Agenda Day 2

10:30 AM - 11:00 AM

MICE & Hotel Talk

Conference session by Wyndham

Nikhil Sharma, Area Director, Eurasia Region, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

11:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Green Travel – Winning hearts and minds in the bid for corporate social responsibility

Protecting and enhancing the environment is a key pillar of most Corporate Social Responsibility plans. From energy consumption and waste recycling to greenhouse gases and procurement, there are many areas in which a company can drive a cleaner environment. In this address, Tarun Bhakri looks at CO2 emissions and beyond to discover how businesses can be more accountable for the environmental footprint when travelling.

Tarun Kumar Bhakri, Director – Commercial, American Express Global Business Travel (GBT)

12:00 PM - 12:30 PM

Sustainability in the meetings space

Harshad Donde, Country Director, India, BCD Meetings & Events

12:30 PM - 13:30 PM

Corporate Travel Keynote Panel

As the next global financial crisis is expected to strike in 2020, learn how travel managers are facing the challenge of managing tightening travel budgets, and how travel partners and technology providers can help them keep their costs under control while increasing efficiency.

PANELLISTS:

• Ajay Bali, Managing Director, BCD Travel India
• Satyajit Mishra, Director - Center of Excellence, CWT
• Manish Amin, Founder & CIO, Yatra
• Additional panelists to be announced

MODERATOR:

• Gaurav Chiripal, Founder & CEO, QuadLabs

13:30 PM - 14:00 PM

The new world of loyalty: Why are employees booking outside company travel policy?

Renaud Nicolle, Vice President Business Travel, Asia Pacific, Amadeus

14:00 PM - 15:00 PM

Conference session by HRS GmbH

Neelu Singh, Managing Director, India, HRS GmbH

Conference session by NIMA

10:30 AM - 11:00 AM

Corporate Conference Day

ACTE – Association of Corporate Travel Executive

11:00 AM - 11:30 AM

11:30 AM - 12:00 PM

12:00 PM - 12:30 PM

12:30 PM - 13:00 PM

13:00 PM - 13:30 PM

13:30 PM - 14:00 PM

14:00 PM - 14:30 PM

14:30 PM - 15:00 PM

15:00 PM - 15:30 PM

15:30 PM - 16:00 PM

16:00 PM - 16:30 PM

16:30 PM - 17:00 PM

10:30 AM - 11:00 AM

Session on automated travel technologies 

Mankiran Chowhan,  Managing Director, Indian Subcontinent, SAP Concur

11:00 AM - 11:30 AM

From text to voice: Understanding the future of travel planning

Rahul Singh, Co-Founder & CEO, Ithaka

Session on VR & AR

Session on voice & biometrics

High-tech vs. High touch: In the world of AI, what does customer service mean?

Amit Madhan, President & Group Head - Technology & eBusiness, Thomas Cook India

13:30 AM - 13:00 PM

Session on superapps & super travel tech

13:30 PM - 14:00 PM

Session by QuaQua

Purav Shah, CEO & Co-Founder, QuaQua

14:00 PM - 14:30 PM

Session by Bokun

Pete Saxby, Associate Director, Asia Pacific, Bókun, a Tripadvisor company

14:30 PM - 15:00 PM

Session on AI

Ashutosh Sinha, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Robonomics AI

15:00 PM - 15:30 PM

Building the next generation of OTAs for billions of users

SPEAKERS:

• Aloke Bajpai, Co-Founder & CEO, ixigo
• Rajnish Kumar, Co-Founder & CTO, ixigo

15:30 PM - 16:00 PM

Session by RedDoorz

Kunwar Asheesh Saxena, Co-Founder & CTO, RedDoorz

16:00 PM - 16:30 PM

Session by Travelstop

Prashant Kirtane, Founder & CEO, Travelstop

16:30 PM - 17:00 PM

Session by Vernost Marketing Technology & InterMiles

SPEAKERS:

• Pankaj Tripathi, Founder & CEO, Vernost Marketing Technology 
• Manish Dureja, MD & CEO, InterMiles

10:30 AM - 11:00 AM

Session on sustainable tourism

Hosted by Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA)

11:00 AM - 11:30 AM

11:30 PM - 12:00 PM

12:00 PM - 12:30 PM

12:30 PM - 13:30 PM

Asian NTO Leaders Panel

First-time Indian visitors generally prefer to visit Asian countries due to their proximity to India and being less expensive compared to Western destinations. Join us in this panel as we identify the keys to successfully attract Indian travelers and how to get them to visit your destinations again and again.

