Genesys - Travel Technology Events and Conferences

Listed below are the conferences and seminars that Genesys has organised or in which Genesys consultants are participating. As well as future events, details are given of past conferences where transcripts or slides from presentations are available online. We have also written reports about other conferences we have attended. Click here to view these.

Travel Distribution Summit Europe 2008
Tuesday 20 - Wednesday 21 May. 2008
London

The annual Eyefortravel Travel Distribution Summit Europe has grown and become more popular than ever with over 1800 people attending in 2007. Paul Richer of Genesys will be chairing the Online Travel Strategies conference and several keynote sessions. This year there are a number of streams operating:

- Travel Distribution Keynote Sessions
- Online Travel Strategies Conference
- CRM and Loyalty Strategies Conference
- Revenue and Pricing Strategies Conference
- Innovation Initiative - Travel's 'Dragon's Den'
- Free Exhibition and Seminars

Never has customer retention been more important than it is now. Many reckon that it is four times more costly to win new customers than to retain existing ones. Every customer retained is a customer denied to your competitors. Keep that customer loyal and your return on marketing investment will increase many fold.

What are the latest techniques that will help you to do this? How can one build relationships with customers when they are purely online and not in direct person to person contact with you? What can be learnt from those who are already practicing good CRM? Speaking at TTI's Spring conference were:

- Xavier Vallee, Head of Marketing for Avis Rent a Car
- Jeremy Acklam, Business Development Director at thetrainline.com
- Norbert Stiekama, Senior Vice President Sales & Distribution, Disneyland Resort Paris
- Nathan Philpot, Marketing Director, Wexas Ltd.
- Helen Litvak, General Manager - CRM, Virgin Holidays
- Nigel Lingard, Marketing Director, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines
- Peter Matthews, CEO, Nucleus
- Fred Prego, Head of Marketing, AIRMILES

In the days before the Internet, travel distribution was easily understood. The GDSs dominated the distribution of flights, major hotel chain bedstock and car rental. Their use was exclusive to the travel trade with the general public having no access to these systems. In the UK, leisure travel distribution was dominated by viewdata, a system that despite its origins in 1970’s technology, is still in use today.

With the arrival of the Internet, all this changed. Travel distribution is now a dynamic, ever-changing subject and has never been more complex. TTI's Autumn conference tackled the subject of The Future of Travel Distribution. Speaking at the event were:

- Stephane Durand, Managing Director, Amadeus UK & Ireland
- Daniele Mancini, e-Business Director, Costa Cruises
- Hugo Burge, Vice Chairman, Head of International, Cheapflights Limited
- John McQuillan, Chief Executive Officer, OpenJaw Technologies
- Madeleine Wood, Business Development Manager, Spannerworks
- Murad Hajeebhoy, Vice President Lodging and Destination Services, EMEA, Expedia
- John Donnelly, Travel Entrepreneur, former Managing Director Harvey World Travel
and former Managing Director First Choice Retail

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) may believe, in this age of technological automation and online sales, that it is becoming impossible to compete with the "big boys." In fact, many SMEs are successfully challenging their larger competitors and winning the battle for sustained profitability. By playing smart, they can utilise advanced technology that is affordable and adopt online marketing techniques which cost effectively drive sales.

At TTIs Summer Forum we heard from experts who explained how to adopt the right technology at the right price. We learnt about cost effective search engine optimisation and marketing techniques and heard a case study of how one SME has successfully launched and grown its business, the technology adopted, the online marketing used, the challenges faced, the battles won. Speaking at the event were:

- Ed Spiers, Product Marketing Director, Anite Travel Systems
- Richard Gregory, Chief Operations Officer, Latitude Group
- Chris Fraser, Managing Director, HotelConnect

Wikipedia defines Web 2.0 as referring to a perceived or proposed second generation of Internet-based services that emphasise online collaboration and sharing among users. Certainly, travel companies are seeking to embrace Web 2.0, but what does it mean in practice and what are the implications for the industry?

TTI's Spring 2007 conference examined Web 2.0 from a variety of perspectives: seeing how established travel companies are riding the wave, hearing about the motivations and strategies of new entrants, learning about the new tools and services that will help travel companies monitor, control and interact with Web 2.0 sites.

