Asia Luxury Travel Market 2009 – now is the time for courageous leadership

Global experts on customer relationships, leadership, and branding are headlining a conference addressing challenging economic times at Asia Luxury Travel Market (ALTM) on Monday, June 15. ALTM is the region’s leading showcase for the luxury travel industry taking place at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre from June 15-18.

ALTM welcomes keynote speaker, Larry Hochman, a customer relations expert and former European Business Speaker of the Year, to address why now is the time for courageous leadership.

Larry Hochman said: “At this critical moment, the most important issues are not about how big a company you are or how small a company you might become. The most important issues are about focus, transparency, customer loyalty, and value for money, because customers are demanding more, not less.”

“Ability to retain customers during this crisis will define your ability to weather this storm. Now is the time for courageous leadership to be certain you are ready for the post-recession era,” Mr. Hochman added.

As the annual event brings together Asia Pacific’s most important travel buyers with the world’s leading luxury tourism destinations, Yeoh Siew Hoon, editor at large of SHY Ventures will lead a discussion with leading branding promoter, Karthik Siva, and social media expert, Morris Sim, addressing traditional and new wave models of branding.

Karthik Siva is the founder and chairman of the Global Brand Forum. It brings together the world’s most inspirational and influential leaders to exchange ideas and share their visions for the future. Morris Sim is an ex-Microsoft employee who helped found Circos 2006. Circos is a technology company that specializes in social media for the hotel and tourism industries, and its “Brand Karma” product is helping leading hotel brands increase revenue, improve search engine optimization, and credibly brand themselves online.

The ALTM Conference will also feature a panel discussion on “Luxury Travel In the New Times” featuring Mary Gostelow, one of the world’s most experienced travelers who produces the monthly Gostelow Report, and Zoe Wu, a director at Horwath HTL.

The conference closes with a debate titled “Luxury is dead. Long Live Price,” pitting a champion for luxury, John Northern, Marriott Internationals vice president for south-east Asia, against an advocate for price, Martin Symes, CEO of Asia travel search engine, Wego.

In its third year, ALTM is being held at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre and offers an exciting program of business networking and social events. These include a welcome reception at the Shanghai Centre Theatre on June 15 and Official Opening Party hosted at M1NT Shanghai on June 16.

ALTM 2009 sees a strong turnout of both returning and new exhibitors. The sister event of the highly-successful International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM) held annually in Cannes, France now entering its eighth year, ALTM is organized by Reed Travel Exhibitions.

For more information, please visit the ALTM website: www.altm.com.cn.