It's always an interesting exercise thinking up the theme, drawing up the programme and lining up the speakers for each Web In Travel Conference.

This year was especially tricky. Everything is still so fluid after the "tough love" of 2009. And it seems the pace of change has gotten even faster, if that's possible. What you thought important in March, for instance, may not be so by the time October rolls around.

One thing was clear though. If there is one person that's changing the most – and he is the only one that matters – it's the Customer.

The tough times of 2009 produced certain changes in traveller behaviour. New developments in technology, tools and business models also resulted in changes in how our customers are planning, searching and buying travel. Search is splintering. Social media is shaking up the world. Mobile's all the rage, even though that's been talked about for so long, but finally, could we have a game-changer with new gadgets in our hands?

With "The C-Spot" in mind, we set about having conversations with travel leaders, gathering feedback on what shape and form the conference programme should look like. We went about identifying and inviting our speakers and drawing up the programme.

And while the speakers' list is by no means complete – with a few more names still to be confirmed – and the conference programme still a work in progress – it always is till the last minute – we are pleased that we can now share the programme for WIT Conference 2010, as well as related events taking place in conjunction with the conference.

These include:

• WITovation Entrepreneur Bootcamp, Oct 18 (see programme)
• WIT Conference 2010, Oct 19-20 (see programme)
• WIT Ideas Lab at ITB Asia, 9-11am, Oct 21-22 (see programme)
• WIT Clinics at ITB Asia, 3-5pm, Oct 21-22 (see programme)

Close to 60 speakers confirmed

WIT Conference 2010 will feature its strongest line-up of speakers, with close to 60 confirmed to date. Among them are several names which will be making their appearance at WIT for the first time.

Among them are TripAdvisor, which is setting up its regional headquarters in Singapore in July; travel.co.jp, the publicly-listed Japanese meta travel search site; koreahotels.com, the leading online hotel portal in South Korea; NileGuide, the US-based travel planning site; Holiday IQ, the India-based travel media site that's expanding in South-east Asia; Indonesia's Mandala Airlines, which is launching international services to Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau soon; and Mobile Travel Technologies, a leader in its field.

Established brands such as Wotif, ZUJI/Travelocity, Expedia and Hotels.com will also be represented, along with the leading players in search, revenue management, social media, branding, marketing and distribution.

What we wanted to do this year was to widen our net to cover new players who are making waves in Asia Pacific, international brands who are entering the region and emerging markets such as Indonesia and Korea.

At the same time, WIT wouldn't be the same without those familiar names to whom WIT has become like a family reunion.

WIT Conference 2010 speakers

• Adrian Currie, Chairman, Agoda
• Adrian Hamilton-Manns, CEO, Mandala Airlines, Indonesia
• Andrew McGlinchey, Head of Product Management, Southeast Asia, Google South East Asia, Singapore
• Arthur Kiong, Senior Vice President/Managing Director of Sales & Marketing, Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts, Singapore
• Assen Vassilev, VP Strategy and Business Development & Co-Founder, Everbread & Haystack, UK
• Aya Aso, CEO & President, Agora Hospitalities Co. Ltd, Japan
• Bill Black, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Ativa Hospitality, Thailand
• Brett Henry, Vice-President, Marketing, Abacus International, Singapore
• Carl Griffith, Managing Director, Declar Consulting, Singapore
• Cui Guang Fu, CEO, Elong, China
• David Doucette, Executive Director, Internet Marketing, Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, Canada
• Don Birch, Managing Director, China Opportunity Partners, China
• Frank Trampert, Executive Vice President, Revenue Generation - Asia Pacific, Carlson Hotels Worldwide, Singapore
• Fritz Demopoulous, CEO & Co-Founder, Qunar.com, China
• Georgie Farmer, Asia Travel Manager, Global Travel and Auto, Microsoft, Singapore
• Gordon Locke, Vice President, Portfolio Strategy & Chief Marketing Officer, Sabre Airline Solutions, USA
• Grahame Tate, Managing Director, IDeaS Asia Pacific – a SAS Company, Australia
• Hari Nair, Founder & CEO, Holiday IQ, India
• Wee Hee Ling, CEO, Commonwealth Tourism Holdings, Singapore
• Hrush Bhatt, Founder & Director, Cleartrip/ Small World, India
• Ian Wilson, Regional Vice President - Asia and General Manager, The Fairmont Singapore
• Jens Thraenhart, President, Chameleon Strategies, Inc, Co-Founder/ Executive Partner & Chief Strategist, Dragon Trail, China
• Jens Uwe Parkitny, Managing Director, Affiliate Network, Expedia Asia Pacific, Hong Kong
• Jerome Wise, Vice President – ecommerce, TRAVELCLICK International, UK
• Joe Nguyen, Vice President-Southeast Asia, ComScore, Singapore
• Johan Svanstrom, VP & Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Hotels.com, Hong Kong
• John Northen, Area Vice President, South East Asia, Marriott International, Hong Kong
• Josh Steinitz, CEO, NileGuide, USA
• Karthik Siva, Chairman, Global Brand Forum, Singapore
• Kathleen Tan, Regional Head of Commercial, AirAsia, Malaysia
• Kei Shibata, President & CEO, Venture Republic Inc, Japan
• Kent Zhu, Group Director of Sales & Marketing, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, Hong Kong
• Kevin May, Editor, Tnooz, UK
• Larry Liang, General Manager – Marketing, TravelSky, China
• Leo Choi, Director of Sales & Marketing, Koreahotels.com, Korea
• Loh Lik Peng, CEO, K.M.C. Holdings, Singapore
• Luke Clark, Editor, Mandala Magazine, Ink Publishing, Singapore
• Marc Charron, Managing Director, TripAdvisor APAC, Singapore
• Maria Taylor, Vice President, Loyalty & Direct Sales, Asia Pacific, Accor Hospitality, Singapore
• Martin Symes, CEO, Wego, Singapore
• Matthew Varley, Executive General Manager - Online Marketing, Wotif Group, Thailand
• Maunik Thacker, Vice President-Revenue Optimisation, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
• Michael Peschardt, TV Presenter and Host, BBC World, Australia
• Morris Sim, CEO & Co-Founder, Circos Brand Karma, Taiwan
• Morten Lund, Archangel investor & serial entrepreneur, LundXY, Denmark
• Nick Baker, Executive General Manager Marketing, Tourism Australia, Australia
• Olivier Dombey, Chief Information Officer, HotelTravel.com, Thailand
• Paul Kerr, CEO, Small Luxury Hotels of the World, UK
• Prakaikaew Na-Ranong, Managing Director, Indigo Pearl, Thailand
• Ram Badrinathan, General Manager – Asia Pacific, PhoCusWright Inc., India
• Richard Wiegmann, Managing Director, Trust International, Germany
• Robbie Cooke, Managing Director & Group CEO, Wotif Group, Australia
• Robert Bailey, President & CEO, Abacus International, Singapore
• Robert Hornman, Managing Director, WORLDHOTELS, Germany
• Roshan Mendis, President, Zuji, Regional Vice President, Travelocity, Asia Pacific, Singapore
• Sajith Sivanandan, Head of Travel, Retail and Automotive, Google South East Asia, Singapore
• Timothy Hughes, Vice President Commercial, Orbitz Worldwide and HotelCub, Blogger, BOOT - The Business of Online Travel, Australia
• Timothy O'Neil Dunne, CTO, Lute Technologies, Switzerland
• William Bao Bean, Partner, Softbank China & India Holdings, China/ Hong Kong

WIT 2010: October 19-22 SUNTEC Singapore ~ www.webintravel.com