Click here to download the conference leaflet (pdf 69kb)

Getting the design of your web site right is absolutely crucial for the success of your online distribution strategy. For its 2006 Winter Forum, TTI assembled a panel of experts who shared their experiences and were able to highlight the do's and don'ts of site design.

Paul Richer of Genesys organised and led a seminar programme entitled "Travel Technology @ WTM" at the 2006 World Travel Market. The presentations made by speakers on the day are available for download on this page.

With all the excitement and hype surrounding online travel, the telephone has been almost completely forgotten. Yet it is still heavily used by the travel industry for immediate person to person communication. In recent years, there have been great strides forward in telephony developments, taking advantage of advanced computer technology and, of course, the Internet.

Internet telephone technology includes personal communication applications such as Skype, allowing you to make phone calls worldwide for zero cost and commercial IP telephony that promises to drastically cutting the cost of telephone usage. Advanced computing is giving us automated speech analytics and ’soft’ call centres.

How can your company take advantage of these developments? What does the future hold for the telephone? These questions and many more were addressed by a group of expert speakers drawn from both the travel industry and the telecoms industry. Speakers included:

- Dennis Luckett, Strategic Products Director, BT Global Services
- Loic Dupont, Director of Operations, Hotels.com EMEA
- Steve Unger, Director of Telecoms Technology, Ofcom
- Helen Bonner, Managing Director, Web Applications UK
- Gerry Samuels, Founder and Executive Director, Mobile Travel Technologies
- Andy Wareing, Senior Solutions Consultant, Witness Systems
- Dominic Cameron, Director, Voice & Innovation, lastminute.com
- Mike Peloquin, Senior Vice President Sales, Call Miner Inc.
- Alistair Shrimpton, Head of Market Development, Skype UK, Ireland and Holland

Whilst every travel company should take search engine marketing very seriously, an increasing number are turning to affiliate marketing, using other businesses' Web sites as a conduit to new customers.
The payment methodology in affiliate marketing is one that is very familiar to the travel industry, commission on sales, known in the online world as cost per acquisition (CPA). Many see this as far better than the search engines preferred remuneration method of pay per click, as payment is directly linked to sales. How does one get an affiliate marketing programme started? Is it best to sign up with an affiliate network or to build one's own programme? What are the pitfalls and what are the key success factors? For its 2006 Summer Forum, TTI assembled a panel of experts who shared their experiences and gave their take on how to succeed at affiliate marketing. Speaking at the event were:

- Alan Potts, Managing Director, Leisure Direction
- Sanela Mujakovic, Online Marketing and Affiliate Manager, Leisure Direction
- Kevin Addley, Sales Manager, Commission Junction
- John briggs, Sales Director, The Lowcost Travel Group

Gaining visibility on the search engines is becoming more and more difficult. Paying per click for keywords is becoming more expensive as travel companies learn the technique of exploiting the long tail of lesser used keyword search terms. Optimising your Web site for good natural search engine rankings is becoming less effective as everyone adopts the same techniques. Whilst search engines must always form a part of one's online marketing strategy, there are many other ways to market online. TTI's Spring conference will explore those online marketing strategies and techniques that do not involve the search engines. The conference will explore subjects such as affiliate marketing, online loyalty schemes, improving usability and taking advantage of the mobile Internet. Speakers presenting at this conference have been drawn from the travel industry and will speak about real experiences of taking their companies beyond search. Confirmed to speak at the conference are:

- Stefanie Lofgren, Global Business Development Manager, Travel and Hospitality, Sun Microsystems
- Patrick Oqvist, EMEA Marketing Director, Hotels.com
- Stuart Jackson, Commercial Director, Cosmos Holidays
- Graham Donoghue, Head of New Media, TUI UK
- Tanya Lidstone, Head of Web Development, Opodo
- Alan Potts, Managing Director, Leisure Direction
- Robin Ingle, Vice President International Business Development, TripAdvisor
- Heather Hopkins, Director of Research, Hitwise UK
- Daniela Wagner, Managing Director, OctopusTravel.com.

