100 industry CEOs and tourism ministers expected at World Routes 2013

In a little over five weeks time World Routes, the 19th World Route Development Forum takes place in Las Vegas and organisers of the event are expecting more senior industry figures to be in attendance than at any previous Routes event. To date, this year’s event, which will take place 5-8 October and will be co-hosted by Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority (LVCVA) and Las Vegas McCarran International Airport, has seen high level registrations from all sectors of the industry with 100 airline and airport CEOs and Ministers of Tourism expected to attend.

Nigel Mayes, VP Commercial - Routes, UBM Live is looking forward to the event commenting: “We are absolutely thrilled with the seniority level of attendees from all sectors of the industry that World Routes continues to attract. This year, the event will take place in the U.S. for the first time and this interest in the event, and support from so many key industry figures further strengthens our position as the world’s leading commercial aviation event for route development in the world’s largest aviation market.”

“We are honoured to be the first destination to welcome senior-level attendees and aviation industry leaders to the United States for World Routes,” said Rossi Ralenkotter, president/CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. “Las Vegas is the world’s premier meetings destination, and the attendance of so many top executives demonstrates that Las Vegas is a place where decisions are made and business happens.”

“World Routes represents an unprecedented opportunity for key decision makers from around the globe to experience first-hand all that we have to offer,” said Steve Sisolak, chair of the Board of County Commissioners for Clark County, Nev. “We look forward to showcasing the best of Southern Nevada’s ongoing commitment to the global travel industry, including our new world-class Terminal 3 expansion at McCarran International Airport.”

The World Routes Conference Programme, which will include the World Routes Strategy Summit, The World Tourism Summit, Invest & Manage Airports, Routes Talks and Route Exchange Airline Briefings, will bring together leaders from across the industry to participate in discussions that will set the commercial and political agenda for the industry. Confirmed speakers so far include: Christoph Mueller, CEO of Aer Lingus; Estuardo Ortiz, Chief Operating Officer & Executive VP of Avianca; Christopher Thompson, President and CEO of Brand USA;Roger Dow, CEO of the US Travel Association; Stephen Attenborough, Commercial Director of Virgin Galactic and Lee McCabe, Global Head of Travel, Facebook.

Participation from tourism authorities from around the world will be strong at this year’s event with many destinations confirming very senior representations including a recent registration from the Permanent Secretary of the Cypriot Ministry of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Dr Stelios Himonas. In addition the Minister for Economic Development and Tourism, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government, the MEC Michael Mabuyakhulu and Hon. Stephen Cadiz, Minister of Tourism, Trinidad and Tobago will also be in Las Vegas. Other destinations who have confirmed Ministerial representation at World Routes include: Seychelles, Haiti, St Kitts and Nevis, Uganda, and Mexico with many delivering destination briefings as part of the World Tourism Summit.

In addition to the conferences and talks programme many of the carriers attending World Routes in Las Vegas will be represented by senior personnel from their organisation. Confirmations have already been received from Mitsuo Tomita, Vice President Network Planning for All Nippon Airways, Michael Thomas, Managing Director – Network Development for American Airlines, Christine Ourmieres, CEO of Cityjet and Enrique Beltranena, CEO of Volaris who will be joined by the carriers Chief Commercial Officer, Holger Blankenstein. In addition to an impressive turnout from the global airline community World Routes in Las Vegas will also see senior representation from the alliances as Cuitlahuac Gutierrez, VP Alliance Operations for SkyTeam and Dennis A. Tierney, Vice President - Membership and Customer Experience for oneworld have also confirmed their attendance at the event.