WTM London is framing this year’s Technology Summit around the critical role that technology can play in supporting sellers and suppliers during the current period of disruption and emerging new challenges.
The summit takes place on Wednesday, 5 November, on the Purple Stage, starting at 10.45 am. Over three hours, attendees will hear from a global line-up of carefully selected technology experts, from C-suite executives to entrepreneurs, via lawyers, investors and researchers.
The agenda supports WTM London’s decision to align all stages and sessions under the unifying theme of Reimagining Travel in a Changing World. Twelve different sessions have been curated by Timothy O’Neil-Dunne, WTM’s technology advisor and an established industry commentator and observer. He was a founding management team member at Expedia in the 1990s, and he is currently a Principal at T2Impact Ltd, a global consulting and venture firm laser-focused on aviation, travel and tourism.
WTM London official Technology Partner, Holafly, will feature CEO Pablo Gómez Fernandez-Quintanilla in a dynamic 20-minute conversation with Timothy, titled ‘Connected Futures: Tech, Data and the Power of eSIMs.’ This session will take place on Wednesday, 5th November at 13:50 on the Purple Stage. One of the highlights is a debate around whether artificial intelligence (AI), despite the hype, is travel’s enemy. He will be joined on stage by Stephen Joyce from Prospect Group and Christian Watts from Magpie Travel.
AI is likely to be referenced across the sessions, directly and indirectly. Rhys Griffiths and Farina Azam, partners at travel law specialists Fox Williams, will outline the legal and regulatory implications of widespread AI adoption for travel businesses.
Meanwhile, Andreas Nau from Ennea Capital Partners and Min Liu from Cambon Partners will share their frontline experience of how the investment community is responding to the new reality of AI-driven disruption.
There is also a session drilling down into how AI is redefining the role of travel agents, featuring James Lever from DataArt and Gulce Rozenveld from Oojo.com. Similarly, AI is driving a sea-change in trip planning and inspiration, with video content becoming increasingly important in the traveller’s decision-making process. Sally Bunnell from NaviSavi will explain more.
Data is an important area of discussion in the age of AI. Dave Goodger from Tourism Economics will explain how travel companies can combine travel-specific insights with economic indicators to make smarter decisions. Elsewhere, Thomas Dillon from A3M and James Spalding from Trip.com Group will discuss how to balance the traveller demand for hyper-personalization with regulatory requirements over data privacy and security.
Payments remain an area of interest and innovation, and this year’s summit includes a session looking at how technology-driven payment innovations are helping travel to thrive. James Lemon from Stripe, Will Plummer from Trust My Group, and Livia Vite from actuary. Aero and Qais Amori from Almosafer will offer different perspectives on the overall payment landscape, looking at business-to-business as well as business-to-consumer.
Airlines are starting to have a stronger presence at WTM London in general and at the Technology Summit in particular. Filip Filipov from OAG will provide a five-minute snapshot into the most critical airline and flight data trends before Amanda Campbell from T2RL and Nadine Wood, formerly of Qantas, analyse the evolution of low-cost carriers and highlight the lessons that legacy carriers can learn.
Finally, away from software, Roman Townsend from Belvera Partners will demonstrate the latest advances in artificial and virtual reality.
Timothy O-Neil Dunne explained: “Attendees will hear from an eclectic mix of experts, all of whom have strong and sometimes differing opinions on the topics dominating today’s travel technology conversations.
“We’re taking a broad approach to AI, but I’ve structured the summit so that data, payments, airlines and more also get a look in. Then we finish with the key question of now: is AI good or bad for travel? Make sure you join us on the Purple Stage at 10:45 on Wednesday, 5th November to be part of a frank and future-focused conversation.”
