Accor’s Chief Brand Officer, Carlson Wagonlit’s CTO, Best Western’s CEO, HomeAway’s MD UK and more join biggest gathering of travel execs in London this May

Senior level speakers from Ryanair, Best Western, IHG, Hyatt, Virgin Atlantic, HomeAway, KAYAK, Expedia, Booking.com, Finnair, Accor, Facebook, Ctrip, Scandic Hotels, Kempinski are gathering on May 21-22 in London for EyeforTravel’s Digital Strategy Summit.

This conference brings together 350+ commercial strategists from hotels, airlines, OTAs and tour operators across digital, ecommerce, marketing, innovation and strategy.  The key themes for this year are embracing company-wide digital transformation and delivering a superior customer experience.

Specifically, over the two-day program, delegates will debate ways to reduce acquisition costs, drive conversions, control inventory, budget for innovation, reform commercial structures, optimise data and use the latest technologies to become more efficient and provide a personalised customer experience. Check out the event website here. 

Day one kicks off with a series of scene-setting discussions.  C-level speakers will address the evolving distribution landscape, consumer trends that are changing the way consumers research and purchase travel, and finally, an examination of the political and market conditions likely to impact the European travel industry.

In the afternoon, the conference breaks into two tracks.  The first looks at the commercial strategies being deployed at a senior level and drills down into topics around customer engagement, loyalty and protecting your inventory.   And the second track takes a more hand-on approach with focused sessions on personalised and automated marketing, the mobile experience and balancing indirect and direct channels.

On day two, the focus is on new technologies and innovation with sessions on mobility and AI – specifically, how AI is being used in travel to drive efficiency and enhance the CX.   Finally, the conference will explore the future of tours and activities being sold online and how travel companies can tap into new customer segments.

Helen Raff, Chief Product Officer for EyeforTravel said “Our speaker line-up is unrivalled – we’ve got so many C-level executives crammed into the 2 day agenda this really is the best place to get the tools, knowledge and contacts you need to build the travel company of the future”

Speakers confirmed include:

• Steven Taylor, Chief Brand Officer, Accor Hotels
• Robert Paterson, Chief Executive Officer, Best Western Hotels
• Daniel Kerzner, VP Customer Experience, Virgin Atlantic
• Andrew Jordan, Chief Product and Technology Officer, CWT
• Franck Kermarrec, Chief Marketing Officer, Millennium Hotels and Resorts
• Gopakumar Menon, VP Distribution & Revenue Management, Highgate Hotels
• Ariane Gorin, President, Expedia Partner Solutions
• Karen Mullins, Managing Director UK & Ireland, HomeAway
• Eva Fouquet, VP Strategic Partnerships, KAYAK
• Shailesh Pallipuram, VP Channels – Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa, IHG

Check out the event website here.