Travel companies are realising that it is not good enough just to have a Web site of one’s own. The online opportunity is far greater than this. Distributors such as the online travel agents and the new meta-search engines are influencing an increasing proportion of the travel market. One of the keys to their success is their ability to offer searchable and bookable content; accommodation, holidays, flights and other product that can be booked and paid for in real-time.

The watch-words are real-time. Consumers do not want to have to wait to find out whether a product is available. They are online and they want it now. If travel companies are working with online distributors this implies either handing over inventory for a distributor to load on its own reservation system or inter-connecting systems so that inventory is searched and booked real-time on the host system.

It is the latter that is the subject of this Forum. A team of experts who have hands-on experience of connecting travel companies to online distributors spoke at the event. They were:

Rob Howell, Managing Director, Multicom
Gordon Maynard, Technical Director, Teletext
James Clarke, Head of IT, travelsupermarket.com
Peter Barnsley, Information Systems Manager, Seligo
Moderator: Paul Richer, Senior Partner, Genesys

Search - The New Travel Distribution Channel
TTI Autumn Conference 2005
Monday 26 September 2005
London

Genesys organised the Travel Technology Initiative's Autumn 2005 conference. Just how important for the travel industry is search? Many are hailing it as the new golden distribution channel. Get your search engine strategy right and then sit back and watch the customers roll in. Undoubtedly, search is a vital area of distribution. Yet it is fraught with danger. Get it right and prosperity beckons. Get it wrong and watch your funds drain away. Speakers at this conference included:

Ed Spiers, Director, Anite Travel Systems
Heather Hopkins, Director of Research, Hitwise UK
Daniel Robb, Head of Travel, Google UK
Len Wright, Managing Director, Open Roads
Nishma Patel, Managing Director, Teletext Holidays
Chris Loughlin, Managing Director, Travelzoo UK
Malcolm Duckett, Marketing Director, speed-trap
Tim Frankcom, General Manager, Yahoo! Travel Europe
Peter Gould, Chief Executive Officer, Great Hotels Organisation
Chris Nixon, Director, travelsupermarket.com
Liz Faherty, Director of Business Development, Cheapflights Ltd

TTI Forum's are interactive events where delegates get the opportunity to discuss and debate topics with the presenters and panellists. Exploring Online Marketing was an opportunity to gain a better understanding of what is needed to succeed in raising your Web site's profile in the increasingly crowded market for online travel. Topics that were addressed included the ingredients for successful search engine optimisation and how to gain the best value from your online marketing budget. Finding out how your site can rise to the top of organic search engine listings? What must you do to ensure positive ROI on pay per click search engine marketing? What strategies must you adopt to get ahead of the competition? These are just some of the questions that will be tackled.

Speaking at the Forum were:
- Malcolm Duckett, Corporate Vice President Operations & Marketing, speed-trap
- Rowan Wilkinson, Technical Marketing Analyst, Netizen
- Alasdair Cross, Commercial Director, Adprecision.net

Genesys organised TTI's Spring conference on the subject of Dynamic Packaging. The conference aimed to settle the argument between the traditionalists who say dynamic packaging is no more than tailor-made tour operating and the new entrants who are firm in their belief that dynamic packaging is new, exciting and giving them a real edge.

The conference paid particular attention to how agents are embracing dynamic packaging as they seek to make a living in the new world of zero commission flights, aiming to answer the question of whether they can successfully bypass tour operators, cutting them out of the travel sales chain.

The event featured two panel sessions. One session put the new dynamic packagers head to head: Steve Endacott of Holiday Brokers, Paul Evans of lowcostbeds.com and Vic Darvey of lastminute’s holidayandmore.com, to find out which company really offers agents the best products and technology. The other session saw tour operator technology suppliers, old and new, arguing that their particular technical approach is best.

Martin Wellings, ABTA President, delivered the key note speech.

