At the 5th Global Travel & Tourism Summit taking place in New Delhi this coming April 8-10, Dr Michael Frenzel, Chairman of TUI AG, will set the tone for discussion by outlining key trends in innovation taking shape in the Travel & Tourism Industry across the world. A panel of business leaders will then debate Dr Frenzel's comments and will focus on what the latest innovations to affect the industry will be and which will have the greatest impact.

"There is no relaxation in the pace of change and the amount of innovation" argues Philip Wolf, President & CEO of PhoCusWright Inc. He sees new technologies such as metasearch (the simultaneous searching of several search engine databases), next generation mapping and satellite tracking as tools that can be combined to offer a plethora of amazing service enhancements to travellers.

Eric Anderson, President & CEO, Space Adventures, believes that the real driver of innovation will be the creation of new customer experiences: "At Space Adventures, we will continue to open the space frontier by flying thousands of tourists to suborbital space where they experience what less than 500 people have before them."

Whilst upcoming innovations will include double-deck aeroplanes equipped with satellite TV and broadband internet, everyone wants to know what new ideas are on the horizon? What are the new attractions that entrepreneurs will create? What new experiences and opportunities will technology facilitate for Travel & Tourism businesses as well as consumers? What are the traditional players doing to innovate? What can we expect from the rapidly emerging growth markets such as India and China? And how will all the new developments improve performance and market access?

The keynote speaker on this subject will be Michael Frenzel, Chairman, TUI AG, Europe's largest tour operator and his address will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by BBC World's top anchor man, Nik Gowing. The lead contributors will be:

Akbar Al Baker, Chief Executive Officer, Qatar Airways
Eric Anderson, President & CEO, Space Adventures
Eulogio Bordas, CEO of THR Tourism Consultants and President of Dream Resorts
Douglas Gollan, President & Editor-in-Chief, Elite Traveler Magazine
Mary Gostelow, President, Gostelow Travel
Gerard Greene, CEO, Yotel
Wang Ping, President, Chamber of Tourism, All-China Federation of Industry Commerce
Philip Wolf, President & CEO, PhoCusWright Inc
Peter Wong, Chairman, MK Corporation

Jean Claude Baumgarten, WTTC President concluded: "Travel & Tourism is booming. Suppliers such as hotels and airlines will always seek out the newest and latest ideas as a way to differentiate themselves and consumers will willingly enjoy what they create. This is a very exciting moment in the evolution of the industry. Those in attendance at the Summit will gain a deep insight into the innovations the leading players expect to see in the near, medium and long term."

For more information about the Summit, including how to take part, please visit www.GlobalTravelTourism.com.

The 5th Global Travel & Tourism Summit
The 5th Global Travel & Tourism Summit is being organised by the World Travel & Tourism Council and will take place from 8th to 10th April in New Delhi, India.

Following the theme Realizing the Potential, the event will be attended by top level company executives and government officials from around the world, and other people involved in the Travel & Tourism industry at the most senior level.

Travel & Tourism is the world's biggest industry, accounting for nearly 200 million jobs, and over 10 per cent of world GDP. More information on the summit, including biographies of the moderators and speakers, can be found at www.GlobalTravelTourism.com, where it is also possible to book on-line.

Under the overall theme, Realizing the Potential, highlights of the agenda include:

• Summit inauguration by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, The Honourable President of India
• Bill Marriott, Chairman and CEO of Marriott International describing how the Travel & Tourism industry can create genuine prosperity for everyone involved
• A panel discussion focusing 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 the strategies necessary to make 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
• Opinions from business leaders on the prospects for growth, consolidation and restructuring in the Travel & Tourism sector
• Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Chairman & CEO, Carlson Companies describing how companies and their people can work together for their mutual benefit
• A panel discussion on inspirational leadership in the Travel & Tourism industry
• 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?
• The final summing up by a panel of highly influential business leaders

In addition to the individuals mentioned above, the following speakers are also confirmed:

