World Tourism Forum Lucerne builds on success of Think Tank

LUCERNE, Switzerland – The World Tourism Forum Lucerne held its 2nd Think Tank meeting on the weekend in early March in Lucerne. The conclusion of the inspiring discussion was clear: the tourism industry needs one voice, a smarter communication, and a better coalition with others’ agendas.

The Think Tank gathered 30 leading decision makers from government and the industry as well as representative young talents from the sector. From discussions held during this event it was determined that to achieve full economic benefits from travel and tourism’s growth, the industry must get more creative in its investment in sustainable infrastructure now.

The World Tourism Forum Lucerne will organize a Talent Boost event in Shanghai on April 22, 2014. Under the guidance of the Forum’s representative in China, Mr. Jianguo Xu, this event will focus on the launch of the Young Talent Program 2015 and put forward the partnership with East China Normal University, as well as the long-term partnership with Shanghai to promote the World Tourism Forum Lucerne and its activities. Top speakers such as Martin Craigs, CEO of PATA; Desiree Bollier, CEO of Value Retail; Prof. Feng Xuegang, Dean of the Business School at ECNU; and Duncan O’Rourke, COO of Kempinski Hotels & Resorts will join this event.

After three successful Forums, it was decided that the organization must select strong partners who will work together on developing World Tourism Forum Lucerne. The Forum’s new Premium Partners intend to support World Tourism Forum Lucerne for the next 3 Forums (2015, 2017 and 2019), which will allow the Forum to continue to organize and offer high-quality content and events.

To date, Etihad Airways, Korn/Ferry International, and PricewaterhouseCoopers have accepted to cooperate with World Tourism Forum Lucerne as Premium Partners. The goal of the Forum is to commit 3-4 new Partner Universities per Forum for the Young Talent Program. So far, 6 new Partner Universities for the 2015 Program have been registered for which the responsible Professors have already started informing their students about a possible participation. The latest commitment was signed with the Bandung Institute for Tourism of Indonesia who has committed to participate in the Young Talent Program of World Tourism Forum Lucerne 2015.

The next World Tourism Forum Lucerne will be held on April 23-24, 2015.