Sustainable Tourism CRC

Tourism Directions and Distribution Conference – A New Paradigm

Over two days in October, a number of leading tourism industry participants from Australia, the Asia-Pacific and the world came together to discuss the commercial and policy implications of rapid changes to the distribution/supply chains of travel product.

The event was a joint initiative of the Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC), Tourism Australia, the Pacific-Asia Travel Association (PATA) and the Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau (SCVB).

Sustainable Tourism CRC captured a number of the presentations and below are links to some quick cuts from key speakers

For copies of the presentations please follow the link: http://www.distribution2007.com/program.asp. To visit the Tourism Directions and Distribution Conference website follow the link: http://www.distribution2007.com/

Anna Pollock, CEO, Desticorp and Founder, The Icarus Foundation

Anna Pollock’s presentation titled Making Sense in an Age of Uncertainty examined the difference between trends, change drivers and paradigms showing how volatility and uncertainty are the natural results of increased connectivity. She showed that while the travel sector had experienced growth – more tourists, products, choice and channels, the quality of the individual experience is diminishing with consumers experiencing less peace (more stress) and exhibiting less trust and attention – key pre-requisites for a transactional relationship. As power shifts from supplier to consumer and web 2.0 technologies enable peer to peer conversations on a mammoth scale, tourism marketers are being required to re-think marketing at a fundamental level and become active in all stages of the customer’s purchase and experience cycle.

Matt Hingerty, Managing Director Australia Tourism Export Council

Matt was appointed as ATEC Managing Director and started in the role in January 2005.

Prior to this he was Chief of Staff to the Hon Joe Hockey MP, the former Australian Tourism Minister who produced the Tourism White Paper.

As the Minister’s senior political adviser Matt was responsible for the development and implementation of his strategic approach to political and policy issues. He was the key link between the industry and the Government during the development of the White Paper.

Richard Beere, Executive General Manager International (Asia) Tourism Australia

As Executive General Manager International (East) based in Sydney office, Richard Beere is responsible for managing Tourism Australia’s overseas operations across the key regions of Asia, Japan, and the Gulf Countries.

The role involves management of key tourism flow issues, global partnerships and distribution development, market intelligence and knowledge as well as day to day involvement with Tourism Australia’s international offices.

Distribution Challenges

Scott Blume, President Travelocity Asia Pacific and ZUJI Chief Executive Officer

Based in Singapore, Scott Blume leads Asia Pacific's leading online travel company, ZUJI.

Scott is responsible for ZUJI's overall business and future growth strategies.

Scott has more than 30 years' experience of business management in the leisure, corporate and online travel industry for listed and privately held companies. He joined ZUJI as Chief Executive Officer in January 2003.

Scott brought with him to ZUJI a legacy of successful business leadership, and he has a travel and financial management career pedigree. Scott's prior posts included direct responsibility and broad strategic involvement for businesses in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, America and Europe. His depth of experience in the area of travel commerce is unrivalled in Asia Pacific as his scope of knowledge includes online travel, corporate travel, MICE and traditional bricks and mortar travel chains.

Rod Cuthbert, Founder and CEO, Viator

Rod Cuthbert first heard the Latin word for 'traveler' in high school. In 1995 he co-founded a company focused on building websites for travel companies, but it took him another four years to convince his colleagues that Latin names were cool, and to rename the company Viator. Soon after the name change, Rod and the team at Viator saw the opportunity to bring together a wide array of quality destination activities and began forging relationships with local tour operators around the world, creating a single location where consumers could research and purchase destination activities, sightseeing tours and attraction passes before they travel. Before launching Viator, Rod spent more than 20 years in the U.S. and Australian IT industries, including senior positions at NCR Corporation and Digital Equipment. Rod started his entrepreneurial career in the mid-80s with a successful PC retail store in Melbourne.

Michael Londregan, Executive General Manager International (West) Tourism Australia

As Executive General Manager, International (Western Hemisphere), Michael Londregan is responsible for managing Tourism Australia's overseas operations across key Western Hemisphere tourism markets - including UK/Europe, the America's and New Zealand - which deliver around 2.7 million visitors to Australia each year. In this role Michael manages Tourism Australia's international marketing programs to consumers and trade as well as business development activities, to ensure Australia remains a popular destination for international visitors across the Western Hemisphere tourism markets.

Opening Channels for Distribution

John Koldowski, Director Strategic Intelligence Centre for the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Australia

John M. Koldowski, Director Strategic Intelligence Centre for the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), is responsible for the collection, analysis and interpretation of travel and tourism statistics for PATA, as well as the identification and monitoring of those factors which may affect travel to/from and within the PATA region.

Mr. Koldowski joined PATA in Singapore in May 1997, then moved to Bangkok when the Association relocated its Headquarters in September 1998. He brought with him years of experience that cover a wide variety of fields.

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Farm and Nature Tourism

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