Travel Centres Conference 2023 Programme

SEEING THE

WOOD A Triumph

—Vague Magazine

A gamechanger

—Newsmonth

FOR THE TREES How a macro-economic perspective gives you a better basis for informed decision-making in your business

Didn’t want it to end

TRAVEL CENTRES CONFERENCE 2023 RESTRICTED Contains lots of inspirational material.

Agents are urged to learn more about the suppliers before putting on their gladrags and letting their hair down

TRAVEL INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS ONLY

­ ­ ­ ­

—Wall Street Diary

Can’t see the wood for the trees?

You’re probably looking in the wrong place!

What a busy year 2023 has been — accentuated, no doubt, by ongoing staff shortages that continue to plague our industry. Covid may well be behind us, and travel is assuredly back with a bang but that doesn’t mean that we can sit back and relax.

help us all recalibrate our expectations of the small but pragmatic contributions that we can all make to help alleviate the problem.

AI is on a roll in 2023 and probably no other topic has generated more column inches than Artificial Intelligence and the rise of the machines. So, is AI going to make all our lives

Many challenges still face us, and the future

easier or should we be afraid? Clare De Bono

remains uncertain and that’s why we’ve

will help us separate the facts from the hype.

asked a number of experts to help us make

‘Money’ as the old saying goes, makes the

sense of what lies ahead and how we can

world go round so what do travel agents need

deal with some of those challenges.

to do to attract future sources of discretionary

Sustainability is increasingly finding itself

spending within the Irish economy that will

centre stage in discussions around all kinds

sustain their businesses in the years to come?

of economic activity and travel is not immune

The likely answer lies in the demographic

from the naysayers who believe that, in order

numbers and to help us crunch and interpret

to save the world, we need to stay at home.

them, we are blessed to be assisted in that

Such naïve world views are addressed

endeavour by noted economist, Dan O’Brien.

by Jo Linehan, a sustainability expert who lives in the real world and who can 1

Always at your service!

Sponsors Headline Sponsors

ACKN OWLE D G E M E NTS Events such as this depend on the generous sponsorship that underpins much of the Free travel insurance policies Joint sponsors of Saturday Lunch Pre-dinner drinks, Saturday Gala dinner band Gala dinner wines 2 x economy tickets to Abu Dhabi Friday dinner wines Saturday refreshment breaks & gala dinner entertainment Friday Dinner 360-video platform

content featured over the course of the conference weekend programme. Although all our suppliers have contributed to the central funding that covers much of the main running costs, these suppliers in particular have dug deep into their pockets in order to show their appreciation for the business that you, our members, generate for them yearround. It is therefore only right and fitting that we should acknowledge them here.

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Publisher’s Note: Whilst care has been taken in compiling the information contained in this programme, the publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions. © Travel Centres 2023

Pre-dinner drinks, Friday 2 x economy tickets to anywhere in Turkey Joint sponsors of Saturday lunch

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Conference PROGRAMME F R I D AY, N O V E M B E R 3RD 15.00 — 17.30

Owners forum (closed session)

17.30 — 19.30

At your Leisure

19.30 — 20.30

Pre-Dinner drinks Sponsored by Sunway

20.30 — 22.30

Owners/Managers Dinner — sponsored by MSC Cruises. Dinner wines sponsored by Hertz

22.30 — Late

Karaoke Kompetition

S AT U R D AY, N O V E M B E R 4TH

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11.50 —12.15

‘What AI means for the future of Travel’ with Clare De Bono

12.15 — 12.40

‘Seeing the wood for the trees with Dan O’Brien

12.40 — 12.55

Panel Q & A, moderated by Eoghan Corry

12.55 — 13.00

Sponsor presentation from United Airlines

13.00 — 14.00

Lunch sponsored jointly by Air Canada/United Airlines

14.00 — 15.40

Speed-dating workshops — Part 1

15.40 — 15.45

Sponsor presentation from Royal Caribbean

15.45 — 16.00

Refreshment Break — Sponsored by Melia Hotels

16.00 —16.05

Sponsor presentation from Silversea

16.05 — 17.30

Speed-dating workshops — Part 2

09.45 — 10.30

Delegate Registration

17.30 — 17.45

Table Prize draws

10.30 — 10.35

Conference officially opened by Angela Walsh, incoming president of ITAA

17.45 — 19.45

At your leisure

Introduction to new Hablo Platform with Russell Meara

19.45 — 20.30

Pre-dinner drinks — Sponsored by Bedsonline

10.35 — 10.55

20.30 — 23.00

Gala Dinner & Awards.

