning keynotes close with “Looking Toward 2025: Where Travel Will Be” at 9.30 a.m. with the keynote speakers Michael Dykes and Rajeev Menon, offering a perspective into the future. The talk will be moderated by Monica Pitrelli, Editor at CNBC Travel.

Laura Houldsworth, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Booking.com, will lead the following session: “Adapt and Pivot: Delivering Authentic Experiences While Prioritizing Sustainable, Inclusive and Resilient Growth”. This talk will highlight the opportunities in the industry to become a key sector for a greener economy and how to rebuild with a renewed focus on sustainability.

Leaders from National Tourism Organizations (NTOs) across APAC and beyond, will feature NTOs’ Talks ideas, setting actions for destinations to come back stronger than before. The NTOs’ Talks “Destination Rediscoveries” will be led by senior executives from the South African Tourism, Tourism Australia, Saudi Tourism Authority, Spain Tourism Board and Visit Maldives, who will show the changing behaviors, priorities and preferences of travelers to focus on.

Kwee Wei-Lin, Senior Vice President, Hotels, Pontiac Land Group, President, Singapore Hotel Association, and C-level speakers from Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, IHG Hotels & Resorts (IHG), Pan Pacific Hotels Group, and The Ascott Limited, will be joining and leading together the  Hotel Leaders’ Panel “Recovery and Opportunity”, where they discuss how the post-pandemic psyche affects the way people travel in 2023 and their choice of accommodation.

In the Asian Travel Associations’ Talks, titled, “Where to Next? The New Adaptive Strategies”, Nigel Wong, Honorary Treasurer, Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA), Eddy Soemawilaga, President, ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA) and Tadashi Shimura, President, Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) will talk about how the industry can renew itself, and other topics like: Strategies to reopen and expand connections with international markets, will be addressed by C-level speakers and experts from Agoda, Austrian National Tourist Office, BWH Hotel Group, Collinson, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, The Travel Corporation, TUI Musement, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.

After the wake of a global pandemic, it’s just fair for the MICE industry to pop the question: What the future holds for an in-person event? and that’s exactly the main topic of the CVB panel moderated by Ciaran McQuillan, Head of Special Events, Asia, Global Media Services, Associated Press. “How Large-scale Meetings, Conventions, and Live Events Are Surging Anew”, C-level executives from Business Events Perth, Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), NYC & Company, Sapporo Convention Bureau and Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau discuss on how the industry has rebounded to take the MICE industry forward.

In her session, titled, “The Value of Corporate Travel”.

Laura Ruffles, Executive Director, Global COO, Corporate Travel Management (CTM), brings to the conversation the challenges and opportunities for corporate travelers on how to navigate the new travel environment.

“Return to a World Transformed: Revitalizing MICE for a New Era” it’s the MICE Leaders’ Panel that presents a conversation where professionals, buyers and sellers of travel and meetings services look into how different players in the MICE ecosystem can work together to deliver a better bottom line and future for the industry, moderated by Richard Ireland, President, Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition Organizers & Suppliers (SACEOS), and Marina Bay Sands, International Conference Services (ICS), International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau and Tourism Promotions Board Philippines.

The Fireside Chat: “The road to net zero – A combined approach to travel & meetings, with sustainability at its core” includes Ian Cummings, Global Head M&E, CWT Meetings & Events, Maura Geertsma, Vice President, Global Retention Center of Excellence, CWT, and Raphaël Pasdeloup, Managing Director, Enterprise Customers, CWT, as speakers. Featuring other high-level key speakers from Amadeus, BCD Meetings & Events, Dusit International, Egencia, FCM Travel, George P Johnson, HelmsBriscoe, HRS Group, MEP Meeting & Exhibition Planners Sdn Bhd, MOI Global, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and UNIGLOBE Travel International to discuss about various topics on the new normal, emerging importance of sustainability, the future of event technology and more.

The Tech Leaders' Panel, titled "The Future is Digital," will present experts from the travel industry to share thoughts about the newest innovations to captivate travelers' next journeys, but also strategies for travel brands to up their 4.0 game. Speakers include Khang Trieu Nguyen, CTO at Accor, Terrence Eng, CTO at FCM Travel Asia, Bryant Kok, Director, Digital Transformation & Information Technology at Gardens by the Bay and Jane Lim, Vice President, Global Markets at Tripadvisor. The panel will be moderated by Jeff Pan, Venture Builder, McKinsey & Company.

The talk, “A Smarter and Greener Global Tourism Industry: The Big Long-Term Game for Travel Tech”, Tom Kershaw, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Travelport, will explore how the industry needs to use technology and collaborate to inform, integrate and neutralize so that smarter, greener travel becomes the basics for our industry and future travel experiences.

The next topic in the travel industry will be delivered by super apps and the technologies behind the platforms. Amanda Woo, CEO, airasia Super App shares about how super apps are not just a look into the future in her presentation “Reimagining Global Connectivity and How Air Transport Can Successfully Integrate with Super Apps”.

Nicholas van Breda, AVP Global Distribution, Shangri-La Group leads the following session, “A Fresh Look at Hotel Distribution Strategies”. Other high-level speakers from KAYAK, MG Group, OYO, STR, trivago, Trip.com Group, and Winsar Group will be talking about digital transformation, such as: direct bookings, metasearch optimisation, revenue management and more.

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Interested participants may purchase an early-bird discounted ticket online on: itb-asia.com/visit-register or reach out to the team at info@messe-berlin.asia.

The online link for press accreditation registration is now open, journalists are invited to pre-register here.

For more information on ITB Asia 2022 events and conferences, visit itb-asia.com.