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WTTC Global Summit leads the tourism industry through turbulent times
It is only two months until 1,000 Travel & Tourism leaders will gather in Sendai and Tokyo from 16-19 April to discuss and debate some major issues facing the industry, during the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) 12th Global Summit.
The Global Summit is the pre-eminent event in the global Travel & Tourism calendar each year and is attended by industry and government leaders from around the world. As such, the Summit offers an unparalleled platform for speakers from within and beyond our industry to share their views with an international audience of prominent business, financial, political and media leaders.
This year’s Global Summit will tackle some of the biggest questions in the industry with the overall theme of ‘Leading a Dynamic Industry through Turbulent Times’.
David Scowsill, President & CEO, WTTC, said: “The Travel & Tourism industry is in a unique position to power sustainable growth. It has been a turbulent twelve months including unrest in Africa and the Middle East, impacting on traveller patterns and, last year’s devastating earthquake in Japan. Now it is more important than ever for us to discuss on how to ‘Lead a Dynamic Industry through such turbulent times’ and restore its economic power globally. This year’s Global Summit aims to inform the Travel & Tourism industry on how this can be achieved globally.”
The Summit will be held in two locations to mark recent significant events in Japan:
Sendai City (16-17 April 2012) A year after the Tohoku region was devastated by the earthquake and tsunami of 11 March 2011, the WTTC Global Summit will open with a dinner in Sendai City, the focal point of last year’s disaster recovery efforts. The Summit will commence with a Welcome Dinner on the evening of 16 April followed on 17 April by three sessions on disaster recovery and the place of Asia in world Travel & Tourism. WTTC’s Executive Committee and Annual General Meeting will take place at the same time as the Summit sessions.
Tokyo (17-19 April 2012) In the evening of 17 April, the Global Summit will continue in Tokyo with its Opening Ceremony including WTTC’s prestigious Tourism for Tomorrow Awards. Hot topics are on the agenda for 18 and 19 April which are designed to inform delegates how to effectively lead the industry through difficult times. Sessions include: Japan: Where Now Where Next; Our Rapidly Changing World; Airlines: Their Role & Ever-Changing Nature; Our Story: Speaking with one Voice; Understanding Tomorrow’s Consumers; and Tourism for Tomorrow.
High-level industry leaders representing every sector of the global Travel & Tourism industry will participate in speaker sessions, interviews and panel debates. Some of the speakers are:
Atsutoshi Nishida, Chairman of Japan Host Committee; Chairman & CEO, Japan Travel and Tourism Association; Chairman of the Board, Toshiba Corporation
Chen Rong, CEO, China International Travel Service
Christopher Nassetta, President & CEO, Hilton Worldwide
Fujio Cho, Chairman of the Board, Toyota Motor Corporation
Gordon Wilson, President & CEO, Travelport Limited
James Hogan, CEO of Etihad Airways
Kaori Enjoji, Tokyo Bureau Chief, CNBC
Nick Ross, Presenter, BBC
Hon Mr Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Tourism in the Cabinet of South Africa
Mutsutake Otsuka, Vice Chairman of Japan Host Committee; Vice Chairman & Chairman of Committee on Tourism, Keidanren
Willie Walsh, Former CEO of BA, current CEO International Airlines Group
Shinichiro Ito, President & CEO, All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd.
Siza Mzimela, CEO, South African Airways
Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of the UNWTO
Hon Mr Najib Mohamed Balala, Minister for Tourism, Kenya
CEOs from a host of the world’s leading Travel & Tourism organisations
David Scowsill continued: \"Having the Global Summit in Sendai and Tokyo sends a clear message about our commitment to showing that Japan in general, and the Tohoku region in particular, have recovered from last year’s tragic events only a year after and are ready to rediscover their position among the world\'s premier tourism destinations.\"
Atsutoshi Nishida, Chairman of the WTTC Global Summit 2012 Host Committee, welcomes delegates to Japan: “Japan has developed a distinct travel culture that is permeated with the spirit of hospitality. I want to make WTTC’s Global Summit a fusion of this unique culture and Japan’s cutting edge technology. The Global Summit will take place in April - a wonderful time of year in which spring can be enjoyed to the full, and the cherry blossoms - the symbol of Japan - are in full bloom. I look forward to hosting everyone during the time of year in which “the heart dances its most”.
The Global Summit will take place in the Westin Sendai on 16-17 April and at the International Convention Centre Pamir in Tokyo on 17-19 April.
Follow the Summit and have your say on our official twitter feed @WTandTC, using #WTTC2012
Note to Editors
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is the global business leaders\' forum for the Travel & Tourism industry, working to raise awareness of Travel & Tourism as one of the world\'s largest and fastest growing industries, worth US$6 trillion worldwide, generating some 9.1% of global GDP and employing more than 258 million people.
The Summit is much more than what happens on the main conference stage. It is a melting pot where people meet, do business and network. It helps to bring the industry together to present a more united, co-ordinated front to the world. Everyone at the Global Summit plays a part in helping Governments (local, national, regional, supranational) and wider society to better understand Travel & Tourism’s role as a driver of economic growth and employment. Travel & Tourism can play a significant role in powering the global economic recovery but it needs Governments to advance policies which play their part - particularly relating to visa entry and taxation policies. The Global Summit brings all the players together and creates the environment for dialogue, decisions and action.
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