Dinner wines sponsored by Crystal Ski 360-video platform sponsored by Stuba Band sponsored by Bookabed

10.55 — 11.20

‘An introduction to sustainable travel’ with Jo Linehan

11.20 — 11.45

Refreshment Break — Sponsored by Melia Hotels

23.00 — 01.00

Dancing to the Controversial Allstars

11.45 — 11.50

Sponsor presentation from Air Canada

01.00 — 03.00

Disco

Table Plans

GALA DINNER Blank table plans for the Gala Dinner will be displayed on notice boards in the main function room throughout the day on Saturday.

Please fill in your name on one of these table plans no later than 15.45 as the completed or partially completed table plans will be collected at 16.00. If your agency has five or more staff attending, a table plan with your name details will already have been pre-populated.

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Awards We’ve re-introduced a number of award categories

Also bear in mind that since agents may be deemed

for 2023 which have been voted on by the suppliers of

to fall into the ‘small agent’ category with some

those awards as we feel that that is the most equitable

suppliers because of their sales profile whereas they

means of choosing both nominees and the eventual

may be deemed to be ‘large’ agents by other suppliers

winner in each category. The final three nominees

because of their greater production with those same

in each category have been chosen on the basis of

suppliers, it is not unusual for some agents to appear

a combination of their overall sales, year-on-year

in both small and large categories. The decision of

improvement and their observed activities in actively

each trade partner is final and not open to dispute

promoting the products or services of the trade partner

or challenge. The following suppliers have elected to

in question. With the exception of Celebrity Cruises,

Iberostar, Silversea and Transferz who have elected

recognise the efforts of agent partners: Accident & General, Bedsonline, Blue Insurance, Celebrity Cruises,

to have one award category, all other trade partners

Crystal Holidays, Expedia Taap, Hertz, MSC Cruises,

will be recognizing both large and small agents with

Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Silversea, Stuba,

an award for each category. The decision to determine

Sunway, Transferz, Travel Focus and Tui. Three further

which category an agent falls into has been at the

award categories will recognize the contributions of

sole discretion of each trade partner and is based

the ‘Best Use of Social Media’, ‘Supplier of the Year’ and

on a combination of annual turnover and staff size.

‘Supplier Representative of the Year’. Two additional

Since many members have not provided us with that

categories will be announced on the night in respect of

necessary information, many suppliers have to base

individuals within our industry who Travel Centres feel

their respective decisions on incomplete data.

have made an outstanding contribution. This year’s trophies have been created with a star motif to reflect

the theme of this year’s Gala Dinner — ‘Musical Icons!

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Supplier ‘Speed Dating’ Workshop The cornerstone of the conference each year is the speed-dating workshop that takes place on the Saturday afternoon.

The challenge each year is trying to ensure that all conference delegates fully engage with their supplier partners throughout the day so that, ideally, all agents visit all suppliers in equal measure. What tends to happen is that agents only end up visiting those suppliers that they already do business with, thus defeating the whole point of learning about new preferred suppliers that have been added to the portfolio.

participating in the room, listed in alphabetical order. The order of exhibitors/suppliers within the

As there are more suppliers in attendance than

room will, however, be completely random. All

there will be available speed-dating slots in which

passports must be personalized by writing in your

to visit them all, agency staff are encouraged to

full name and agency in the spaces provided on

split up across the room so that, collectively, they

the front. Passports must be surrendered at the

get to meet more suppliers/ exhibitors within the

end of the afternoon by placing them in the boxes

allocated time. Each agent will be provided with

provided as these will be used to choose some

a passport when registering in the morning and

additional, random winners of some great prizes

each passport will contain details of all exhibitors

that will be raffled off during the gala dinner.

