Skift Inc., the largest travel industry intelligence and marketing platform, today announced the final list of confirmed speakers and sessions for its flagship event, Skift Global Forum. The annual conference, one of the most anticipated in the travel industry, will take place at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall, Sept. 27-28, 2018.
“It has been incredible to see Skift grow as a company over the past six years, and this growth is no better demonstrated than at Skift Global Forum, serving the best creative brain food in travel all year. Attendees will be inspired by the brightest minds in the world’s largest industry as they decipher and define trends and share their visions for the future,” said Rafat Ali, CEO and Founder of Skift.
Skift Global Forum, now in its fifth year, has become what media, speakers and attendees have called the “TED of travel.” The event is the largest creative business forum in the global travel industry, with more than 1,100 attendees from 40 countries and more than 550 companies. Topics and speakers are carefully curated to inspire attendees about the business and creative potential of the industry, and to inform them on changing trends across sectors, geographies, and functional silos. A new addition to the schedule this year is the first-ever Air Pitch Travel Startup Competition, hosted by Skift and the Accenture Amadeus Alliance. Three finalists will pitch their startup in front of attendees during the opening night reception on Wednesday, Sept. 26.
This year’s speaker line-up includes one of the biggest gatherings of CEOs and founders in the travel industry, including Greg Greeley, President of Homes, Airbnb; Glenn Fogel, CEO & President, Booking Holdings; Mark Okerstrom, President & CEO, Expedia Group, Inc.; Barney Harford, COO, Uber; Joanna Geraghty, President & COO, JetBlue Airways; Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, President & CEO, Celebrity Cruises; Jan Swartz, President, Princess Cruises; Christine Duffy, President, Carnival Cruise Line; Carla Campos, Executive Director, Puerto Rico Tourism Company; Ed Bastian, CEO, Delta Air Lines; Arne Sorenson, President & CEO, Marriott International; Steve Kaufer, CEO, TripAdvisor, Inc.; Ian Schrager, Founder, Ian Schrager Company; Robert Isom, President, American Airlines Group; and Mark Hoplamazian, President & CEO, Hyatt Hotels Corporation. The entire line-up can be found here: https://forum.skift.com/newyork/speakers/.
Skift Global Forum sponsors include Switchfly, Fareportal, Tinyclues, AIG Travel, Mastercard, Collinson Group, LiveRamp, Cvent, Five Star Alliance, Brand USA, RateGain, MediaAlpha, Koddi, Accenture, Accenture Amadeus Alliance, VisitDallas, HotelBeds, Sojern, VSA Partners, Travelsify, LivePerson, Pinterest and Puerto Rico Tourism Board.
For more information, to register, or to become a sponsor, visit https://forum.skift.com/newyork/ or email [email protected]
About Skift
Skift is the largest industry intelligence and marketing platform in travel, providing news, information, data and services to all sectors of the world’s largest industry. Skift identifies and synthesizes existing and emerging trends in its daily coverage of the global travel industry and through its Skift Research Reports. Skift produces Skift Global Forum annually to bring together over 1,000 of the most influential professionals in the travel industry to discuss the future of travel.