Glenn Fogel is a board member of one of the biggest travel and brokerage companies in the world.
We’d love to uncover the secrets behind the impressive success and exponential growth his company has developed over the years notably through the acquisition of other major brands.
Keynote Speaker
Glenn Fogel The Priceline Group
Interviewer
Philip Wolf Ambassador BTO 2016
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Emilio Casalini – Author of “Rifondata sulla Bellezza” (Refounded on Beauty), publisher and journalist – has come up with a particularly ‘WHY’ topic for BTO 2016!
The guest is a most unusual personage: the “mad” notary Andrea Bartoli.
At Favara in Agrigento province, they are trying to create a better piece of world, a small Community engaged in inventing new ways of thinking and living.
Farm Cultural Park is an Independent Cultural Centre: here art and culture are the noble tools employed to give the City of Favara a new identity and dimension for the future.
Keynote Speaker
Andrea Bartoli Farm Cultural Park
Emilio Casalini Journalist
If there’s a company than can boast of having the biggest and most visited travel website, it’s without a doubt TripAdvisor.
A few years ago we had the pleasure of interviewing the website’s founder Stephen Kaufer here at BTO, but this time we want to know more about the strategies and conditions that have led to this extraordinary TripAdvisor phenomenon and its winning business model.
Keynote Speaker
Adrian Hands TripAdvisor
Talkback
Michael Menzel TrustYou
Giulia Eremita BTO 2016
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What form of tourism is most suited to Italy: tourists or travellers?
Tradition or industry?
Mainstream or niche markets?
An expert operating in the tourist industry and a great polemist exchange ideas in an attempt to imagine the future of Italian tourism.
Interviewer
Edoardo Colombo Poste Italiane S.p.A.
Interview
Mauro Santinato TeamWork
Antonio Pezzano Public Policy enterpreneur
Great changes are taking place in the world of hospitality.
Market destructors such as Airbnb have forced the hotel industry to rethink its offer. With the view to maintain dominance in the world of hospitality, new brands and ideas have emerged.
It is however undoubtable that megamergers (Marriott-Starwood) and buyouts forebode a whole new landscape.
We’re going to talk about how to develop alternative ideas through two emerging brands: ‘The Student Hotel’ and ‘Room Mate’.
An open discussion with the distinguished manager Elena David of UNA Hotels & Resort will follow.
Keynote Speaker
Frank Uffen The Student Hotel
Roberto Sanchez Room Mate Hotels
Talkback
Elena David UNA Hotels & Resort
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The great battle to include pizza in UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list gives rise to a debate on stereotypes with Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio and the Director of the Uffizi Gallery Eike Schmidt, moderated by Anna Paola Concia.
In the background, a comparison with Germany.
Keynote Speaker
Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio Fondazione UniVerde
Moderator
Anna Paola Concia Italienische Handelskammer für Deutschland
Twenty years have passed since the first Expedia team emerged from within Microsoft.
Today it is one of the strongest online tourism brands, with one of the highest capitalization rates in the world and a very diverse range of products.
Expedia is a company that has been built gradually, through acquisitions and divestures.
Uncovering the story behind Expedia’s success is bound to captivate us all.
Keynote Speaker
Walter Lo Faro Expedia
Interviewer
Philip Wolf Ambassador BTO 2016
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According to many observers, the term ‘Sharing Economy’ is inappropriate.
Cristina Pagetti, country manager Italy for Homeexchange.com, has written a book on house swapping, an authentic way to share experiences, so over to her for the keynote speech.
The debate will also touch on this business model with two global giants of home sharing.
Keynote
Cristina Pagetti HomeExchange.com
Marcello Mastioni HomeAway
Giancarlo Carniani BTO 2016
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The keynote offered by Matteo Stifanelli, Country Manager Italy, describes all the latest novelties arising from the recent Los Angeles Airbnb Open event put on by the company that is transforming the concept of tourism.
The Internet has been a colossal opportunity for the world of Revenue Management in the past 20 years.