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General Information Check in

Closed Forum

Please note that the afternoon session that takes place on Friday afternoon between 15.00 and 17.30 is closed to trade press, suppliers and

Please note that check in at the hotel is not before

non-owners but all are welcome to attend all

15.00 hrs so if you are arriving on Saturday, please

presentations on the Saturday morning.

proceed directly to registration and either leave your luggage in the car (if using own transport) or leave in the care of the porter (if arriving via public transport).

Interim Presentations

There will be two short (i.e. 5-minute) presentations

All luggage will be kept in a secure location until such

from Air Canada and United Airlines on Saturday

time as you are in a position to check-in later — i.e.

morning. Both airlines are joint sponsors of the

after 5.45 p.m. when the supplier workshop finishes.

Saturday Lunch. There will also be two short (i.e.

Punctuality

5-minute) presentations from Royal Caribbean and Silversea (joint Headline sponsors) immediately

As we are working to extremely tight schedules, it is

before and after the mid-afternoon refreshment

important that every agent delegate and exhibitor

break at 16.00 – 16.15 on Saturday afternoon.

observe the times allocated for each event throughout the conference weekend such as closed sessions, workshop segments, presentations and meals etc.

Suggestions

A lot of thought and planning goes into arranging

This will ensure the smooth running of the event and a

each year’s conference but we’re always receptive

better overall conference experience for all concerned.

to new suggestions as to how we can improve on the delegate experience and make the content of these events more relevant to your business. Ideas on a postcard please. (Better still — just email them!)

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Testimonials

Karaoke Kompetiton

year’s event and for a variety of reasons. If you enjoy

reveal your inner performer by signing up for our

yourself this weekend, then we’d like to hear from you

first-ever Karaoke competition (and possibly our last

so we can share your comments/observations with

— depending on how this years’ initiative goes!) Due

those who perhaps take a little bit more convincing

to time constraints, we have been forced to host it

that such events are both relevant and worthwhile.

on the Friday night, but it is our intention to provide

Some of your colleagues will be absent from this

Conference Hashtag#

Speaking of participants, we hope that some of you

the winner(s) with the opportunity to reprise their performance on the Saturday night, during the Gala

Help us promote this year’s conference through

Dinner & Awards. As previously advised, Travel Centres

social media by tweeting your comments and

will present prizes* under the following categories:

observations to the Twitterverse at large by using

the following designated hashtag #travelcconf. We

〉

will be monitoring all communications and the most

〉

engaging tweets, travel quotes and selfies will receive

〉

some nice spot prizes — courtesy of Travel Centres.

Best costume/Interpretation

This year’s gala dinner theme is ‘Icons of Music’ and,

Best overall performance Best costume/persona

Best audience reaction

*Participants in the karaoke segment on the Friday night can perform

as always, we would like to incentivise delegates to

either as solo acts

make an effort to dress up and so will give away some

or as groups.

nice prizes on the night for what we consider to be the best, most elaborate or most creative interpretation of the evening’s dress theme. There will be separate prizes for both male and female participants.

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Music

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#travelcconf

Dietary Requirements

Previous themes have been The 1980’s, Masked

On the registration form that everyone fills

Ball and Irish Culture to name but a few. It’s

out, you will have been asked for details of

always a good laugh but no one is ever under

any special dietary requirements. Please note

pressure to comply. You can dress as you

that whilst these details are forwarded on to

please or you can take a deep dive and see

the hotel on your behalf so that the kitchen

what happens when you dress up and assume

is aware of them when catering for each

your alter persona! This year, to tie in with our

meal, serving staff have no way of knowing

Karaoke Kompetition on the Friday night, we’ve

where persons with such special dietary are seated in the room so it is important that

gone for the ‘Icons of Music’ theme as has

been referenced in the artwork that has been

you specifically notify the person taking your

accompanying some of our conference-related

order or serving you is made aware of those

communications in recent weeks/months. As you

dietary issues in order to avoid any problems.

