Digital Travel US 2024
October 07 - 08, 2024
Hyatt Regency Austin, TX
DAY ONE: Dreams & Plans, MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2019
7:30 am - 8:35 am
Continental Breakfast & Registration for All Attendees
8:35 am - 8:45 am
Welcome Remarks and Icebreaker
Krishna Patel -
Program Director,
Digital Travel Summit
8:45 am - 9:00 am
Chairperson’s Opening Remarks
Chris Stacey -
Vice President, Commercial,
UpLift
9:00 am - 9:20 am
KEYNOTE “You are Here” – Positioning Yourself with Respect to Ongoing and Future Trends
Eliot Hamlisch -
Senior Vice President, Worldwide Loyalty & Partnerships,
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
Staying on top of current events and changing consumer expectations is a balancing act akin to finding your location on a map that is always moving. We’ll start the mental journey into the strategic discussions of the next three days by thinking about:
- The travel landscape is evolving at a rapid pace, what are the emerging trends and how can we navigate them?
- In a world where new brands and new rewards programs seem to be emerging by the minute, how do you differentiate while driving value?
- What is the role of technology in creating an emotional connection with customers?
Eliot Hamlisch
Senior Vice President, Worldwide Loyalty & PartnershipsWyndham Hotels & Resorts
9:20 am - 9:40 am
FIRESIDE CHAT From “S.O.S” to “Bienvenidos” - If You Don’t Like What People Are Saying, Change the Conversation
Leah Chandler CDME -
Chief Marketing Officer,
Discover Puerto Rico
Jonathan Stephen -
Sr. Manager, Mobile Strategy & Digital Engagement,
Norwegian Cruise Line
Upset travelers, massive delays, accidents, natural disasters – the travel industry deals with more than its fair share of negative press. This session will delve into how Discover Puerto Rico has been taking the viral impressions generated in the wake of disastrous Hurricane Maria and turning them into a vehicle to share a new message aimed at rebuilding the island’s reputation and tourism economy.
9:40 am - 10:20 am
PANEL (Tonight Show Style) Riding a New Wave in Cruises
Chris Stacey -
Vice President, Commercial,
UpLift
Jonathan Stephen -
Sr. Manager, Mobile Strategy & Digital Engagement,
Norwegian Cruise Line
Jennifer Pintaluba -
Director of Digital Marketing,
Regent Seven Seas Cruises
Victor Hernandez -
Director, Digital Marketing and CRM,
Windstar Cruises
Kate Pontiff -
Intensification Manager, North America,
Celebrity Cruises
As we researched our program agenda it became clear: the cruise companies are the cool kids, and you want to hear from them! Let’s set sail and explore though this discussion with a hop off, hop on again when it comes to the stuff of seafaring dreams including:
· Wearables at sea
· Leveraging relationships with travel agents
· Forging strong relationships with customers across audiences
10:20 am - 10:40 am
CASE STUDY Experiences That Travel Well: How To Create Unique Experiences For Today's Digital Globetrotters
Yassine Hachem -
Vice President New Businesses & Acquisitions Synergies,
AccorHotels
UX-perts from global leader in hospitality Accor will join forces with ContentSquare's data gurus to reveal the ins and outs of a great digital journey. Learn how to deliver experiences so seamless your audience will come directly to you for bookings. Hear advice on how to boost conversions on ancillary sales. Get tips on expanding your membership base, and keeping visitors engaged all the way to conversion.
10:40 am - 11:20 am
#Cronuts #Caffeine #Conversation #NewInsights #Networking Break in the Solutions Lounge #Want
11:20 am - 11:40 am
CASE STUDY Welcoming the Digitally-Savvy Chinese Traveler
Humphrey Ho -
Managing Partner,
Hylink Travel
In 2017, we saw over 129 million Chinese travel abroad. As an increasing number of Chinese set their sights on international destinations, how should your brand prepare for, and engage with, this burgeoning and technologically-advanced traveler? To be successful in the China market, it is imperative to understand the unique consumption patterns and evolving needs of this complex consumer. Humphrey Ho will offer an update on the Chinese traveler profile, share insights on their preferred activities and experiences, and how your brand can target them at all stages of their travel experience.
11:40 am - 12:20 pm
PANEL (Tonight Show Style): Win the booking! Now with… BETTER SEGMENTATION
Chris Stacey -
Vice President, Commercial,
UpLift
Joyce Bliss -
Former Global Marketing Director,
Enterprise Holdings (National Car Rental and Enterprise Rent-A-Car)
Michael Osborne -
CEO & President,
SmarterHQ
Tedd Evers -
Founder & CEO,
Triptuner
The struggle bus with the most seats in the travel industry these days seems to be the one for folks working to creating a customer data layer that they can really market from. We’re talking the one that makes better personas, faster, so you can be smarter and more triggered in deploying personalized campaigns. This is a global aspiration that is great in theory, “damn difficult” (in the exact words of your peers) to do in reality. How can we begin to wrap our brains and arms around customer segmentation?
