Top industry speakers to give tourism special focus at Routes Asia

Routes Asia has teamed up with Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) to host the ‘Global Insights Impacting Tourism and Aviation’ panel discussion which will be chaired by Rico Hizon from BBC World News.

The event on the opening day of Routes Asia 2016 in Manila is inspired by the predicted expansion of aviation over the next 20 years. International Air Transport Association (IATA) figures show that Asia Pacific will have overtaken North America and Europe in terms of passenger numbers by 2030 and that nearly half of all air travel (2.9 billion journeys) will touch the Asia Pacific region by 2034.

Delegates will hear from John Schubert, Boeing’s Managing Director of Marketing Asia Pacific and India, who will talk about how the demand for increased air travel will be met, including the need to build 13,460 new aircraft by 2033.

Albert Villadolid, General Manager of Amadeus Philippines, will imagine the world in 2030 when travellers are defined by behaviour rather than their demographic location, asking how we can create bespoke ‘purchasing experiences’ that cater to an individual’s needs.

The CEO of Digital Jungle, Dr Mathew McDougall, will explain how social media can be used to create data sets for marketing purposes (Digital Jungle markets Western products and services to Chinese consumers).

Katie Bland, Director of Routes, said: “Aviation’s growth will create many opportunities for tourism and travel professionals seeking new air routes for their destinations. This event will help to increase their involvement in our forums while sharing the benefits of being involved in the route development process.”

Mario Hardy, CEO of PATA, said: “We have already seen how low cost carriers have greatly impacted travel and tourism within Asia Pacific and the continuing growth of aviation will only add to the rapid growth in the region. The insights provided from this session will be valuable for all stakeholders wishing to benefit from this growing trend.”

Over 30 tourism authorities, 200 airports and 100 airlines including Qatar Airways, Malaysia Airlines, China Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Japan Airlines and British Airways have registered for Routes Asia 2016 which will take place between 6 and 8 March.