can see, each artist has not only been famous

Dress Code on Saturday night

for their musical output but also their iconic and individualistic ‘look’. Artists such as Madonna,

If you’re a regular at our annual conferences,

Jimi Hendrix, Prince, The Beach Boys, Spandau

then you will know that we always have

Ballet, Boy George and American rock band, Kiss

a ‘theme’ suggestion that attendees can

all exemplify the theme that we are going for

reference, and which ties in with some

this year individual, unique and eclectic! There

aspects of the entertainment programme

are no holds barred and there might even be a

over the conference weekend. Last year,

prize or two in the offing for the best executed

the theme was Great Gatsby/Roaring 20’s

costume or most outrageous mimicking of

and the year before that was Hollywood.

a musical artist that we all love (or hate!)

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Advisory Board The advisory board comprises eight member agents who, between them, represent the interests of the general membership and who, in conjunction with the management team, define the policies and supplier preferences of the group. The board positions are voluntary, so board members donate freely of their time and expertise throughout the year in order to help drive the collective agenda of members. The board meets periodically throughout the year. The advisory board currently consists of the following members: Carolyn Davis

Jeff Collins

In 2002 and with over thirty years’

Jeff began his travel career in the

experience working in the travel

early 90’s, when he worked for

and hospitality sectors in the UK,

Delta airlines for 10 years —based

Liberty Travel, Letterkenny

Cyprus and Ireland, Carolyn established Liberty Travel

mainly at Dublin airport. From there, he progressed to

in Letterkenny. The agency has since grown in size

senior positions within both American holidays and

and reputation to become Donegal’s leading travel

needahotel.com . In 2005, Jeff, together with his father

agency. Her team of six staff has vast experience

Jim, established www.globehotels.com. In 2010, Jeff

and love to travel themselves, bringing a wealth

established the Best4travel group which now boasts

of knowledge to the client. Carolyn has embraced

10 retail shops, a home working division and an online

digital marketing and social media and identifies

team . The company currently employs close to 60

this as an important strategy for the way forward.

staff and is ample proof that people still need travel

Carolyn is the ‘Travel Section Expert’ for Highland

professionals to arrange their travel requirements.

Radio, Irelands leading independent radio station.

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Best4travel group

Andrew Lynch

Dympna Crowley

Andrew opened his own agency in

Dympna began her career in travel,

Travel Advisors, Ratoath

2012. Travel Advisors is an award winning agency that offers a

Lee Travel, Cork

handwriting tickets and making reservations over the phone, teletext

professional and personal travel service. Andrew

and faxing were the order of the day. Despite the

has over 28 years’ experience within the Travel

long hours and crazy inquiries, she was bitten by

Industry and has worked for well-established travel

the travel bug, and her career path lead her from

companies over the years, gaining his wealth of

Ballincollig Travel to Budget Travel, and finally to Lee

knowledge. He enjoys travelling with his family

Travel in 2010. Over the years, working with Lee Travel,

and friends and has a big passion for sport.

she joined the Ballincollig Business Association, and

John Barrett

Magic Vacations, Kinsale Co. Cork

attended a multitude of travel related workshops and networking meetings. As time moved on, she also took on extra responsibilities at work, and was

A Marketing & French graduate, John

absolutely delighted to be appointed CEO of Lee

started his career with EuroDisney

Travel in February 2021. Keeping up or ahead of the

back in April 1992. Magic Vacations

ongoing challenges in travel means no two days

are an award winning agency based in Kinsale

are ever the same, but the trips and the people

and employ 8 people. An early adapter of Digital

you meet along the way makes it all worthwhile.

media, they launched their highly successful MVTV travel series in 2020. John loves to discover new destinations and is very passionate about travel.