Never has understanding and adjusting pricing strategies been as vital. Revenue Management has also undergone great changes, developing increasingly sophisticated systems, less connected to the past and increasingly geared towards processing a huge quantity of data.
We’ll be discussing where revenue companies are heading and why.
Keynote
Nathaniel Green Duetto
Talkbacker
Andrew Morsi eRevMax
Paul Van Meerendonk IDeaS a sas company
Moderator
Giancarlo Carniani Director BTO 2016
Gaming seems to be the last frontier of culture, or rather, the last launching pad for projecting state of the art of culture and tourism towards an imaginative and exciting future.
But is this really the case? The gaming industry, especially that of videogames, manages to faithfully reflect the twofold reality of cultural and creative industries.
On one hand, it presents all the sexy aspects of culture while, on the other, it has to be borne in mind that the videogame industry is well structured to respond to specific market dynamics.
This item will be given over to analysing the phenomenon from these two different viewpoints, in an attempt to identify potential and tangible developments not only in the relationship between territory and gaming, but also in terms of local employment opportunities provided by the videogame industry.
Introduction
Stefano Monti Monti & Taft
Keynote Speaker
Fabio Viola TuoMuseo
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Keynote Speaker
Javier Delgado Muerza Google
Talkbacker
Giancarlo Carniani Director BTO 2016
Interviewer
Martin Cowen TNOOZ
The purchasing experiences of Italian consumers with regard to smartphones, desktops, office, home, online agencies and travel advisors.
Why! m-Commerce?
Talkbacker
Daniele Beccari Criteo
Pietro Ferraris Lastminute.com
Angelo Meregalli PayPal
Antonella Vecchio Sabre
Moderator
Paola Baldacci giornalista
A deeper look into one of the ‘home rental’ market’s emerging players, Onefinestay.
Recently acquired by Accor, Onefinestay has been introduced as an innovative business model and has been one of the first to seriously deal with supplying “services” to apartments as well as open its activity segment to business travel.
Keynote
Keyvan Nilforoushan Onefinestay
Talkbacker
Giancarlo Carniani Director BTO 2016
Giulia Eremita Ambassador BTO 2016
“Smart” seems to be a trendy adjective at the moment: smart buildings, smart factories, smart phones, smart cities, smart destinations, smart tourism, etcetera.
But when you take a closer look at articles, debates and projects, you discover there is a lot of talk about the technological aspects and not much more.
Does smart just mean digital, or digitalized?
Or is there more to it, maybe something more important on which to create “smartness” to ensure genuine efficacy?
We shall be discussing this topic with those who, for some time now, have been actively engaged in cities, technologies and ways to improve the life quality of city dwellers and visitors.
Keynote Speaker
Grazia Concilio Politecnico di Milano
Marco Piastra Università di Pavia
Ilaria Vitellio Mappi[NA]
Moderator
Rodolfo Baggio Università Bocconi
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The world of business travel has profoundly changed and is becoming increasingly integrated.
The online world has indeed revolutionized the way many important companies work, with innovation and service integration becoming the main driving forces.
Not even GDS providers were immune but despite the dim forecasts of recent years, they remain major market players.
Keynote Speaker
Pedro Valades TravelCLICK
Talkbacker
Flavio Ghiringhelli HRS – The Hotel Portal
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Michil Costa is visiting Florence for the first time.
With his family, Michil Costa runs the Hotel La Perla of Corvara (the first hotel in South Tyrol to join the prestigious Leading Hotels of the World chain) and the Berghotel Ladinia.
Michil Costa is an extraordinary hotelier, an extraordinary man and an extraordinary personage. His motto is “We create wellbeing mindfully by giving value to people, because caring for others is a pleasure”. He will be explaining the huge ‘Why’ factor animating his company and his team, with the dignity of people, sustainability, social equity, democratic co-management and transparency. Make sure you don’t miss his talk.
Following the keynote speech, Michil will be interviewed by Mauro Santinato, Chairman of Teamwork.
