Skift Global Forum 2016: The Complete Schedule
Photo Credit: Speakers and attendees at the 2015 Skift Global Forum, two full days of cutting-edge travel intelligence. Skift
Skift Take
There isn't a slow moment the entire two days. Get ready for an inspiring two-day deep dive into the travel industry.
The schedule for the Skift Global Forum is all set, and it promises to be a packed two days of the best the travel world has to offer.
This year we’re expanding beyond the TED-style talks that have dominated the past two years and have added fireside chats and a few group discussions. We’re also offering a handful of quick hits that focus on stats and brief yet compelling topics that act as an amuse bouche of sorts for other conversations.
It’s almost too late to get a ticket. Almost.
Get Your Ticket to Skift Global Forum 2016 Now
Our complete schedule is below. There is also a downloadable PDF available at the bottom of the page.
Day One
| Time | On Stage | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 8:35 AM | Rafat Ali, Founder and CEO of Skift | Welcome to Skift Global Forum 2016 |
| 8:50 AM | Arnold Donald, President and CEO of Carnival Corporation | Winning Over the 98% |
| 9:20 AM | Brett Tollman, CEO of The Travel Corporation | State of Packaged Travel and Why it Matters |
| 9:50 AM | Benjamin Smith, President Air Canada | Creating a Home in the Sky for Every Passenger |
| 10:20 AM | Networking Break | Networking Break Sponsored By Cendyn |
| 10:50 AM | Niki Leondakis, CEO of Commune Hotels and Resorts | Next Generation Lifestyle Brand |
| 11:05 AM | Robert Albert, CEO of Routehappy | What Airline Passengers Really Want |
| 11:20 AM | Dara Khosrowshahi, President and CEO of Expedia, Inc. | What’s Next in Online Travel |
| 11:50 AM | Rich Barton, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Zillow Group, Dara Khosrowshahi, President and CEO of Expedia, Inc., Brad Gerstner, Founder and CEO of Altimeter Capital and Jay Walker, CEO of Upside | Online Travel at 20 Years Old |
| 12:25 PM | Michael Klein, Head of Retail of Travel and Hospitality at Adobe, Carolyn Corda, VP of Industry Strategy for Travel/Hospitality at Epsilon, Barry Goldstein, Chief Digital and Distribution Officer at Wyndham Hotel Group and Gordon Ho, SVP of Global Marketing and North America Sales at Princess Cruises | Doing to Being—The Zen of Digital Transformation Sponsored by Adobe |
| 12:45 PM | Lunch | Lunch |
| 1:45 AM | Clayton Reid, CEO of MMGY Global | Avoiding the Plague of Traveler Stereotypes |
| 2:00 PM | Inga Hlín Pálsdóttir, Director of Visit Iceland and Creative industries of Promote Iceland | Pros and Cons of Rapid Tourism Growth |
| 2:20 PM | Roger Dow, President and CEO of U.S. Travel Association and Meryl Levitz, President and CEO of Visit Philadelphia | What Ails US Travel |
| 2:50 PM | Brian Kelly, Founder of ThePointsGuy.com and George Hobica, Founder of Airfarewatchdog.com | The Great Debate: Points vs. Price |
| 3:20 PM | Kevin Cohn, SVP of Operations at Smartling | Rethinking the Global Customer Journey in the Age of Uber and Airbnb Sponsored By Smartling |
| 3:30 PM | Break | Networking Break |
| 4:00 PM | Carlos Garcia, Co-Founder and CEO of HYP3R | On-Location: The Next Frontier of Social Sponsored By Hyper |
| 4:10 PM | Matthias C. Hühne, Publisher at Callisto Publishers | Iconic Design in Aviation |
| 4:25 PM | Ije Nwokorie, CEO of Wolff Olins | The Heroic Purpose of Travel |
| 4:40 PM | Fredrik Korallus, CEO of Generator Hostels | Reinventing the Hostel |
| 5:00 PM | Amar Lalvani, CEO and Managing Partner of Standard International and Liz Lambert, Founder and CCO of Bunkhouse | Building a Hotel Brand in the Sharing Economy Age |
