Geoffrey
Lipman, the President of the ICTP (International Coalition of Tourism
Partners) and Chairman of the greenearth.travel was Chairman and
Moderator of the two day sessions of the 2013 Tourism Think Tank that
preceded the World Tourism Forum Lucerne.
Twenty
known and respected tourism professionals were invited by the World
Tourism Forum Lucerne to meet to discuss two points seen as important
tourism challenges to tackle prior to the 2013 World Tourism Forum.
Hyperconnectivity and Bridging the Silos.
Represented
Governments at the Think Tank were the Minister for Tourism of South
Africa, Mr Marthinus Van Schalkwyk and the Minister for Tourism and
Culture from the Seychelles, Hon. Alain St.Ange. Alain St.Ange is
also on the ICTP executive board.
Also
participated wasTaleb Rifai, the Secretary General of the UNWTO
represented the World Tourism Organisation and other tourism
professional from across the world at the Tourism Think Tank 2013
were Martin Barth, the General Manager of the World Tourism Forum,
Thea Chiesa, the Director Head of Aviation, Travel and Tourism
Industries from the World Economic Forum of Switzerland, Anita
Mendiratta, the Lead Consultant CNN T.A.S.K. Group, Martin Craigs,
the CEO of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Michael Frenzel
from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and Chairman of
the Supervisory Board of TUI, Ian Goldin, the Director Oxford Martin
School of the University of Oxford, Gloria Guevara Manzo, the
Industry Expert and former Minister of Tourism from Mexico, Frank
Kilbourn, the Chairman of the Board of the South African Tourism
Board (SAT), Tom King, the Senior Vice President of British Airways,
Nicholas Mayer, the Industry Leader Lodging & Tourism Clients
from PricewaterhouseCoopers, Vijay Poonoosamy, the Vice President
International & Public Affairs at Etihad Airways, Christopher
Rodrigues, the Chairman of VisitBritain, Jurg Schmid, the director of
Switzerland Tourism, Shaun Vorster, the Special Advisor to the
Minister of Tourism of South Africa, Tom Windmuller, the Senior Vice
President of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Reto
Wittwer, the President & CEO of the Kempinski Hotels, Jessica
Bruns, the Young mover & Shaper from TUI Germany, Ryan George,
the Young mover & Shaper from Simpleview USA, Oleg Kafarov, the
Young mover & Shaper from Jumeirah Group in the United Arab
Emirates and Pascal Mathis, the Young mover & Shaker from
GetYourGuide Switzerland.
An
informal session opened the Tourism Think Thank 2013 where delegates
discussed challenges they saw from their own perspectives and made
propositions for discussion at the formal session of the Think Tank .
This session that went on until very late in the night is said to
have been the opportunity for many a point seen by all as real
challenges were tabled and debated freely. The second day’s meeting
is said to have been a more formal setting where Michale Frenzel of
WTTC and TUI made a presentation on Hyperconnectivity and Minister
Marthinus Van Schalkwyk presented a paper on Bridging the Silos.
This
session went for virtually a whole day with frank, intense and very
open discussions. At the end of the day’s work the decision is for
tourism at large to see a united grouping of all tourism bodies to
meet under the UNWTO to look at all the points discussed and seen as
industry challenges.
The
2013 Tourism Think Tank was seen as being a real success and World
Tourism Forum Switzerland was congratulated for the initiative and
for being the hosts.