Keynote Speaker
Michil Costa Hotel La Perla
Interviewer
Mauro Santinato Teamwork
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What should the next step be for independent hotels, still so prevalent in our country?
A world of possibilities is opening up, from big chains to franchising, to soft brands or local representatives.
By whom should you chose to be distributed? Is there still a reason to go solo?
Keynote
Brian McCabe JDB Fine Hotels & Resorts
Talkbacker
Renzo Iorio Accor Italia
Giovanna Manzi Best Western Italia
Moderator
Philip Wolf BTO 2016
Giancarlo Carniani BTO 2016
Fabio Galletto – Manager of the Automotive, Luxury and Travel segments of Google Italia – opens the second day of BTO 2016 to bring us the latest news from Big G on travel.
Peter Verhoeven is Director General of Booking.com.
On the first day, we shall be discussing the driving forces behind the leading company in the world with Glenn Fogel whereas with Peter we shall be delving into the future changes and trends of what is considered to be the most influential company in the world of travel.
Indeed, Booking.com has become the Amazon of travel, the absolute game changer capable of steering customer choices.
Keynote Speech
Peter Verhoven Booking.com
Talkbacker
Helena Egan TripAdvisor
Moderator
Giancarlo Carniani Director BTO 2016
«Stories from Italy about those who give importance to work. To beauty. To the future. Italians who put their hands and heart in what they do».
Vincenzo Moretti, sociologist, creator and author of #lavorobenfatto, stories from Italy about those who give importance to their work, who put passion and commitment into what they do, now for the first time in Florence.
Following the keynote speech, Vincenzo will be interviewed by Rodolfo Baggio from the Department of Policy Analysis and Public Management, Bocconi University.
Keynote Speaker
Vincenzo Moretti sociologist, creator and author of #lavorobenfatto
Interviewer
Rodolfo Baggio Department of Policy Analysis and Public Management, Bocconi University
Travel & Tourism is a demanding and competitive market sector for countries, regions, cities and attractions.
For future success, Destination Marketing professionals need to embrace both the strategic and tactical integration of resources and creativity to succeed. Understanding how to leverage brand assets, content and prioritise channel marketing resources is critical for success as the time from ‘looking to booking’ decreases for consumers as potential visitors.
Likewise, building a long term brand strategy requires investment beyond pure advertising or PR campaigns. Join a session presented by Christopher Nurko, Global Chairman of FutureBrand who will share insights and best practice tips on how to plan for success in destination marketing.
Sharing results from a recent study on U.S. State Branding research as well as building upon 8+ years of Country Branding investigation, Chris will help attendees understand the ideal formula for approaching their brand challenges.
Keynote
Christopher Nurko FutureBrand
Talkbacker
Emma Taveri BTO 2016
Giulia Eremita BTO 2016
The slot offers a discussion on sustainability and tourism with:
A “protagonist of the system”, ENEL, which illustrates its own particular WHY!, the future mapped out between sustainable mobility, green economy, the Internet of things, enhanced efficiency and Human Capital.
The viewpoint of Legambiente, as a stakeholder
The San Pietro di Positano *****L hotel, for its sustainable growth strategy, also and above all in a WHY! key. The person responsible for designing interiors, defining solutions and assessing the performance of the entire catering cycle of the hospitality structure contributes to the Kitchen Designer slot.
The last 10 minutes are assigned to Francesco Palumbo, General Manager of the Central Department of Tourism, reporting to the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism (MiBACT).
It will be his task to link up the contribution of this slot to any action steps laid down in the Strategic Plan for the Development of Tourism 2017-2022.
Talkbackers
Aurelio Sarno, Responsabile offerte luce e gas Enel Energia
Dianamaria Pacchioni, Enel innovation & new business manager for the Italian market
Sebastiano Venneri, Legambiente
Andrea Viacava Kitchen Designer, the person who has designed the interiors, defined the solutions, assessed the performance of the entire catering cycle at Il San Pietro di Positano *****l
Conclusione
Francesco Palumbo, General Manager of the Central Department of Tourism, reporting to the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism (MiBACT)
Moderator
Robert Piattelli co-founder BTO Educational
What kind of business culture is there in the company that is transforming the hospitality industry?
