World Routes Tourism Summit Programme Launched

PR57493

MANCHESTER, England, Jul. 31 /PRN=KYODO JBN/ --

    - Brand USA sponsors the event which is attracting an outstanding programme

of speakers

    Senior figures from the travel and tourism industry are signing up in force

to speak at this year's World Routes Tourism Summit which, sponsored by Brand

USA for the second year running, will take place alongside World Routes in

Chicago, 20-23 September 2014.

    Building on the success of last year's event the programme is attracting

some very senior speakers to take part in the panel sessions with confirmations

received, so far, from the likes of Ricky Skerritt, Minister of Tourism and

International Transport for St Kitts and Nevis, Peter Cerda, RVP The Americas

for IATA and Alfredo Gonzalez, Senior Vice President, Global Market

Development, for event sponsors, Brand USA.

    "The aviation system is a critical part of the global economy and essential

to connecting people and places. At Brand USA, our mission is to increase the

number of people who make the USA their number one travel destination-the vast

majority of whom arrive by air. Through our participation in Routes, we are

able to network with the right players that will help us and our partners build

capacity to meet the increasing demand of the world's travellers," said

Christopher L. Thompson, president and CEO of Brand USA, the destination

marketing organisation for the United States.

    Occurring on Monday 22nd September, the World Routes Tourism Summit is open

to all attending delegates at the 20th World Route Development Forum which will

take place in Chicago, Illinois, USA co-hosted by the City of Chicago

Department of Aviation (CDA) and Choose Chicago, the city's tourism

organisation.

    Mike Miller, Head of Content and Industry Relations for Routes highlights

the importance of this event: "The travel & tourism industry is expected to

grow 4.3% this year and now supports 266 million jobs worldwide. We look

forward to discussing these benefits in Chicago with the top tourism officials

from around the globe."

    The Tourism Summit is the forum where senior leaders and key stakeholders

come together to participate in a number of discussions covering topics

affecting the tourism industry today. Key sessions include Global Tourism,

which will essentially look at how established destinations are re-positioning

or investing to ensure they continue to grow alongside new destinations that

are offering different opportunities and types of holiday to travellers. The

session will investigate the ways in which destinations can grow visitor

numbers and make predictions over future potential travel types.

    The Future Patterns of Travel session will examine the move from travel

agent to online in many markets, and the rise of new booking agents for flights

and hotels. This discussion will also look at how social media and search

engines are entering into the market and discuss the role which they will play.

    Other confirmed speakers at the Tourism Summit so far include James

Beresford, CEO of VisitEngland, Amit Rikhy, Senior Vice President of ADC & HAS

Airports Worldwide and Vernice Walkine, President & CEO of Nassau Airport

Development Company and Regional Executive, The Americas, Vantage Airport Group.

    The 20th anniversary World Routes event will be held at Chicago's McCormick

Place, the largest convention facility in the Western Hemisphere. With the most

diverse economy in the United States, and home to several of the aviation

industry's leading companies, Chicago makes the perfect home for the 20th World

Route Development Forum.

    For more information and to register for World Routes in Chicago visit

http://www.routesonline.com

    Notes to Editors

    About Routes

    - Routes organises world-renowned airline and airport networking events

through its regional and global Route Development Forums. Each year, there is

one global event and one regional event in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas

and CIS respectively. http://www.routesonline.com

    - Routes was founded in 1995 as part of the Manchester, UK-based ASM Ltd.,

a consultancy specialising in the field of route development for airports.

http://www.asm-global.com. Routes and ASM are part of the UBM Live division of

UBM plc.

    - UBM Live connects people and creates opportunities for companies across

five continents to develop new business, meet customers, launch new products,

promote their brands and expand their markets. Through premiere brands such as

MD&M, CPhI, IFSEC, TFM&A, Cruise Shipping Miami, the Concrete Show, the Routes

portfolio of events, Airport Cities and many others, UBM Live exhibitions,

conferences, awards programs, publications, websites and training and

certification programs are an integral part of the marketing plans of companies

across more than 20 industry sectors. http://www.ubmlive.com

    Follow us on twitter: @Routesonline, @TheHUBRoutes, @VictoriaRoutes,

@NLPROU, @airlineroute

    About UBM plc

    - UBM plc is a global events-led marketing services and communications

company. We help businesses do business, bringing the world's buyers and

sellers together at events and online, as well as producing and distributing

news and specialist content. Our 5,500 staff in more than 30 countries are

organised into expert teams which serve commercial and professional

communities, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively

and efficiently.

    - For more information, go to http://www.ubm.com; follow us on Twitter at

@UBM_plc [http://twitter.com/UBM_plc ] to get the latest UBM corporate news;

follow @UBM for news from all UBM's businesses; follow @UBM for a flavour of

UBM from selected members of UBM's Twitterati.

SOURCE: UBM Live Routes Ltd