Ministers and industry leaders from all over the world will seek new ways to realise the full social and economic potential of travel and tourism at the upcoming fifth Global Travel & Tourism Summit.

The event – which will take place in India’s capital New Delhi from April 8 to 10, 2005 – is being organised by the the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
Key speakers from the Gulf will include Gulf Air president and CEO James Hogan, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Ali Baker, Kingdom Hotel Investments CEO Sarmad Zok and Reed Travel Exhibitions chairman Tom Nutley.
Under the theme, ‘Realising the Potential’, the agenda will include:
• Inauguration by Dr Abdul Kalam, the President of India.
• Bill Marriott, chairman and CEO of Marriott International, describing how the industry can create prosperity for everyone.
• A panel discussion on where it will be right for the public and private sectors to collaborate and where it will not;
• An investigation, involving Tourism ministers from four different continents, into what makes a destination successful.
• Launch of a new economic tool that can help forecast the economic impact of a disaster and estimate the speed of recovery.
• A debate about the best way for the industry to communicate in the face of natural and man-made catastrophes.
• A premonition of the industry’s future with Roger Bootle, an economist with a reputation for making controversial predictions that have turned out to be correct.
• An investigation into the latest innovations and the implications of new technology.
• Marilyn Carlson Nelson, chairman & CEO, Carlson Companies describing how companies and their people can work together.
• A panel discussion on inspirational leadership.
• Barry Sternlicht, executive chairman of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, giving his personal views on branding success.
• A conversation about which is the better business strategy: to create or to trade?
Jean-Claude Baumgarten, WTTC President, comments: “All the major issues confronting will be addressed by several top individuals from government and the private sector. Their views will be open to challenge from the audience in highly interactive discussions moderated by some of the world’s most prominent journalists.”
For registration and full details of the programme, visit www.GlobalTravelTourism. com.