Mark Levy is an HR executive in the company that is revolutionizing everything. Through an interview by Philip Wolf, we’ll be getting some perspective on the guiding beliefs and ethical principles that day by day steer Airbnb towards market leadership.
The future also lies in the development of ancillary services.
We’ll be discussing whether there’s still space for independent companies as recent years have seen multiple players emerge with increasingly successful and diverse selling strategies.
Keynote Speaker
Ecaterina Paun Protel hotelsoftware
Talkbacker
Serena Viscovo Viator
Claudio Bellinzona Musement
This talk will be centred on the relaunch strategies of the National Agency for Tourism.
Giancarlo Carniani will interview Roberta Milano, Renato Andreoletti and Alberto Crepaldi will interview Gianni Bastianelli.
Interview
Roberta Milano ENIT – Agenzia Nazionale per il Turismo
Gianni Bastianelli ENIT – Agenzia Nazionale per il Turismo
Giancarlo Carniani Director BTO 2016
Renato Andreoletti Hotel Domani
Alberto Crepaldi Il Fatto Quotidiano
Giovanni Boccia Artieri, full Professor of the Faculty of Sociology, Carlo Bo University of Urbino, returns to Florence to reflect on the impact of blogs.
Keynote Speaker
Giovanni Boccia Artieri Università Carlo Bo
Conclusions
Rodolfo Baggio Università Bocconi
Who better than Ryanair to discuss why having a strong driving force is key.
Despite the criticism and everybody saying it was losing ground, Ryanair never gave up on its core vision.
Ryanair is essential to the implementation of change in so many different areas in the tourism industry. It has become a crucial element to the development of new tourist destinations thanks to the powerful message behind it, as defined by its founder Mr. O’Leary.
We simply had to have Ryanair with us at this year’s BTO – Buy Tourism Online.
Just about 20 years ago the term Big Data was invented giving rise to an entire new class of data mining and analytics applications.
As a natural evolution a little over five years ago the first major wave of Artificial Intelligence applications have made it to the market.
For those deep into this it is extremely exciting and puzzling.
In this talk, through a series of stories, we look at the broad spectrum of ideas, applications, expectations, hype and challenges raised by the transition from data to machine intelligence.
Keynote Speaker
Euro Beinat Università di Salisburgo
Interviewer
Mirko Lalli Travel Appeal
The final panel at BTO 2016 will look into the manifest for next year’s edition.
Riccardo Staglianò has penned an essential book entitled “If I were you” on the imminent Industrial Revolution 4.0 and its aftereffects. And travel won’t be immune to it: self-driving/ flying cars and planes, virtual reality applied not only to selling techniques and automated call centres.
“The cheaper cars becomes, the more expensive people are. Printing a newspaper used to be an expensive matter, so paying journalists to fill in the pages felt like a natural expense to make. In an age where news is free, it seems unreasonable for someone to ask to be paid. Think about it. Let’s all think about it, because once we really understand this, our take on the world of technology will never be the same.”
Keynote Speaker
Fabio Lazzerini Emirates Italia
Marco Savini BigRock
Riccardo Staglianò La Repubblica
Talkbacker
Philip Wolf BTO 2016
Giancarlo Carniani BTO 2016
With the scientific contribution of Coop Culture, the closing considerations made in the Italian Main Hall of BTO 2016 provide food for thought on what innovative uses can be made of our cultural heritage also, and above all, in the way it addresses the market, comprising that of tourism.
The person at the centre of everything and how innovation can leverage the great opportunity to throw greater light on the artistic and cultural heritage here in Italy.
Between new frontiers, WHY! Human Capital, Strategic Plans.
Keynote Speaker
Giovanna Barni CoopCulture
Claudio Bocci Federculture
Roberto Ferrari Regione Toscana
Francesco Palumbo Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e il turismo MiBACT
Moderator
Emilio Casalini editore, autore e giornalista
