Final agenda revealed for TTG Luxury Travel Summit

Curated by TTG Luxury’s experienced editor April Hutchinson, the agenda will draw on TTG Media’s own mission to champion a Smarter, Better, Fairer travel industry, and will bring together leaders and innovators from travel and beyond, to inspire and equip delegates to make positive changes in their business.

Giving attendees the chance to absorb and utilise the latest trends, Dr Antonia Ward, chief futurist at Stylus, will share emerging consumer trends and also ask the audience to reconsider how they think about the future. 

Her session, New ways of thinking about the future of travel, will kick off the day as a thought-provoking keynote, and delegates will also be able to benefit from a complimentary Stylus report. 

Held in association with Celebrity Cruises, the day will start with insight from head of sales Nicola McNeish, who will share how the line is building for a sustainable future and maintaining brand relevance in a changing marketplace. 

The stellar line-up also includes industry leaders who will dissect trends and share insight during The future for luxury travel – what have we learned session, featuring Kerry Golds, chief tour operating officer, Abercrombie & Kent; Gary Kershaw, country manager UK & Ireland, Qatar Airways; Tom Rowntree, vice president, global marketing, Luxury Brands, IHG Hotels & Resorts; and Peter Shanks, managing director, UK & Ireland, Silversea Cruises. 

The day-long conference takes place on Friday 7 October at The Biltmore Mayfair, London and a key focus for the event will be Smarter, Better, Fairer, in line with TTG Media’s own core purpose. 

Sessions to help businesses work better include Communicating innovation: the view from the professional guest, where Edward Hooper, group CEO of LQA, will share his insight into the how quality assessment is adapting to incorporate sustainability measurement, and how brands can communicate their work in this area effectively. 

Looking at hotel development, the Heartfelt hospitality with a twist session will dissect some of the emerging, alternative, luxury travel experiences that are challenging the more traditional hotel models, with Naomi Heaton, founder, The Other House and Stuart Godwin, co-founder, Room2 Hometels.

During the Making branded gifting better session, Derek Hydon, founder and president of MaCher, an LA-based product design firm and certified B Corp, will share insight on how carefully conceived, sustainably-manufactured gifts can increase sales and repeat rates, boost customer loyalty and raise brand awareness with impressive results. 

Also on the agenda are Lexie Lenoir, founder, Queer Weddings UK, and Aisha Shaibu, founder, Moonlight Experiences, who between them are founders of The Queer Nomads, launched to change the narrative of queer Black and people of colour within the travel industry. Also ambassadors for Celebrity Cruises, the duo will share their outlook during the Prioritising diversity in travel: making changes that matter session.

The Why B Corp, why now session will see a group of experienced travel operators and suppliers share their experiences with Pippa Jacks, group editor of TTG Media. 

Sam Clark, co-founder and managing director of Experience Travel Group; Duncan Grossart, founder and managing director of Journeys With Purpose; and Derek Hydon, president of MaCher will explain why they decided to go through the B Corp process and how it’s future-proofing them in the luxury travel space.

Keeping with the theme of sustainability, Delphine Malleret King, director of The Long Run will wrap up the day during her Putting sustainability at the heart of a business session. Members of this conservation tourism coalition represent the largest network of privately-protected areas in the world, bringing together like-minded people who leverage their business to positively impact biodiversity and human well-being. 

“As the sector continues to bounce back, it was key for us to focus on how luxury travel businesses should be doing so in a sustained way when we created this programme. We should be setting the right tone for the future,” said Hutchinson. “We look forward to hearing from all our panellists and presenters on how they are doing this, and how are they doing things differently.”

New for this year is a post-event drinks reception, where delegates will be able to share experiences, discuss issues raised during the day and connect with peers and contacts across luxury travel. 

“We’re so thankful to all our collaborative partners this year too – to our venue partner The Biltmore Mayfair, London, and to Abercrombie & Kent, Celebrity Cruises, Hilton Luxury Brands, Qatar Airways, Silversea and Stylus,” added Hutchinson. “The conference remains a must-attend event, and with so many issues on the agenda for any business right now, the need to come together and share learnings and experiences has never been greater.” 

Tickets for the event are available online, along with further details on all speakers.