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Karen Thornton

marketing, but through his own travels his flame for

Karen has worked in the travel

partnership with Jackie Spain from JK Travel where

industry for over 28 years. She

they rebranded and launched Cloud9 Travel, one of

KT Travel, Dundalk

opened up KT Travel in 2005 and

the Midlands premier travel agencies. Like many, they

since day one has gone from strength to strength.

came back fighting after the pandemic with just two

Karen has excellent knowledge and experience and

staff and have since grown their Cloud9 family to five.

has a huge passion for travel and always looking

In his spare time Joe is heavily involved in charity work

for new angles to develop the business. Karen is

and is currently the Chairperson of ACT (Accessible

focused on worldwide trends in travel and leisure

Counselling Tullamore) a charity very close to his heart.

and is constantly searching for innovative methods to market the company. Karen has a policy of never standing still and every year our destinations and properties on offer are reviewed and updated.

Mark Clifford

O’Hanrahan Travel, Monaghan Mark is Managing Director of

Karen is so proud of all achievements and being

multi award winning O’Hanrahan

an award winning Irish owned Travel Agency

Travel in Monaghan Town having

and looks forward to what the future brings.

previously worked in Eugene Magee Travel, Dublin

Joe Connolly

Cloud 9 Travel, Mullingar

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the travel world was reignited. Joe has since gone into

and Centre Travel, Dundalk. O’Hanrahan Travel is one of Ireland’s first travel agencies, established in 1925, and Mark & his team have driven the company from

Joe first entered the world of travel in

1993 to where it is today. Employing a staff of ten, a

2005 after studying travel & tourism

mix of both business & leisure from both Northern &

in GMIT, where he instantly fell in love

Southern Ireland presents its own unique challenges

with everything travel related. After a number of years

for this border agency. Mark has served previously

Joe decided to go back to education and took a break

on ITAA Retail Council, ITAA Board and is delighted

from travel. He went on to work in radio advertising &

to rejoin the Travel Centres Advisory board.

SPEAKERS Dan O’Brien

Chief Economist of the Institute of International & European Affairs

recipient of lifetime achievement awards in journalism and from the Irish travel industry, was formerly a sportswriter of the year and sports editor of the Sunday Tribune, was literary editor of the Irish Press,

Dan O’Brien is Chief Economist of

and was awarded honorary Colonel of Kentucky and

the Institute of International and

the freedom of Baltimore City in the USA. He provides

European Affairs, one of Ireland’s leading think tanks.

news and analysis on the travel and aviation industry

He is also Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at University

for broadcast media in Ireland and abroad.

College Dublin’s Geary Institute and a regular media commentator on economic and public policy issues.

For three years from mid-2010 Dan was economics editor of the Irish Times, analysing and commenting

Russell Meara

Managing Director, Hablo

Russell has worked within the

on a wide range of Irish, European and global issues.

travel industry for over 25 years,

Prior to that he spent a dozen years, based in London

having starting his working life as a

and Geneva, as senior economist and editor at the

professional footballer at Southampton Football Club

Economist Intelligence Unit, an arm of The Economist

in the early 90’s. His industry journey started as a sales

Newspaper Group. Dan has also worked for the European

agent at Canadian Affair in 1997 and he has climbed the

Commission and as a consultant for the United Nations

ranks and held senior management positions within the

and Forfas, an Irish government in-house think tank.

sales, marketing and product departments for some of

Eoghan Corry

Editor, Air & Travel Magazine

the UK’s leading tour operators, before moving across to represent some of the largest destinations around the world at the travel & tourism communications agency,

Eoghan Corry has four decades of

Hills Balfour. He co-founded Hablo in September 2020

experience in the front line of news,

with the mission to create a digital home for the travel

sports and business journalism

industry, connecting us all directly for the very first time.

and is the author of more than 40 books. He is the

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Jo Linehan

Clare de Bono

(Ireland) CLIMATE Supplement

UK and Associate Director of

Editor of the Sunday Times

Jo Linehan is the Editor of the

Sunday Times Ireland CLIMATE

Strategy & Transformation Clare joined Amadeus in

supplement and contributes as a sustainability

June 2016 having previously worked at STA

columnist to The Sunday Times Ireland Home

Travel Group where she headed up a number

magazine and Irish Country Magazine.

