Program

Prepare for a busy day with an exercise session on the beach. Guided by a pro coach we'll take an energizing jog and warm up. Bond with other speakers and attendees.

Meet us in the Diplomat Beach Resort lobby at 6:45 am. The workout will take about 45 minutes.

Bring a towel if you need one. Water and sports drinks will be provided.

The showcase is open for business and abuzz with activity. Meet with innovators and exhibitors one-on-one!

Register or check in, and collect your conference materials. Phocuswright Reception is the go-to spot for all your needs.

Longevity by Reinvention. No stranger to pivots and trials, this company stays top of mind through twists and turns.

Modern travel retailing heralds an omnichannel environment with access to all suppliers and channels. A combination of NDC/direct connects, APIs, and AI/ML has long been expected to revolutionize travel retailing. So what's holding it back?

One of Europe’s largest campervan rental companies explains why camping is more than a pandemic-led trend.

Living in the moment instead of counting the years enriches our lives. Can Google help us along the way?

Search and Rescue. This two on one interview explores the inspiration and vision for the next era in metasearch.

There’s no doubt that people are anxious to get back to traveling again, leaving hotels, airlines, and tourist destinations to prepare for this resurgence–without actually knowing the volume that it will bring. And, high expectations and a hiatus from adventure means that customers will expect travel and hospitality businesses to be operating at optimal efficiency, despite smaller staffs due to layoffs and furloughs. So what part can technology like Conversational AI play to help T&H brands handle the new volume and provide the best CX in a way that will build loyalty for years to come? In this session you will learn how Conversational AI applications can help the T&H industry:
•Scale operations to ensure that both volume spikes and drops can be handled without compromising CX
•Offer self-service operations to help customers solve their queries effortlessly
•Reduce employee effort by speeding up the path to resolution for greater customer satisfaction
•Streamline communication for faster resolutions and decreased average handling times

The digital landscape will look a lot different without 3rd party cookies, but this shift offers more opportunities for travel marketers. Through people-based marketing, diversifying channels, and utilizing alternative sources of data, marketers will see the positive impacts now and in the future. Where do you start? We will walk through implementing new strategies and how they will result in better personalization and measurement.

Discover the latest payment insights and innovations that can help turbocharge the travel industry’s recovery with Worldpay from FIS. We will preview three top strategies to support your road to recovery as the travel industry rebuilds.

As travelers return, the hospitality and travel industry has faced new challenges impacting the employee experience. In fact, recent Medallia research finds that nearly 40 percent of global hospitality workers are considering, or already have plans to leave the industry in the final three months of 2021 alone.

Join Geoffrey Ryskamp and Lorena Kurtjian Hernandez as they share newly released research and explore recommendations for what has quickly become a mission-critical objective for hospitality businesses around the world: rebuilding the employee experience to retain and attract talent at a critical juncture for the industry.

While COVID exposed gaps in various verticals, in travel, it brought to light the inadequacies of traditional travel insurance. At the start of the pandemic, most travelers found that the bundled “one-size-fits-all” policy they paid for didn’t actually cover pandemics, leaving many with denied reimbursement claims and a poor user experience.

Consumers are eager to travel again, but they want to know that their protection is a priority. In fact, recent data shows a 400% increase in attach rates in the past six months, further proving that what travelers are looking for is protection. To re-establish trust, brands must actively protect their customers with unbundled plans that are personalized and relevant and do not deny coverage for COVID-related events. Learn why embedded protection is the natural next step to offer travelers peace of mind while booking and how to implement it.

Short-term rentals emerged as a pandemic success story with a flood of new category users and soaring demand. How will the sector continue to grow and change as leisure travel returns in a "new normal"? Phocuswright will share research findings on the STR sector and key players across the short-term rental ecosystem will discuss where the industry is headed.

With parts of the world opening back up, the travel industry is sure to see a surge from eager consumers and bad actors alike. In this breakout, you’ll learn how online accounts, transactions and loyalty points are sold on dark web marketplaces and deep web forums. And how your team can identify information that has gotten into the wrong hands and what to do about it.

CLEARed for take-off. The future of contactless travel is in their hands - and your eyes.

SPACs (special-purpose acquisition companies) boost new ideas and creative business models, inviting huge cash infusions without a traditional IPO. But are they worth the bet? Investors and SPAC-backed companies discuss the future of the "blank check" and travel in this panel.

As travel businesses seek new revenue streams, Hopper once again displays its knack for reinvention: It's latest venture in Fintech has proved timely and fruitful. Hopper's founder discusses the future of Fintech in travel and Risk as a Service.

Remote work, rising prices, labor shortages, the plight of cities and a widening wage gap have sparked a conversation around travel's impact on society as well as the environment. New rules around sustainability, transportation and lodging challenge the tourism industry to be part of the solution and not the problem. But is anyone listening?

The Incredible Journey. How optimism, passion and just enough cynicism keep Kayak on a roll.

Digitizing and attracting investment, tours and activities has gained big momentum. Even in the past year, some specialists added to war chests while other companies recalibrated focus. How will the segment ride the pandemic-induced wave of tech acceleration into the next chapter? Will further alliances and consolidation be necessary to not only survive but thrive?

Anu Hariharan, Partner at Y Combinator’s Continuity Fund joins Brad Gerstner for the fourth instalment of his popular fireside chat.