INTELLIGENT VERTICAL: TRAVEL
and distribution. Their session takes place
on the Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, Tim Hentschel, CEO of group
bookings specialist HotelPlanner.com, will be
interviewed on stage on Monday, explaining
how its proprietary technology makes group
bookings easier for travellers and hotels alike.
The business also owns meetings.com and is
bringing new technology to that portion of
the hotel sector.
The airline industry, which invented travel
technology in the 1960s with its computer
reservation systems, is also exposed to
changing tech trends. Mobile as a search,
booking and customer service channel is
firmly established but constantly evolving.
Vincent Fillon is the Director of Mobile
Strategy and Development for Air France
and will be sharing his insights into what
travellers want and expect from their mobile
interaction with suppliers. This takes place on
Tuesday November 6.
focusing on direct bookings to drive
customer loyalty. This will be the topic
discussed by its MD for the UK and
Northern Europe, Estelle Giraudeau, on the
Monday afternoon.
Secret Escapes is well established in the
UK and is growing across Europe. It uses
TV advertising to build up awareness of its
members-only luxury deals business and
counts the investment arm of search giant
Google as one of its backers.
Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, Tom
Valentine, will be part of the panel on Monday
November 5, looking at how technology is
changing the traveller experience.
He will be joined by Gunjan Verma,
Chief Technology Officer for The Travel
Corporation, a US-based holding company
which handles nearly two million travellers a
year across its global portfolio of 29 brands,
and Didier Pinson, Chief Information Officer
for Rail Europe, which distributes tickets from
96
INTELLIGENTCIO
European rail operators to North Americans
visiting Europe.
Elsewhere, the rail industry is also
represented by Roberto Abbondio, Managing
Director of New Business for Eurostar
International. On the Monday afternoon,
he will talk about how dynamic packaging
technology has helped it to become a
successful tour operator.
The hospitality sector has arguably faced the
most disruption from technology and will be
prominent across Travel Forward. Distribution
is the most obvious example of how hotels
have had to adapt.
Nayan Peshkar, Senior Vice-President of
Revenue Management and Distribution for
Millennium Hotels and Resorts, will be on a
panel sharing his thoughts on distribution
and brand ownership, alongside Nils
Korsvoll, Senior Vice President for eBerry, a
standalone business within Nordic Choice
Hotels, which is dedicated to technology
Finally, the online travel agencies who
brought online booking into the consumer
mainstream, will also be featured. Expedia
Group is now a global travel platform
business, best known for expedia.com but
with interests in corporate travel (Egencia),
metasearch (Trivago), distribution (Expedia
Affiliate Network), B2B rail technology
(SilverRail) and much more.
One of the fastest growing parts of the
business is media solutions, its in-house
digital marketing agency which sells access
to Expedia’s audience to advertisers from
travel and other sectors. The unit’s Global
Senior Vice President, Hari Nair, is on stage
on the opening day, giving his data-backed
insights into what the traveller of tomorrow
will demand.
Richard Gayle, Event Manager, Travel
Forward, said: “Looking through the list of
confirmed speakers shows that tech is now
an integral part of every travel company
across all sectors and geographies.
Attendees at Travel Forward will be spoilt
for choice when it comes to deciding
which sessions to attend and the strength
of the conference programme for our
inaugural event confirms that we have
identified and addressed a need in the
market for a dedicated deep dive into
travel technology.” n
www.intelligentcio.com