Looking Ahead: Post-Trip, Pre-Planning Personalization

09:00 - 09:35 Continental Breakfast & Registration

09:35 - 09:40 Welcome Remarks

Megan Kessler, Event Director at Digital Travel Summit

Megan Kessler

Event Director
Digital Travel Summit

09:40 - 10:00 How the Right Kind of Travel Agent Survived: Mixing Digital and Offline Tools & Servicing

For decades, critics have predicted the complete elimination of the travel agency distribution channel. In fact, true ‘order taker’ Travel Agents have become extinct, while truly service-oriented Travel Advisors have thrived and even achieved star status. The Travel Advisor of the future mixes using online, social, and offline tools to grow business and serve travel clients, prioritizing human connections and service that’s worth paying for. We’ll look at some of the factors as to why the ‘right’ kind of Travel Advisor thrived, and trends to watch in selling and servicing in this category.
• How Travel Advisors use Digital to automate the predictable so they can humanize the exceptional
• Balancing innovation with tried-and-true consumer servicing tools
• Leveraging data to better understand clients and anticipate needs
• Telling the story of a Travel Advisor in new ways
Terrie Hansen, SVP-Marketing at Virtuoso

Terrie Hansen

SVP-Marketing
Virtuoso

10:00 - 10:20 Maximizing Marketing Analytics: Building Audiences And Calculated Metrics

It goes without saying, it’s important to know what you are measuring; brands must have calculated metrics to measure the effectiveness of campaigns. When optimizing large SEM Campaigns, know which analytics need to be on your quick view dashboard to be nimble and agile. Join Ahmed Elemam as he delivers tips and tricks for efficient campaign management, while also weeding out inefficiencies:
• Customize your Analytics to your company’s needs
• Find quick wins using analytics to optimize your Digital Marketing
• Create easy to read dashboards to get company-wide adoption of your digital tools
Ahmed Elemam, Senior Digital Marketer at WestJet

Ahmed Elemam

Senior Digital Marketer
WestJet

10:20 - 10:40 Modern-Day Storytelling: Unleashing Its Power To Connect And Influence Behavior

The power of story has been known from ancient times.Now, with the world of journalism going through tremendous upheaval, travel brands have an opportunity to innovate and tap professional storytellers to reach customers like never before. We’ll take a closer look at how smart destinations and travel brands are successfully leveraging influencers to tell brand stories and engage their audiences in conversation as part of their digital marketing strategy.
• The brain science behind the power of storytelling
• Who is the modern storyteller and how to best utilize their strengths to play an effective role in your integrated marketing strategy?
• Success stories from the travel sector where storytelling and content marketing are employed strategically with successful conversion
LiLing Pang, Founder & CEO at Trekaroo, Inc.

LiLing Pang

Founder & CEO
Trekaroo, Inc.

10:40 - 11:00 Disruption Innovation: Pushing Data And Technology Change

Data within the travel space—specifically aviation-- has previously been dominated by incomplete prehistoric information pulled from non-linear segments such as GDS or passenger surveys. In today’s world of technological advances and savvy consumers, both the travel and non-travel industries need to embrace innovative forms of data analysis to be able to spot new opportunities to evolve and stay relevant to today’s traveler. Join Hugh Aitken as he discusses:
• How to overhaul traditional methods of data analysis that are now unreliable and
irrelevant
• Becoming agile to shifts in the marketplace with the rapid evolution of data analysis
• Predicting the future: what KPIS in data you really need to analyze
Hugh Aitken, Director of Business Development at Skyscanner

Hugh Aitken

Director of Business Development
Skyscanner

11:00 - 11:30 Morning Refreshment & Networking Break

This is your last chance to shake hands and swap business cards…make it count!

11:30 - 11:50 Going Beyond Booking: Personalizing The Experience

Planning the perfect trip is about more than the price of a room. Most companies take a one size fits all approach to travel, showing you a generic list of hotels or things to do in your city that are popular with the masses. Gogobot sees the world differently. On Gogobot it's easy to see personalized results that are tailored to your needs. If you're an Adventure and Business Tribe member, you probably want to see a completely different group of places to stay, eat and play than, say, someone who is a Family Tribe member. During this session, Travis shows you how to:
• Give potential customers the right information at the right time, without them ever having to leave your site.
• Learn how to provide your guests with memorable experiences during their trip and how to increase engagement with your customers.
• Help customers know they’re making the right decision when they book by providing them with great concierge-like recommendations on the perfect places to eat, stay and play while they are in town.
Travis Katz, Co-founder and CEO at Gogobot

Travis Katz

Co-founder and CEO
Gogobot

11:50 - 12:20 Panel Discussion: More Instant, More Integrated: Technology That’s No Longer “Of The Future”

Better, Faster, Nimble, Personal. These are the words that should be describing your marketing plans, and the technology that supports it. Travelers welcome the technology and you need to capitalize on connecting with them in unique ways. The executives on this panel reveal the technology they are testing like:
• Augmented Reality: showing off your brand in a new and exciting way
• Integrating beacon technology: get a full understanding of how your customer travels, boosting ROI by sending product suggestions and push notifications
• Instant check-in via mobile and wearables
• Communication via mobile with concierge services
David Atkins, VP of Digital Marketing at VisitPITTSBURGH

David Atkins

VP of Digital Marketing
VisitPITTSBURGH

Benjamin Berenson, Management Associate at MGM Resorts

Benjamin Berenson

Management Associate
MGM Resorts

12:20 - 12:40 Garnering The Devoted Customer: Today's Guest Experience Is Tomorrow's Best Marketing Strategy

Successful Digital Marketing begins with a compelling story that crystallizes what makes your product not just a commodity, but rather a unique experience travelers pay a premium for. During this presentation, Adele teaches you a simple plan that can be implemented by any business leader to create a strong brand story—and this story captures the attention of potential customers because the message is being carried not only by the executive office, but by all its staff members and multitudes of past customers and fans.
• Stopping the endless cycle of searching for new clients to replace business lost due to lack of fulfillment
• Creating a social media marketing driven/guest driven culture in your company
• Optimizing the effectiveness of all your traditional and digital marketing campaigns.
• Maintaining a relationship with your customers and building upon products early to upsell, build revenue streams, and analyze preferences pre-check-in
Adele Gutman Milne, VP, Sales, Marketing,& Revenue at Library Hotel Collection

Adele Gutman Milne

VP, Sales, Marketing,& Revenue
Library Hotel Collection

12:40 - 13:40 BBQ Lunch For All Attendees

What’s better than a BBQ by the pool? Celebrate the end of a great 2.5 days and kick off summer with our pool-side BBQ!

13:40 - 23:59 End Of Digital Travel Summit 2016