•You’re as old as you feel! It’s about more than millennials. If you really want to target you have to look at sub-segments and understand: its not age specific its behavior and interest specific.
•How do you identify these people and leverage their info in your marketing tactics?
Joyce Bliss
Former Global Marketing DirectorEnterprise Holdings (National Car Rental and Enterprise Rent-A-Car)
12:20 pm - 12:30 pm
FIRESIDE CHAT How Suiteness Opens New Travel Possibilities for Group Travel
Kyle Killon -
Founder,
Suiteness
Sara Wyman -
Vice President, Travel,
Affirm Inc.
Traveling together - as a family or a group of friends - has a new appeal with Suiteness, a company that allows customers to book hotel suites and adjoining rooms. Find out how Suiteness has partnered with Affirm to solve two very clear pain points in the booking journey: making hotel inventory both accessible and affordable.
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm #Networking #Lunch #Delicious
Stackla Lunch + Learn
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm Fueling Booking Decisions with Real Traveler ContentSocial media and smartphones have given rise to the era of visual content — changing the traveler's journey from inspiration to booking.
Our recent survey revealed that 86% of people say they have become interested in traveling to a certain destination after seeing social images from friends, family or peers. By leveraging this content you can stop wasting time and money producing picture-perfect visuals or buying inauthentic stock photos for all your marketing activities – instead you could be tapping into the wealth of real photos and videos travelers create and share online everyday.
Key Takeaways:
-Learn how you can leverage user-generated content (UGC) to create integrated customer experiences throughout the booking journey
-Hear how real travel brands are seeing up to a 65% reduction in content costs and 33% boost in bookings
-Review the latest trends on the types of content consumers find most influential when planning travel
If you have interest in attending, please email maria.youssef@wbresearch.com
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
ROUNDTABLES
Marie Wickham -
Marketing Officer,
Qatar Airways
Brian Angello -
Director of Marketing - Resorts & Cabins,
The Dollywood Company
Jon Tejeda -
Director of Sales,
FreshAddress
Tedd Evers -
Founder & CEO,
Triptuner
Ata Gokyildirim -
General Manager of Asia-Pacific,
Forter
Scott Gorny -
Vice President – Executive Client Partner,
Publicis Sapient
Doug Ralston -
CEO,
OmniExperience
Kris Hay -
VP of Sales,
LoginRadius
ROUNDTABLES: A highlight of Digital Travel, roundtable discussions are your best opportunity to deep-dive into discussions and idea-share with your peers. You pick 2 themes during this session.
ROUNDTABLE 1 Turning Conference Takeaways into Tangible To-Do's: Every Little Bit Helps
Discussion Leader: Marie Wickham, E-Commerce Officer, Qatar Airways
ROUNDTABLE 2 What Was Your Best Promo This Year, and Why?
Discussion Leader: Brian Angello, Director of Marketing - Resorts & Cabins, The Dollywood Company
ROUNDTABLE 3 This Is Unreal – Spotting and Deterring Fraudulent Bookings
Discussion Leader: Ata Gokyildirim - General Manager of Asia-Pacific, Forter
ROUNDTABLE 4 Dominate Inboxes and Hearts with Proven E-Mail Marketing Optimization Tactics
Discussion Leader: Austin Bliss, President, FreshAddress
ROUNDTABLE 5 FOMO, No Mo’ - Marketing to your traveler’s bucket list with authenticity, inspiration and impact
Discussion Leader: Tedd Evers, CEO, TripTuner
ROUNDTABLE 6 You Have My Data, Why Don't You Know Me? Modernizing Existing Customer Assets to Drive The Perfect Next-Gen Guest Experience
Discussion Leader: Scott Gorny, Vice President – Executive Client Partner, Publicis Sapient
ROUNDTABLE 7 The Impact of Technology on Guest Experience: New Ways to Implement While Keeping the Human Factor
Discussion Leader: Doug Ralston, CEO, OmniExperience
ROUNDTABLE 8 It’s Not Just a European Union Problem: Understanding The Reach and Impact of GDPR Compliance on How You Collect Customer Information Everywhere
Discussion Leader: Kris Hay, VP of Sales, Login Radius
2:30 pm - 3:10 pm
#MoreCoffee #MoreNetworking #CantBelieveAllThatIAmLearning #WishYouWereHere
Track A: Creating FOMO
3:10 pm - 3:20 pm Chairperson’s Afternoon Address Lucas Luxton - Director of Tourism Partnerships, CrowdRiff
Track A: Creating FOMO
3:20 pm - 4:00 pm CASE STUDY INTERACTIVE We Wanted to Be #1 on TripAdvisor… and Now We Are Christine Loose - Vice President – Lodging & Wellness, Kohler Co.When it comes to strategic placement of your brand in the minds of would-be customers, social sharing and reviews are more important than ever. Christine will share how she and her team set their sights on the top TripAdvisor listing in their market, and the steps they took to get there.
