Asia Luxury Travel Market in Shanghai 18-21 June 2007

The Asia Luxury Travel Market (ALTM) opens next week with a high level conference on 18 June at which leading figures in the luxury travel sector will discuss the factors driving the industry forward in the region. The conference will be held at ALTM’s official hotel The Portman Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai.

The conference will be moderated by Akhtar Khan, a news anchor for BBC News and a journalist with more than 14 years’ broadcasting experience.

The first keynote will be presented by Serge Dive, co-founder of ALTM and its highly successful sister event ILTM, and will examine the challenges that lie ahead for the luxury industry. It is followed by a panel discussion on how and why Asia is leading the luxury vision for the rest of the world. The panel includes top names from some of Asia’s most successful hotel and resort companies including Michael Hobson of Mandarin Oriental Group, Sonu Shivdasani the founder of innovative spa and resort operators Six Senses and Serge Zaalof, of Dubai-based Jumeirah.

Matthew Upchurch, Managing Director of Virtuoso, an invitation-only network of luxury travel arrangers will present on the future of luxury travel, while a presentation which gives insights into the mindset of China’s newly emerging high net worth individuals will be given by Rupert Hoogewerf, Director of the Hurun Report.

The conference closes with a panel discussion on the leading trends in outbound travel from some of the Asia Pacific region’s most important markets. Participants will include some of the show’s key travel buyers: Jetsetter from Japan, Shree Raj Travels from India, Mary Rossi Travel from Australia and Connoisseur Travel from China.

“The ALTM Conference will set the tone for the following three days of the show and will be an excellent forum for participants to share their knowledge of the luxury travel industry in the Asia Pacific region,” said Jay Martens, ALTM event director.

Some of the world’s leading luxury travel suppliers have confirmed attendance at the first ALTM including Amanresorts, Peninsula Hotels, Four Seasons, Oberoi, Taj, Jumeirah, Lufthansa Private Jets, Mandarin Oriental, Golden Prestige, Societe Des Bains De Mer, Dorchester Collection, Bombardier Skyjet, Hyatt, Hunt & Palmer and Ritz-Carlton.

Top buyers attending the show include Quintessentially Asia, Virtuoso Australia/New Zealand, Club Concierge from Japan, Hyundai Dream Tour from Korea, and Jetset and Harvey World Travel from Australia.

Buyers, who come only from the Asia Pacific region, are attending by invitation only and are “fully hosted”. To preserve the exclusivity of the inaugural event, ALTM will implement a strict invitation only policy.

ALTM is the sister event of the highly successful International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM), now in its 5th year, which brings many of the world’s top buyers and sellers of luxury travel together every December in the picturesque city of Cannes, in the heart of the French Riviera.

Unlike other trade shows, ALTM is staged in a highly exclusive environment in which buyers and sellers meet on a unique pre-arranged appointment system. High tech devices known as ‘Spotme’ will also play a part in helping to make ALTM a successful show for buyers and exhibitors. This unique hand held PDA device is preloaded with details of buyers and exhibitors, and allows buyers and sellers to message each other to arrange additional appointments. The device even has a radar function built in which will alert people when someone that they wish to meet is close by.

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