It takes a lot to rattle one of the world's most steady and stable travel markets.
At €300 billion, the European travel industry is also one of the largest. For Europeans, travel is the number one discretionary spend, ahead of electronics, home improvements and dining/nightlife*. But for how long? European travel providers are being tested like never before.
Unfolding before us is a series of worrisome setbacks and boundless prospects, economic threats and liberating technologies.
From bankruptcies and restructurings, to the political uncertainty of Brexit, to shaming airlines, European travel companies are on high alert. Short-term rentals, tours and activities, environmental consciousness, cultural shifts, startups and investments, all provide unprecedented opportunities for industry players.
2020 is shaping up to be a momentous year as the decade unfolds. How do we pinpoint the threats, identify the options, pursue new ideas and act on opportunities in the era ahead?
Phocuswright Europe is a place where online travel's smartest audience connects to share ideas, debate topics and showcase what's next.
Sessions include:
- Tour Operating Redefined: Debate the latest challenges and opportunities that guide the volatile European tour operator segment. Take a guided tour through new products and services, innovative technologies, a challenging political framework and the dramatic collapse of a giant.
- Mobility – What's Next?: Question the impact of flight shame, the promise (and status) of multimodal, innovations in transportation and the new ways of combining ground, rail, bus and other non-flight options to create the perfectly suitable (and sustainable) trip.
- The Investor View: Some of Europe's smartest investors share their views on the state of startups, the climate for raising capital, and how to recognize the overlooked from the overhyped.
- Airlines on Edge: It's a pivotal time to be an airline. They are chastened for their carbon footprint, thwarted by bankruptcies and rising costs, tempted by new technologies and standards and captivated by retailing. But are they well-positioned to transport the next decade of global travelers? Hear from top air experts on the state of aviation in Europe and beyond.
Other topics include:
- Beyond Travel: What's next if we're not flying? What will travel look like over the next decade?
- Lodging Transformed: The merging of hospitality and short-term rentals has created a brand new, and enormous, lodging marketplace. Who will prevail and will the customer decide?
- The Digital Future: Voice, chatbots, AI, and VR all promise to transform the way we search, shop for and experience travel. How far along are we really? A series of Tech Talks capture the latest innovations.
- The state of consolidators, local and global OTAs, Brexit, sustainability, packaging, tours and activities, vacation rentals, search, are all topics to be discussed and debated at Phocuswright Europe.
Against a backdrop of political and economic uncertainly and cultural change, European travel companies must overcome challenges and welcome change.
Swiftly making thousands of kilometers of railway networks, tens of thousands of independent hotel rooms, private homes and apartment rentals and hundreds of thousands of activities easily assessable online and in an intelligent way still has long way to go.
Airlines need to validate their business in a strained environment and hotels need to contend with an unceasing supply of new inventory and competition.
Tour operators must avoid defeat as the new era claimed one of their biggest. Online travel agencies must face slowing growth for the first time as the industry matures.
These are travel's biggest challenges to be confronted by the best and brightest at Phocuswright Europe. And yes, the industry is up for it.
Speakers include:
- Guido can Til, vice president of digital strategy at Air France-KLM
- Caroline Strachan, managing partner at Festive Road
- Marianne Stroehmann, senior industry director at Google
- Sean Seton-Rogers, general partner at PROfounders Capital
- Dara Brady, digital director at Ryanair
- Bryan Dove, CEO at Skyscanner
- Sam Shank, CEO at HotelTonight and head of hotels at Airbnb
- More to come...
Phocuswright Europe 2020
Registration, speakers, venue details and more.