of global initiatives, including the rollout of

With over a decade of experience working as

multiple customer and trade facing air and hotel

a lifestyle journalist, she has contributed as a

booking engines, a new global rail platform,

travel writer for IMAGE Magazine, CARA Magazine,

and the opening of STA Travel in France. She has

Forbes, and The Sunday Times. Jo was also a

held a range of leadership positions including

travel writer for The Irish Times Weekend Magazine

General Manager of Operations and Systems

from 2017-2021. She has collaborated as a content

Development, General Manager of Global Air

creator for several travel destinations and

Solutions, and UK Operations Manager.

organisations, including recent collaborations

Clare joined the Amadeus UK and Ireland team

with The River Lee Hotel Cork and Fáilte Ireland.

as Director of Product & Innovation, before being

A passionate advocate for the Irish travel and

promoted to a global leadership role in Product

lifestyle sectors, and with an MSC in Management

Management for Amadeus Front Office Solutions.

for Sustainable Development from DCU, Jo uses

Clare was recently appointed to lead global

her writing and content creation platforms to

strategy and transformation projects at Amadeus,

help bridge the gap between industry and ESG

in addition to her role as UK Country Manager.

(Environmental Social Governance). Find out more about Jo and her work at jolinehan.com 15

Country Manager, Amadeus

E N T E R TA I N M E N T

The Controversial Allstars If you’ve lived in Ireland or the UK over the last 20 years, the odds are members of The Controversial Allstars have played in your house or car on your TV, Radio or computer.

Frontman Dave Browne is best known as the lead singer and songwriter in PictureHouse, one of Ireland’s most loved bands. Having recently celebrated their 21st anniversary, Dave and PictureHouse’s contribution to Irish music has been celebrated widely.

Vocalist Ingrid Madsen has been a contestant on The Voice TV show, and was also selected to sing with the Celtic Woman show.

Completed by a band whose credits read like the who’s who of the soundtrack to your life, it’s no wonder that The Controversial Allstars are seen as the go to band for a host of well known venues and organisations throughout Ireland and beyond.

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E N T E R TA I N M E N T

Cary Posavitz Cary has been performing professionally since the age of 17 in a variety of shows and venues all over the world. He spent four years performing in Riverdance. In the US, Cary starred in ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, had lead roles in Cruisin’ ’57 for Dick Clark Productions, The Magnificent Gospel Showcase for Sky Television and has been a featured entertainer for Regency, Radisson and Celebrity Cruise Lines.

Cary has also performed with Celtic Women for their PBS Television Special.

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2022

Conference 2022

‘’Another fantastic couple of days. The hard work that you guys put into each conference is always evident – superb success! PS – The Agents were extremely engaging at the speed dating sessions – they all seemed very eager to learn (more so than ever before) – that’s feedback not only from us, but from the other suppliers that I spoke to…’’

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‘’Thank you for including Visit Barbados in your conference, what a fantastic event from start to finish.’’

‘’It was once again a great event and a superb turnout from your agents.’’

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Thanks a million for a fantastic conference.

We really don’t know how you keep coming up with new ideas!’

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“It was great to participate in the 17th Annual Travel Centres Conference. The event was very well organised, with a carefully considered mix of engaging content, plenty of time made available to meet customers and travel industry colleagues and excellent evening entertainment!’’

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‘Huge congratulations to you all on an amazing event! Fantastic weekend from start to finish!’

hertz-gsa.ie

Local Visitor Attractions & DI SCOU NTS* 〉

Kildare Town Heritage Centre Free admission

〉

Kildare Village Designer Outlet

National Stud & Japanese Gardens 20% discount off admission

〉 〉

Naas Shopping Centre

Newbridge Silver Visitors Centre 20% off admission

〉

Straffan Butterfly Farm 10% off admission

〉

Kildare Maze

Family Pass €25, Adult €8, Children €6 Killashee Leisure Facilities: 25M pool

plus kiddies’ pool. Steam Room, Sauna, Exercise Room and weights area

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Golf:

