World Routes Tourism Summit Programme Launched

MANCHESTER, England, July 31, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Brand USA sponsors the event which is attracting an outstanding programme of speakers 

Senior figures from the travel and tourism industry are signing up in force to speak at this year's World Routes Tourism Summit which, sponsored by Brand USA for the second year running, will take place alongside World Routes in Chicago, 20-23 September 2014.

Building on the success of last year's event the programme is attracting some very senior speakers to take part in the panel sessions with confirmations received, so far, from the likes of Ricky Skerritt, Minister of Tourism and International Transport for St Kitts and Nevis, Peter Cerda, RVP The Americas for IATA and Alfredo Gonzalez, Senior Vice President, Global Market Development, for event sponsors, Brand USA.

"The aviation system is a critical part of the global economy and essential to connecting people and places. At Brand USA, our mission is to increase the number of people who make the USA their number one travel destination-the vast majority of whom arrive by air. Through our participation in Routes, we are able to network with the right players that will help us and our partners build capacity to meet the increasing demand of the world's travellers," said Christopher L. Thompson, president and CEO of Brand USA, the destination marketing organisation for the United States.

Occurring on Monday 22^nd September, the World Routes Tourism Summit is open to all attending delegates at the 20^th World Route Development Forum which will take place in Chicago, Illinois, USA co-hosted by the City of Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) and Choose Chicago, the city's tourism organisation.

Mike Miller, Head of Content and Industry Relations for Routes highlights the importance of this event: "The travel & tourism industry is expected to grow 4.3% this year and now supports 266 million jobs worldwide. We look forward to discussing these benefits in Chicago with the top tourism officials from around the globe."

The Tourism Summit is the forum where senior leaders and key stakeholders come together to participate in a number of discussions covering topics affecting the tourism industry today. Key sessions include Global Tourism, which will essentially look at how established destinations are re-positioning or investing to ensure they continue to grow alongside new destinations that are offering different opportunities and types of holiday to travellers. The session will investigate the ways in which destinations can grow visitor numbers and make predictions over future potential travel types.

The Future Patterns of Travel session will examine the move from travel agent to online in many markets, and the rise of new booking agents for flights and hotels. This discussion will also look at how social media and search engines are entering into the market and discuss the role which they will play.

Other confirmed speakers at the Tourism Summit so far include James Beresford, CEO of VisitEngland, Amit Rikhy, Senior Vice President of ADC & HAS Airports Worldwide and Vernice Walkine, President & CEO of Nassau Airport Development Company and Regional Executive, The Americas, Vantage Airport Group.

The 20th anniversary World Routes event will be held at Chicago's McCormick Place, the largest convention facility in the Western Hemisphere.  With the most diverse economy in the United States, and home to several of the aviation industry's leading companies, Chicago makes the perfect home for the 20th World Route Development Forum.

For more information and to register for World Routes in Chicago visit http://www.routesonline.com

Notes to Editors 

About Routes 

• Routes organises world-renowned airline and airport networking events through its regional and global Route Development Forums. Each year, there is one global event and one regional event in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas and CIS respectively. http://www.routesonline.com  
• Routes was founded in 1995 as part of the Manchester, UK-based ASM Ltd., a consultancy specialising in the field of route development for airports. http://www.asm-global.com. Routes and ASM are part of the UBM Live division of UBM plc.
• UBM Live connects people and creates opportunities for companies across five continents to develop new business, meet customers, launch new products, promote their brands and expand their markets.  Through premiere brands such as MD&M, CPhI, IFSEC, TFM&A, Cruise Shipping Miami, the Concrete Show, the Routes portfolio of events, Airport Cities and many others, UBM Live exhibitions, conferences, awards programs, publications, websites and training and certification programs are an integral part of the marketing plans of companies across more than 20 industry sectors. http://www.ubmlive.com  

Follow us on twitter: @Routesonline, @TheHUBRoutes, @VictoriaRoutes, @NLPROU, @airlineroute

About UBM plc 

• UBM plc is a global events-led marketing services and communications company.  We help businesses do business, bringing the world's buyers and sellers together at events and online, as well as producing and distributing news and specialist content.  Our 5,500 staff in more than 30 countries are organised into expert teams which serve commercial and professional communities, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently.
• For more information, go to http://www.ubm.com; follow us on Twitter at @UBM_plc to get the latest UBM corporate news; follow @UBM for news from all UBM's businesses; follow @UBM for a flavour of UBM from selected members of UBM's Twitterati.

SOURCE UBM Live Routes Ltd