The travel industry understands how critical data analytics and mobile are to send contextual messages that sell more, reduce costs and serve their customers better. As an indication how critical this goal is 16 senior C level executives from the world's biggest airlines, airports, hotels, rail providers, tour operators and intermediaries are meeting the Monday before ITB at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to debate, collaborate and discover the new opportunities that data analysis and mobile can provide.

This 1 day strategically critical conference is a collaboration of the Mobile World Congress (a 76,000 person event for everyone involved with mobile) and Eyefortravel the world's top business Intelligence provider for the online travel industry.

"The billboard travel website is dying. If you want to sell to and service your consumers you need to apply data to your mobile strategy in order to provide a contextualized mobile experience. Pre booking, pre trip, on trip and post trip, all the companies that make the trip possible now have the ability to serve the consumer for longer. A new battle for the customers trust has begun and the correct use of data and mobile is mission critical." said Tim Gunstone, Managing Director EyeforTravel

Revenues from the distribution of non-core travel products have been behind the success of top travel companies for decades. As the number of travel consumer's that book and communicate via mobile sky rockets the ability to display these products has shrunk due to need to simplify the research and booking process. Today Travel companies are experimenting with the analysis of social, transactional and location data to show more targeted products on the small screen. Significantly this has enabled the different parties that make up a travel experience to sell more products and provide more services throughout the traveller's journey.

The following executives are speaking at the event

        • Javier Pérez-Tenessa de Block, CEO and co-founder, eDreams Odigeo Group
        • Gary Morrison, SVP of Retail, Expedia Worldwide
        • Mittu Sridhara, CTO, TUI
        • Marco Ryan, CMO, Thomas Cook
        • Khawla Salem Nasser Ali Albadi, Head of IT Innovation & Exploitation, Information Technology, Etihad Airways
        • Chris Annetts, Commercial Passenger Services Director, Heathrow Airport
        • Marion Bauer, E&M Commerce Director, Vueling
        • Scheherazade Zekri-Chevallet, CMO, Thalys
        • Monika Nerger, CIO, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
        • Kenny Jacobs, CMO, RyanAir
        • Fernando Vives, SVP Commercial Strategy & Pricing, NH Hotels
        • Michael Levie, COO, Citizen M Hotels
        • Mark Logan, COO, Skyscanner
        • Toon Bouten, CEO, TOMORROW FOCUS AG (owners of HolidayCheck, Huffingtonpost.de, Zoover, Ecotour, Mietwagencheck, Tjingo and more)
        • Lee McCabe, Head Of Travel, Facebook

 Additional statistics

  • According to EyeforTravel's latest research 68.8% of travel executives said they would spend more on mobile in 2014 (up from 53.3% in 2013
  • 49% hotel executives that will be increasing investment in mobile over the next three months
  • 80% OTA (online travel agent) and metasearch executives who believe mobile is business critical and will be investing more in the next three
  • 20 million the number of times hotels.com's app has been downloaded
  • 70% of people who travel with a smartphone

About Reuters Events

Reuters Events is a community where the world’s top online travel brands – from hotels to airlines, online travel agents, cruise, car hire firms and more – come to meet to drive forward growth and innovation in the industry.

We know that working in the turbulent online travel industry is as exciting as it is challenging. In this constantly evolving market place, we appreciate that keeping up with the pace of change can be tough, not to mention time consuming. You need the right information, contacts and strategic insight to succeed.

Established in 1997, by Tim Gunstone, we offer a diverse product portfolio including industry analysis, insights, research, webinars, reports and conferences to suit the needs of our clients.

Our clients read as a who’s who of online travel. From major hotel brands to new startups, we help our 80,000 strong customer base make better decisions, build better brands, close the most lucrative deals and ultimately sell more of their product. After all, increasing travel brand profit margins in the cutthroat travel industry is the name of the game!

No other online travel intelligence provider has been charting the growth of online travel as long as we have. We were here at the inception of online travel and we know the industry inside out. What’s more, we’re a small, friendly team. Forget impersonal hierarchies, we like to get to know our customers and work towards their exact needs.

Tim Gunstone
Managing Director
+44 (0)207 375 7557
Reuters Events (former EyeforTravel)

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