Carnival Corporation Chairman and CEO Micky Arison will make a rare public appearance at World Travel Market 2012, the leading global event for the travel industry.
Arison will be taking part in the Travel Weekly Cruise Debate on Tuesday 6 November as the industry seeks to make sense of what has been a tumultuous year for the sector. Having been Chief Executive of the Carnival Corporation since 1979 and its Chairman since 1990, he will have plenty of insights when he discusses the industry with session moderator Travel Weekly Group UK Editor-in-Chief Lucy Huxley.
Arison will be joined in the debate by Carnival UK Managing Director David Dingle who will not only draw upon his extensive experience from working in the cruise industry but also from the wider perspective of the industry he gained working on the ABTA board. The third confirmed speaker is Costa Cruises and AIDA Managing Director Michael Thamm who as early as 1993 was holding senior positions in the cruise industry. They will be joined on stage by a fourth speaker yet to be confirmed.
The four speakers will discuss the industry which was marred by tragedy in January this year when the Costa Concordia ran aground off the coast of Italy, killing 32 crew and passengers. The industry has also dealt with fluctuating oil prices but despite this has remained strong with growing numbers of customers and a number of new ships commissioned.
Reed Travel Exhibitions Director World Travel Market Simon Press said: “The cruise sector is such a vital part of our industry that it was bound to be given a strong focus at WTM 2012.”
“It is particularly vital following the events this year that we not only focus on how it has fared in the immediate aftermath of the Costa Concordia tragedy but also what the future brings. We are sure this debate featuring such high calibre speakers from the cruise industry will prove popular with the event’s delegates.”
The hour-long session will be held at 3pm in Platinum Suite 3 and 4
Arison will appear by live video link.
To register for World Travel Market 2012, viewers can visit www.wtmlondon.com/register
About World Travel Market
World Travel Market, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend four-day business-to-business exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry.
Almost 48, 000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international press, embark on ExCeL – London every November to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry opinion and trends at WTM.
WTM, now in its 33rd year, is the event where the travel industry conducts and concludes its deals.
WTM 2011 will generate £1, 653 million of travel industry contracts, revealed independent research by Fusion Communications.
WTM is owned by the world’s leading events organiser Reed Exhibitions (RE), which organises a portfolio of other travel industry events including Arabian Travel Market and International Luxury Travel Market.
In 2010, RE held more than 460 events in 36 countries bringing together more than seven million people from around the world generating billions of dollars in business.
About Reed Travel Exhibitions
Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) is the world’s leading provider of exhibitions in the travel and tourism industry. Its wide-ranging portfolio of events around the globe covers leisure travel, luxury travel, business travel and the meetings and incentives industry.
In 2011 RTE 13 events were the catalyst for £2, 807 million worth of travel and tourism business deals.
The 13 events are; World Travel Market (WTM), Arabian Travel Market (ATM), International French Travel Market (IFTM), La Cumbre, International Golf Travel Market (IGTM), International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM), International Luxury Travel Market Asia (ILTMA), Asia-Pacific Incentives & Meetings Expo (AIME) (owned by Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau), Global Exhibition for Incentive, Business Travel, and Meetings (EIBTM), Gulf Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings (GIBTM), Americas Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings (AIBTM), China Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings (CIBTM) and Business Travel Market.
April 2013 will see RTE launch World Travel Market Latin America in São Paulo.
RTE is a business unit of Reed Exhibitions. In 2011, six million participants attended RE’s 500 events in 39 countries covering 44 industry sectors from aerospace and aviation to beauty and cosmetics to sports and recreation.
Reed Exhibitions is owned by Reed Elsevier, the world’s leading provider of professional information and online workflow solutions.
About Reed Exhibitions
Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events organizer, with over 500 events in 39 countries. In 2011 Reed brought together six million active event participants from around the world, generating billions of dollars in business. Today Reed events are held throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa and organized by 33 fully staffed offices. Reed Exhibitions serves 44 industry sectors with trade and consumer events and is part of the Reed Elsevier Group plc, a world-leading publisher and information provider and a FTSE 100 company.www.reedexpo.com