Ronald Andruff, President & CEO, Tralliance Corporation
Dimitris Avramopoulos, Minister of Tourism, Greece
David Baffsky, Chairman, Accor Asia Pacific
Douglas Baker, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Service Industries, Tourism and Finance, US Department of Commerce
Henrik Bartl, Head of Real Estate Structured Finance, Aareal Bank AG
Jean-Claude Baumgarten, President, World Travel & Tourism Council
Raymond Bickson, Managing Director, Indian Hotels Company Ltd
Roger Bootle, Managing Director, Capital Economics
Christopher Brown, Managing Director & Chief Executive, TTF Australia
Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Chairman & CEO, Carlson Companies
Renuka Chowdhury, Minister of Tourism, India
Alex Christou, Partner, Travel Services, Accenture
Lord Tim Clement-Jones, Partner, DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary
David Clifton, Managing Director, Europe & Asia, Interval International
Glen Davidson, Senior VP Worldwide Travel Insurance & Related Services, American International Group (AIG)
Peter de Jong, President & CEO, PATA
Sheila Dikshit, Honourable Chief Minister, National Capital, Territory of Delhi, India
Welf Ebeling, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, The Leading Hotels of the World Ltd
Ahmed El Maghraby, Minister of Tourism, Egypt
Sebastián Escarrer, Vice-Chairman, Sol Melia
Manuel Fernando Espirito Santo, Chairman, Espirito Santo Tourism
Edouard Ettedgui, Group Chief Executive, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
Anais Faraj, Global Strategist , Nomura International plc
Michael Frenzel, Chairman, TUI AG
Laurence Geller, Chairman & CEO, Strategic Hotel Capital
Nik Gowing, , BBC World
Peter Greenberg, Travel Editor, NBC Today Show & Chief Correspondent, Discovery Networks' Travel Channel,
Nisid Hajari, Managing Editor, Newsweek International
Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Chairman & Founder, easyGroup
James Hogan, President and Chief Executive, Gulf Air
Dinesh Keskar, Senior Vice President - Sales & President - Boeing Aircraft Trading, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Boeing, India
Alex Kyriakidis, Managing Partner, Travel, Tourism & Leisure, Deloitte
Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio, Chairman, Silversea Cruises
Samer Majali, President & CEO, Royal Jordanian Airlines
J. Willard Marriott Jr., Chairman & CEO, Marriott International, Inc.
David McMillan, Chief Executive Officer, International Hotel & Restaurant Association
Richard Miller, Executive Vice President, World Travel & Tourism Council
Kamal Nath, Honourable Minister for Commerce & Industry, India
Khaya Ngqula, President & CEO, South African Airways
Tom Nutley, Chairman, Reed Travel Exhibitions
PRS Oberoi, Chairman, The Oberoi Group
Frank O'Neill, Region Director Asia, Mondial Assistance Group
Alan Parker, Chief Executive, Whitbread plc
Praful Patel, Honourable Minister of Civil Aviation, India
Jean-Gabriel Pérès, President & CEO, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts
Manvinder Puri, General Manager, The Setai; Vice President, The Americas, GHM Hotels, The Setai, South Beach
Christopher Rodrigues, President & CEO, Visa International
NK Singh, Chairman of Management Development Institute, India
Judy Slatyer, CEO, Lonely Planet
Bruce Stanley, , Asian Wall Street Journal
David F Stein, Chairman, The Stein Group
Barry Sternlicht, Executive Chairman, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Lalit Suri, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharat Hotels Ltd
Ian Swain, President, SwainTours
Daniela Wagner, Managing Director, International, Octopustravel.com
Bill Waite, Managing Director, Consumer Growth, Corporate Leverage Finance, CIBC World Markets
Arnie Weissmann, Editor in Chief, Travel Weekly - USA
Vincent A Wolfington, Chairman, WTTC and Chairman Emeritus, Carey International
Peter C Yesawich PhD, Chairman & CEO, Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell
Sarmad Zok, Chief Executive Officer, Kingdom Hotel Investments
Jose-Luis Zoreda, Chief Executive Officer, Exceltur

In addition, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) will present a detailed report on the economic impact of the Tsunami that hit South East Asia on Boxing Day and it will also reveal a new economic model that can be used to forecast the economic impact of future disasters on the Travel & Tourism industry. Construction of this model draws on recent events such as 9-11, the Bali, Jakarta and Madrid bombings, the SARS outbreak and hurricanes in the Caribbean.

For background information on WTTC, please go to www.WTTC.org.