Global speakers from Expedia and Travelport to headline Mumbrella’s Travel Marketing Summit

The Northern Europe boss of travel techfirm Travelport and a global Expedia senior executive are among the first speakers announced for the fourth Mumbrella Travel Marketing Summit.

Travelport’s Simon Ferguson will give a keynote on technology and disruption in the travel industry while Harri Nair, global senior vice president of Expedia Media Solutions, will be talking about creating real insights from data at the event on April 12 in Sydney.

Travelport’s Simon Ferguson and Expedia’s Hari Nair will headline the Mumbrella Travel Marketing Summit

Also confirmed to speak is the director of Brand USA for Australia and New Zealand, Matt Fletcher, Contiki’s head of marketing, Vanessa Stavrou, and MyTravelResearch.com’s co-founder, Carolyn Childs.

This year the Travel Marketing Awards have also been expanded to a total of 19 categories, including new categories Travel Media, Travel PR and Travel Advertising Agency of the Year, as well as Travel Brand of the Year. Entries are open now.

As VP and managing director of Northern Europe, Ferguson leads travel commerce platform Travelport’s commercial, marketing and operational business covering the UK and Ireland, the Nordics, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Benelux region.

In his keynote session, Ferguson will use insights from Travelport’s e-commerce platform and partnerships to give a detailed update on how the industry is being disrupted, what part technology plays in it and the opportunities that need to be capitalised on.

Meanwhile Expedia’s Harri Nair will present a session on the importance of deep and actionable insights in the travel industry, reveal how smart data has helped transform the way brands market themselves and take a deep dive into how travel brands can drive more awareness by having an increased understanding of their audience.

Based in the USA, Nair’s role in the digital advertising arm of the Expedia group oversees all facets of the business including product development and execution, engineering, operations, marketing, media sales and business development.

Matt Fletcher, director of Brand USA for Australia and New Zealand, will discuss the travel opportunities in the USA

Brand USA’s Australia and New Zealand director, Matt Fletcher, will also take the stage in a session looking at what the future of tourism in the USA looks like. The US is the third most visited country by Australians, how are the recent seismic shifts there impacted the way the brand is perceived, and marketed?

In addition, the new travel habits of youth will be revealed and discussed in a panel featuring Contiki’s head of marketing, Vanessa Stavrou. The coveted demographic has changed its behaviour in recent years, providing new opportunities for travel brands, but also requiring new methods of communication.

Contiki’s Vanessa Stavrou will join a panel taking a deep dive into youth marketing, while Carolyn Childs of MyTravelResearch.com will front a panel on accessible travel

And Carolyn Childs of MyTravelResearch.com will present the top 10 travel trends the industry needs to be on top of for 2018. She will also lead a panel discussion on appealing to the accessible market, with the NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) recently putting the spotlight on opportunities for people with disabilities, many of whom enjoy travelling.

Childs will reveal research from a recent study into accessible travel and discuss with the panel whether the industry is truly set up to cater for this demographic or not.

Tickets for the Mumbrella Travel Marketing Summit on April 12 at The Four Seasons in Sydney are available here. You can download the criteria and enter the Travel Marketing Awards here.

Damian Francis

Damian is the head of content at Mumbrella, overseeing all content and editorial within the business. He has worked as a journalist and communications consultant across a number of industries for over 15 years. He has been with Mumbrella for more than three years, initially running event content. Damian was previously print editor of AdNews.

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topics Brand USA Conitiki Expedia Hari Nair Mumbrella Travel Marketing Summit MyTravelResearch.com Simon Ferguson Travelport

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