PANELLISTS:

• Dorji Dhradhul, Director General, Bhutan Tourism Council
• Deepak Raj Joshi, CEO, Nepal Tourism Board
• Additional panelists to be announced

MODERATOR:

• Daksh Sharma, Managing Partner, Iffort / TravHQ

13:30 PM - 14:10 PM

European NTO Leaders Panel

By 2025 India will rank as the world’s youngest country demographically with 65% of the total population categorised as Gen X and Gen Y. Add to that is the bourgeoisie middle class (approx. 350 million), with an increasing amount of disposable income and far greater amounts of aspiration to travel. That makes travelling to Europe an affordable and inspiring options to young Indian travelers.

The panel will set out comprehensive recommendations on how to best promote European destinations to Indian travelers – with an insightful discussion on destination choice, purpose of travel, spending, holiday activities, market segmentation, as well as the media or internet use trends.

PANELISTS:

• Christine Mukharji, Director, Austrian National Tourist Office
• Romit Theophilus, Director for India, The German National Tourist Office
• Ksenya Boykova, Head of External Relations & MICE, Moscow Project Office for Tourism and Hospitality Development
• Additional panelists to be announced

MODERATOR:

• Shekhar Niyogi, Director & CEO, Travelcorp, Destination Marketing Consultant & Editor

14:10 PM - 14:40 PM

Digital media innovation: How to use your media tools to drive more engagement and conversion online in India

Rachit Uppal, Industry Head (South Asia), Twitter

Understanding the Indian travelers and their spending habits

15:10 PM - 15:30 PM

Conference session by TTAUP - The Travel Trade Association of Uttar Pradesh

Vivek Pandey, President, TTAUP - The Travel Trade Association of Uttar Pradesh

15:30 PM - 15:50 PM

The changing face of industry scenario – The need for industry stakeholders to go pro-active

The travel and tourism industry is no more the same it has been. It has evolved impressively, and its growth is unstoppable. The question of – whether a travel agency or a tour operator has a future in this fast-evolving industry extensively impacted by technology – is an absolute myth harboured by many who have remained “traditional” and have not been ready to evolve. It is time that we get updated on some newer trends to be inspired to go PROACTIVE.

Sunil Kumar R, President, UFTAA - United Federation of Travel Agent's Associations

15:50 PM - 16:10 PM

Conference session by OTOAI - Outbound Tour Operators Association of India

Riaz Munshi, President, OTOAI - Outbound Tour Operators Association of India

16:10 PM - 16:30 PM

Conference session by ETAA - Enterprising Travel Agents Association

Jagat Mehta, President, ETAA - Enterprising Travel Agents Association

The Indian Millennial and travel strategies to combat

The Indian Millennials the game changers have been the cause for the way the world is changing at a dizzying pace and businesses are scrambling to keep up with this reality. Traditional enterprises are being forced to re-imagine their businesses as technology start-ups are conceived as digital-first and have the advantage of being business agile.

In these turbulent times travel & hospitality as an industry is no different. The industry is currently facing large scale disruption propelled by the emergence of new technologies, ever-evolving competitive landscape and expectations of today’s customers. Travel remains the most progressive expression of human curiosity and still relies on human contact for ultimate expressions of hospitality. This means, strategies adopted have to be far more purpose built or tailor made for industry specific requirements. These strategies in turn are influenced by some major trends that the industry is witnessing.

“The future is here. It’s just not evenly distributed.” The future of travel will demand businesses to shift hard to create value for customers through unique value-added products and services that create seamless experiences. Speed will be the currency of business. 

Pradip Lulla, Acting President, TAFI - Travel Agents Federation of India