Nearby courses include: 〉 〉 〉 〉

The K Club

Craddockstown Naas

Dunmurray Springs

(16km) (1.5km) (1.5km) (28km)

*Contact front desk at Killashee Hotel for further details

Conference offers CONFERENCE SPA PACKAGE €85pp 50 Minute Treatment from the menu below 〉 〉 〉

50 min Facial

50 min Swedish massage*

50 min half massage half facial

All with access to the hydro pool *Limited places available, book early to avoid disappointment

For enquiries please contact the spa reception

tel: +353 45 895182 email: spareservations@killasheehotel.com Find out more about the Spa at www.Killasheehotel.com

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Exhibitor Listing Accident & General

Etihad

Portuguese Tourist Board

Air Canada

Flexible Autos

Royal Caribbean

Aer Lingus ASM

Bedsonline

Blue Insurance Bookabed

Bradley International Airport

Breakaway

Celebrity Cruises Crystal Ski

Discover Travel

Do Something Different Dolphin Dynamics

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Expedia TAAP GTI Travel Hablo Hertz

Iberostar

Irish Ferries JetBlue

Melia Hotels

MSC Cruises Nebo Tours

New York Tourism & Conventions NFP

Princess Cruises Silversea Stuba

Sunway

The Travel Corporation Transferz

Travel Focus

Travel Marvel Tui

Turkish Airlines United Airlines

PREVIOUS

Conference Themes 2023 2022

Seeing the wood for the trees — an economists perspective

The Future of Work (Why your people strategy will be the most

important part of your business strategy 2021

No conference

2019

Travel Agent 2.0 — Rebooting the high street travel experience

2020 2018 2017

2016

No conference

SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats Getting Back to Basics

Communication: Evolution or Revolution

2015 Back to the Future

2014 Navigating the Future 2013

How to keep your finger on the pulse of what’s critical —

both in your business and your life!

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Speakers Over The Years Carole Smith, Syneo

Dave Pope, Status 4

Andy Harmer, CLIA

Michael Collins, Travel Media

Alan Masterson, TravTab

speaker and elite athlete

Pat Kennedy, eConcepts

Niall Strickland, Business Coach

Dr Mark Rowe, Lifestyle Medicine Sinead Reilly, Travelport

Brian Mallarkey, AO UK Ltd. Federica Galeotti, Tui Sharon Fleming,

Thompson Travel

Rosemary Meleady,

The Wedding Planner

John McGuire, Author & TV Personality

John McEwan, ABTA Chairman Dermot O’Brien,

Dermot O’Brien & Associates Hugh Jones, Sytorus

Gavin Fox, Fox Marketing

Ben Bouldin, Royal Caribbean Brian Whelan, Airhelp Anne Masterson, 27

Dublin Business School

Niamh Waters, Travel Media Stuart Byron, Royal Caribbean Michael English,

Celebrity Cruises

Leila McCabe, Tui Katie Noviss,

Holland America Line

Stephen Sands, Riviera Travel Peter Shanks, Silversea

Steve Williams, MSC Cruises

Stephen Winter, Ponant Cruises Declan O’Connell,

Performance Coach

Charlie Tuxworth, Innovate XL

Mr Dermott Jewell, Consumers Association of Ireland Juan Bueso,

European Consumer Centre Grainne Kelly, Bubblebum Russell Beck,

Leadership Development

Gerry Duffy, Motivational John Coburn, Praxis Now

Jilly McCullagh, Vat2Solutions Andy Cummins, CJV Digital Matt Sheridan,

Garda Fraud Bureau

Garry Barone, Smartbox

Sheona Gilsenan, Central Statistics Office

Clive Howard, E-Waterways Sonia Aste, Barclaycard

Fergus O’Connell, Deloitte

Anne Marie Graham, Healthforce Don O’Sullivan,

School of Marketing, UCC Dan O’Brien, Economist Russell Meara, Hablo

Jo Linehan, Editor, Sunday Times (Ireland) Climate supplement Clare de Bono, Amadeus