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TRAVEL FORWARD
ANNOUNCES LATEST
UPGRADE TO ITS
SPEAKER LINE-UP
T
ravel Forward, the new technology-
focused event co-located with WTM
London, has added a cosmopolitan
line-up of speakers to its conference
programme, representing high-profile
consumer brands and B2B tech providers
from Europe and beyond.
The inaugural Travel Forward – comprising a
conference, exhibition and buyer programme
– will take place from November 5 to 7 2018
at ExCeL London, UK.
The conference sessions take place on
the first two days. Mike Croucher, Chief
Architect for Travelport, will open the event
on Monday November 5 with a keynote
presentation, drawing on his vast experience
of travel technology to deliver what promises
to be a compelling perspective on the trends
and innovations to watch.
Other speakers from the technology sector
include Francesca Benati, Vice President
of Online for Western Europe, MEA for
Amadeus. She is also Managing Director for
Amadeus’ entire Italian business and will
be on a panel talking about distribution on
Tuesday November 6.
Travel Forward aims to position travel as
part of the overall technology landscape
www.intelligentcio.com
and has confirmed that Dr Sue Black, a
technology evangelist with a PhD in software
engineering, will deliver a keynote speech
on the Monday. Dr Black is a government
adviser and has played a prominent role
in championing the role of women in the
technology industry. While Amadeus and
Travelport are pure-play B2B tech providers to
the travel and hospitality sectors, technology
is no longer a discrete silo within consumer
brands. Businesses such as kiwi.com and
Skyscanner have built successful businesses
based on proprietary technology and senior
execs from both companies will be part of the
Travel Forward conference programme.
Kiwi.com has coined the phrase ‘virtual
interlining’ and has built a platform which
connects flights from different airlines,
allowing passengers to visit destinations
from their chosen airport which are not
served by direct flights. It is capable of
creating more than 15 million flight
combinations and handles around 90 million
search queries a day.
Stephen Davis is kiwi.com’s Chief
Marketing Officer and will be talking about
personalisation on the Monday afternoon.
Skycanner’s Filip Filipov will also be
speaking at Travel Forward. His CV confirms
INTELLIGENT VERTICAL: TRAVEL
“
TECH IS NOW AN
INTEGRAL PART
OF EVERY TRAVEL
COMPANY ACROSS
ALL SECTORS AND
GEOGRAPHIES.
the extent to which travel technology is
truly global – he was educated at Harvard
in the US and INSEAD in France, before
working for a VC firm in Bulgaria and in
Singapore. He relocated to Skyscanner’s
base in Scotland in 2013, a few years before
Skyscanner was bought by Ctrip, China’s
largest online travel agency.
His session on the opening day will look
at the theory and practice of Blockchain
from the perspective of a truly global and
innovative technology-based travel business.
Elsewhere, some mainstream travel brands
are also on the agenda. Club Med has been
around since 1950 and has successfully
managed its Digital Transformation
INTELLIGENTCIO
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