PALMA - Hotelbeds has joined forces with AccorHotels and has chosen Istanbul in Turkey as the host destination for the Hotelbeds MarketHub Europe event that will take place from Tuesday 28th to Friday 31st May.
Taking place under the theme of ‘Shifting Futures’, the three-day event will explore how the travel sector should react to the changes and shifts in the industry to better prepare for the future in terms of key topics such as technology, the complexity of distribution, payments, and data.
Hotelbeds is proud to confirm that its strategic partner for the event will be Accor, who will host the event in three of its leading Istanbul properties, Swissotel The Bosphorus, Fairmont Quasar and Novotel Istanbul Bosphorus.
A senior leader from Accor will provide a key-note speech at the event. Additionally guest speakers from the leading industry publication Skift and the renowned industry analysts Phocuswright will be appearing on stage to both give a key-note speech plus host a panel session. Experts from Amazon, Google and Alibaba will also be appearing on stage and further speakers will be confirmed in due course.
MarketHub Europe is an invitation-only event attended by up to 300 of the most important Hotelbeds partners from all the key source markets of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Attendees include tour operators, airlines, loyalty and reward points schemes, top travel agency chains, and online travel agents.
Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze partners have also been confirmed.
Carlos Munoz, Bedbank Managing Director at Hotelbeds, commented: “I'm very pleased to confirm that this year’s MarketHub Europe will be in Istanbul thanks to the generous support of AccorHotels as the hotel host partner. Additionally I am excited to confirm that speakers from both Skift and Phocuswright will be giving key-note speeches on stage – exploring important topics such as the complexity of distribution.
“This MarketHub Europe event will be particularly exciting for us as it will be the first edition as one consolidated company as over the last year we’ve been working hard to create one new and enhanced business.
“I look forward to thanking in person all our sponsors, and of course clients for their loyalty, as well as their trust in us to continue to deliver them with the best and most exclusive deals available in the market.”
Sebastien Bazin, Chairman and Chief executive officer, AccorHotels added: “Hotelbeds has long been a strategic partner for our business, complementing our distribution mix both in terms of non-domestic bookings and giving us access to hard-to-reach reservations from channels such as tour operators, travel agents, airlines and loyalty schemes. Therefore we are very pleased to partner with Hotelbeds to help make this MarketHub Europe event in Istanbul a success by bringing together all of the key decision-makers and top influencers from today’s global travel industry.”
A key and regular industry fixture since 2009, MarketHubs are one of the leading events for bringing the travel industry together, with eight previous events in the Americas, five in Europe, and one in Asia. The first MarketHub Europe was held in Seville back in 2013 and since then Hotelbeds has held the event in several top Spanish destinations, such as Tenerife and Ibiza.
The MarketHub Europe event will kick-off with a cocktail dinner on the Tuesday evening, with the Wednesday and Thursday featuring a conference and trade show by day and exclusive entertainment by night.