The full list of speakers was as follows:
- Martin Wellings, President, ABTA
- John McEwan, Managing Director, Advantage, The National Network of Travel Agents
- Dave Griffiths, Business Applications Director, My Travel UK
- Mark Bradbury, Director - Business Development, RWA Ltd
- Steve Endacott, Chief Executive, Holiday Brokers
- Andy Tidy, Managing Director, Uptrips
- Paul Evans, Chief Executive, lowcostbeds.com
- Steve Dobson, Director of Technical Development, Anite Travel Systems
- Vic Darvey, General Manager, holidayandmore.com
- John Lambe, Chief Technology Officer, OpenJaw Technologies

Implementing TOPAS and TORIX
TTI Winter Forum 2004
Wednesday 8 December 2004
London

Genesys organised TTI's second forum, which focused on the implementation of TOPAS and TORIX, the two new standards launched in 2004 by the Travel Technology Initiative. Each is designed to improve the efficiency of particular travel industry electronic distribution processes that rely on data interchange. The Forum dealt with the mechanics of implementing each standard as well as business questions such as cost and timing.

The Forum was organised into two sessions, one for each standard. Each session will began with a presentation setting the scene: explaining the background to the development of the standard, its objectives and the benefits that are expected to be achieved. The presentations provided an introduction to implementation. Following each presentation, there was a panel session.

- Chris Smith, Development Manager - First Choice Business Systems, First Choice Mainstream Holidays
- Simon Powell, Chief Executive, Comtec Europe Ltd
- Peter Healey, Chief Executive, The Vertical Group
- Neil Smith, Senior Applications Consultant, MyTravel UK Limited
- Photos Georgas, Manager - Technical Architecture, TUI UK
- Steve Dobson, Director of Technical Development, Anite Travel Systems
- Tom Steele, Technical Director, Bluesky Travel Systems
- Monica Howat, Senior Data Architect, TUI UK

Click here to go to TTI's Web site where presentations can be downloaded.

Future Electronic Travel Distribution
TTI Autumn Conference 2004
Wednesday 5 October 2004
London

Genesys organised the Travel Technology Initiative's Autumn 2004 conference, which addressed many of the issues currently surrounding electronic travel distribution. These included business to business travel distribution, the phasing out of viewdata and the future of GDSs and leisure travel networks.

- Ed Spiers, Director, Anite Travel Systems
- Simon Powell, Chief Executive, Comtec Europe Ltd
- Jason Clarke, Country Manager, Galileo UK
- David Brown, Vice President, Leisure - EMEA, Sabre Travel Network
- Mark Foy, Head of IT, Thomas Cook Tour Operations
- David Cowell, Sales and Marketing Director, Holiday Extras Ltd
- Bill Barnes, Head of Tours Business Unit (UK), Amadeus
- Graham Nichols, Vice President and General Manager EMEA, Worldwide Travel Distribution, Worldspan
- Chris Smith, Development Manager - First Choice Business Systems, First Choice Holidays PLC
- Keith Webber, Head of Travel Sector, Telewest Business
- Peter Healey, Chief Executive, The Vertical Group
- Neil Smith, Senior Applications Consultant, MyTravel UK Limited
- David Thomas, Head of Service Delivery, TUI UK

Revenue Management for Tour Operators and Ferry Operators
TTI Summer Forum 2004
Wednesday 7 July 2004
London

Genesys organised the inaugural TTI Forum, the first in a series of events focusing on subjects that have a major impact on the profitability of travel companies.

The forum tackled the vital subject of revenue management. How can you maximise the return on your inventory? What pricing strategies should you adopt in the face of the competition? Do predictive techniques have a valid role to play? Attend this TTI Forum and learn from the people who have the answers.

- Ted Esse, Product Strategy Director, Revenue Technology Services
- Steve Marchant, Managing Director, Consultecom Limited
- Simon Russell, Managing Director, SJR Consulting

The presentations will be followed by an interactive forum, where participants can discuss and debate the topic with the experts.

