The Programme - Global Travel & Tourism Summit

Geoffrey JW KentCHAIRMAN, WORLD TRAVEL & TOURISM COUNCILAND CHAIRMAN & CEO, ABERCROMBIE & KENTA year of preparation for this meeting is now about to bear fruit. As hundreds ofyou gather here in Dubai for this Global Travel & Tourism Summit, I not onlyhave the pleasure of welcoming you. I also have the duty to remind you that –alongside the many pleasures that our gracious hosts have provided – there iswork to do.We have entitled this conference World Citizens. This is no accident orrhetoric. As an industry, we play a major role in developing a sense among ourcustomers of being world citizens. But we, too, as business leaders, have a specialresponsibility – as do the politicians we are pleased to welcome among us – toensure that we are fully aware of the responsibilities that fall upon us in acting asworld citizens.The size and scope of Travel & Tourism puts it in a genuinely influentialposition in world affairs. We are here in Dubai to reflect on how we can usethat influence not just for our own benefit, but for the benefit of the entire world.Jean-Claude BaumgartenPRESIDENT & CEO, WORLD TRAVEL & TOURISM COUNCILWe are deeply fortunate in our hosts. Dubai has provided WTTC with theperfect environment for this Global Travel & Tourism Summit. The scene is setfor a truly historic encounter here, at the crossroads of cultures and continents,at a time of rapid and profound change right across the planet.Now the spotlight turns on you, our participants and guests, to use thespringboard this meeting offers – for debate, for exchange, for buildingnew relations, for reflecting together on how far we as an industry have comeuntil today, and on how we should develop for tomorrow.I look forward to new insights and to the emergence of newunderstanding – and to sharing with you the pleasures of Dubai, too.9