· Applying Six Sigma strategies to create a strategy
· Reframing “removing friction” in terms of minimizing guest discomfort
· Training your staff to drive reviews without pitching guests
Track A: Creating FOMO
4:00 pm - 4:20 pm Eyes Full of Language: Global Content Marketing Done Well, at Scale Jamey Bainer - Director of Strategy & Planning, PACIFICMany travel brands struggle to do content marketing right in their own country, but how do you tackle it across multiple regions, where one botched translation or unintended cultural offense can cost you not just a customer, but an entire country? We’ll walk through case studies from Expedia, eBookers and Flights.com to show you how to develop a localized content strategy to build you brand and your business results at scale.
Discussion topics include:
- Building region- and country-specific strategies
- Leveraging local partners
- Identifying and acting on behavioral differences across regions
- Working with culturally relevant influencers
- Translation and localization done well
- Driving scalability through global applications and local executions
- Measuring true business impacts of content marketing (that’s right folks, we’re talking ROI!)
Track B: I'm Dreaming Of...
3:10 pm - 3:20 pm Chairperson’s Afternoon Address Kenneth Purcell - Founder & CEO, iSeatz
Track B: I'm Dreaming Of...
3:20 pm - 4:00 pm CASE STUDY INTERACTIVE Leaning into the Detours on the Way to Personalization: We’re Working On Doing Some of It, It’s Not Perfect, Here Are Our Learnings to Date Jason Dahlin - Senior Director, Digital Commerce, Choice Hotels InternationalChoiceHotels.com has been bringing their A Game to drive continuous optimization, intuitive usability, and record breaking revenue growth. Like a perfectly photographed social media post, there’s more to this great story than meets the eye, and a whole bunch of bloopers that don’t make it into the frame. Jason is going to share how new initiatives to improve personalization have been going for his team, what they have learned, and how they plan to recalibrate their approach to get closer to their vision for serving their customers.
Track B: I'm Dreaming Of...
4:00 pm - 4:20 pm TECH STOP CASE STUDY This Is Unreal – Spotting and Deterring the Nightmares of Fraudulent Bookings Dean Locke - Head of Business Development, Riskified
Track C: Lookout Point (Invitation Only) (Travel Only)
3:10 pm - 3:40 pm How Are You Redesigning Your Customer Experience to Reflect Evolving Digital Habits? Jessi Lewis - eCommerce, Technical Product Owner, Alaska Airlines Mario Ciabarra - Founder & CEO, Quantum Metric“How can we keep up with changing customer expectations and habits” is THE driving question for many travel executives as they seek to stay relevant and drive bookings. This exclusive session will provide insights from Alaska Air with respect to ongoing efforts to keep pace in the digital ecosystem followed by the opportunity for in-depth, face to face discussion of your reactions to this challenge in a closed room setting.
4:20 pm - 5:00 pm PANEL Following the Changing Path of How People Want to Connect with Travel Inspiration and Creating an Experience That Meets Those Needs
Lucas Luxton - Director of Tourism Partnerships, CrowdRiff Nicole Brown - Senior Director, Brand Partnerships, TripAdvisor Rob Sands - Head of Partnerships, CNN Travel Kristen Vasan - Director, Strategic Platform Partnerships, Foursquare Mark Murray - Head of Travel, YieldifyBrand, platform, and online communities are providing exciting opportunities for people to connect and find travel inspiration. This panel will share different ways they have been working to meet the would-be travelers needs to feel this sense of connection and promise when dreaming of or planning a trip.
4:20 pm - 5:00 pm PANEL: Getting with the Program(matic) – How the Industry Can Achieve Greater Transparency in the Buy Space
Kenneth Purcell - Founder & CEO, iSeatz Alex Sutton III - Director, Digital Acquisition, Avis Budget Group Amanda Johnson - Director, Media & Digital Marketing, Herschend Family Entertainment Asmita Singh - Vice President, Marketing and Demand Analytics, Travel Leaders Group•Top questions for advertisers to ask when talking to a vendor in the space
•How do you calculate the return?
•Gauging the quality of the ad space
•Strategies for spotting and managing fraud
•How to informing your programmatic choices using your first party data
•Wins and fails in look alike audience targeting
3:40 pm - 4:10 pm ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS
Topic 1: Dealing With Cultural Change
Topic 2: Growth & Repositioning The Brand Promise
Topic 3: AI and Other Shiny New Things – Buzzword or Solid Strategy?
Topic 4: The Next Big Innovation In Travel
4:10 pm - 5:00 pm Lookout Point Afternoon Margarita Making Class
Take in the view and learn (or hone) an indispensable skill for the travel marketing space.
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Taste of California Welcome Party
After five amazing years in Las Vegas, we're thrilled to explore a new corner of the world with you. Share your thoughts on the first day of content with your fellow attendees and journey together to the regionally themed stations where you can sample a curated selection of local wines and beers from different areas of the Golden State #happyhour