| 5:20 PM | Arne Sorenson, President and CEO of Marriott International, Inc. | The Opportunities of Scale |
| 6:00 PM | Evening Reception | Sponsored By Chase Sapphire Reserve |
Day Two
| Time | On Stage | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 8:35 AM | Rafat Ali, Founder and CEO of Skift | Welcome to Day 2 |
| 8:50 AM | Gillian Tans, President and CEO of Booking.com | Scale and Choice in an Age of Personalization in Online Travel |
| 9:20 AM | Henri Giscard d’Estaing, Chairman and CEO of Club Med | The Future of All-Inclusive in a Changing World |
| 9:50 AM | Frits van Paasschen, Author and Investor at Mercator Investments | Global Brands and Power of Personalization |
| 10:20 AM | Intro by Rafat Ali, Founder and CEO of Skift | Video: The DNA Journey Sponsored by Momondo Group |
| 10:25 AM | Break | Networking Break Sponsored by Momondo Group |
| 10:55 AM | Andy Yang, CEO of 500px | Visual Intelligence is the Future: Your Photos Are Your Product, Optimize or Die Sponsored by 500px |
| 11:05 AM | Oliver Heckmann, VP of Engineering at Google Travel | Google’s Growing Travel Footprint |
| 11:25 AM | Sarah Personette, VP of Global Business Marketing at Facebook | Changing From Agency Thinking to Platform Thinking |
| 11:45 AM | Aaron Gowell, Co-Founder and CEO of SilverRail Technologies | Travel’s Next Chapter: Seamless Mobility |
| 12:00 PM | Paul English, Co-Founder and CEO of Lola | Next Big Travel Business: Mature Founders Solving Hard Problems |
| 12:20 PM | Tara Russell, President of Fathom | Travel Deep: Unleashing Human Potential Sponsored by Fathom |
| 12:30 PM | Lunch | Lunch |
| 1:40 PM | Chip Conley, Head of Global Hospitality and Strategy at Airbnb | The Hospitality Mindset for Changing Guest Desires |
| 2:20 PM | Rashesh Jethi, Head of Research and Development at Amadeus North America, Inc. | Creating a Framework for Travel Innovation Sponsored by Amadeus |
| 2:35 PM | Ruzwana Bashir, Founder and CEO of Peek | Navigating The Complex Landscape of the Travel Industry as a Startup |
| 2:55 PM | Anand Sanwal, Co-Founder and CEO of CB Insights | The Unbundling of Travel |
| 3:05 PM | Jay Walker, CEO of Upside | On the Next Frontier in Online Booking |
| 3:20 PM | Scott Case, President and COO of Upside | Special Announcement Sponsored by Upside |
| 3:25 PM | Break | Networking Break |
| 3:55 PM | James Sanders, Principal of James Sanders + Associates | Celluoid Skyline, Tourism and New York in the Movies |
| 4:10 PM | Luke Bujarski, Research Director at Skift | Travelers’ Manifesto on the Future of Travel |
| 4:20 PM | Leonard Brody, Entrepreneur & Venture Capitalist; Colin Nagy, Head of Communications Strategy at Fred & Farid; Jalak Jobanputra, Founding Partner of Future\Perfect Ventures; and Alexandra Wood, COO of Wearable Experiments | The Needs of Super Travelers And Why They Matter Sponsored by Allianz |
| 4:45 PM | Mike Shea, Chief Logistics Officer & Partner of SXSW Conference & Festivals and Richard Goodstone, Co-Founder of Superfly | SXSW and Superfly on Creating Experiences |
| 5:20 PM | Stephen Kaufer, President and CEO of TripAdvisor | The Tripadvisor Effect: How Big Can it Get? |
Get Your Ticket to Skift Global Forum 2016 Now
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Skift Global Forum 2016 is underwritten by the generosity of our amazing sponsors: 500px, Adobe, Allianz, Amadeus, Bizly, Boxever, Cendyn, CityPass, Chase Sapphire Reserve , Criteo, Distil Networks, Epsilon, Etihad Airways, Fareportal, Fathom, HYP3R, LivePerson, Local Measure,Mastercard, Momondo Group, MovableInk, Olapic, One Night, SapientNitro, Simulmedia, Smartling, Student.com, The Points Guy,Twitter, Upside and Voyager HQ.