Genesys organised the Travel Technology Initiative's Spring 2004 conference. With all the hype surrounding the online travel companies and their continued growth, with tour operators continuing to disintermediate traditional travel agencies, with the growing dominance of the no-frills airlines across
European air travel, it appears that travel agents are a threatened species, soon to be extinct. This is not so. Travel agents are fighting back. Speaking at the event were:

- Ian Reynolds, Chief Executive, Association of British Travel Agents
- Paul Clayton, Director of Information Technology, Global Travel Group
- David Speakman, Founder and Chairman, Travel Counsellors
- Jeff Petar, Chief Executive Officer, Airborn Limited
- Norman Gage, Director of Business Travel, Advantage Travel Centres
- Mike Platt, Managing Director, BTI UK
- Peter Shortt, Account Director—Distribution and Internet, BT
- Patrick Cherry, Sales & Marketing Director, Page & Moy
- David Jones, Executive Vice President, Commercial, Amadeus
- Clive Jacobs, Executive Vice Chairman, lastminute.com

Genesys organised the Travel Technology Initiative's Autumn 2003 conference. The event examined the topical subject of e-brochures:

>	Are e-brochures set to revolutionise the travel industry?
>	What success has been had by those organisations that are already pioneering e-brochures? What pitfalls have they overcome?
>	Which e-brochure strategies and technologies are right for your company?

Genesys organised Travel Technology Initiative 's Spring 2003 conference. The online travel companies meet the established players to answer such questions as - How do the distribution strategies of the online travel companies differ from the traditional players? - Are online and traditional companies competing for the same customers or are they addressing disparate market segments? - Are the new kids on the block set to become the top travel brands of the 21st Century?

Speakers will presented their distribution plans and debated the issues head to head in a speaker panel session.

Genesys organised Travel Technology Initiative's Autumn 2002 conference. The world of travel distribution is changing fast. TUI UK’s new Genie b2b travel agency booking system might finally catalyse the demise of viewdata. Advanced electronic distribution systems are being launched that will offer greater channel control and open up new opportunities for trading travel. The prospect is for faster, more efficient commerce and for trading in a manner that, until now, was simply not possible. What are the latest developments? What opportunities do they present? Will they live up to their b2b promise or are they simply not2b?

Genesys organised this conference for Travel Technology Initiative. More and more travel companies are implementing CRM technology as they increasingly recognise that it is far more cost effective to sell product to existing customers than to sell the same product to new customers. Is Customer Relationship Management just the latest jargon for database marketing or does it go further than this? Is adopting good CRM practice affordable or is the cost out of the reach of many companies? How are other travel companies implementing CRM and what benefits are they gaining?

Genesys organised this one day conference on behalf of Travel Technology Initiative. Travel companies that have led the challenge of online distribution are now considering or already have a presence on interactive digital TV. They may soon be on 3G mobile services. Multi-channel distribution is the next big issue, with seamless integration the new goal. How will this be achieved? What strategies are the market leaders pursuing? What are the resource implications? Find out for yourself by attending Firing on all Channels, TTI’s 2001 Autumn conference.

Genesys organised this one day conference on behalf of Travel Technology Initiative. The travel distribution technology of the 21st Century is encouraging travel companies to work together. Those who may have been your competitors could now also be your business partners. Third parties from outside the industry are forming portals to distribute travel products. A top class list of speakers presented around this theme which examined the impact of travel industry portals and alliances.

In its 4th successful year, Paul Richer of Genesys once again chaired this conference which has established its reputation as Europe's leading travel technology event. The conference featured 3 conference streams, 20 case studies from Europe's leading travel companies, 20 panel sessions and over 80 world class speakers.

New technologies can be used to improve the operational effectiveness of today's travel businesses; but they can also be used to facilitate new business models for the 21st Century. The 1999 ABTECH/Genesys conference offered a timely end of century future-spective on how travel will be sold in the new Millennium.

Paul Richer of Genesys chaired this two day conference which tackled the issue of customer relationship management in the travel industry. Retaining customers for the long term is now seen as one of the most important challenges for travel organisations. The conference examined the techniques and technologies being put into action with extensive case study material.

All the indicators are that on-line seeking and purchasing of travel products is a preferred way of shopping. Digital TV will start to provide interactive services to the mass market. Consumers are already buying travel via the Internet; soon they will do so from their television screens.

A One Day Conference that was held on Tuesday 20 May 1997
in London
(Venue provided courtesy of BT)

IS DISINTERMEDIATION A REALITY ?
Or is a new generation of on-line travel intermediaries destined to take over from the high street travel agent?