Julia Lo Bue-Said, the Advantage Travel Partnership's CEO, said 2024's conference is "about embracing the benefits of travel and the good it delivers," as she kicked off the two-week countdown to its opening session.
Travel as a force for good
2024's theme, 'Buen Futuro: Pace. Passion. Purpose.', reflects what Julia describes as a "very conscious" choice to embed the role of 'Travel as a Force for Good' throughout its programme.
"The underlying message that we want delegates to embrace and take forward is our ability to make a difference to the destination we're visiting."
That is encapsulated best by the conference's final day, dedicated to local community projects and "purposeful activities [that] will allow our conference delegates to give back and engage with the local community whilst creating a lasting impact on the destination."
Does the Partnership's choice of a long-haul destination for the first time since 2017 perhaps contradict its sustainable message? Its CEO certainly doesn't think so: "From an Advantage point of view, we are leading the charge and feeling confident about delivering a long-haul conference, amidst the cost-of-living crisis and serious talks around sustainability, by demonstrating and encapsulating the idea that travel is an absolute force for good. From day one, we were really committed to that [theme]."
"There was a risk of us saying, 'Let's not fly, let's not go long-haul,' but I'm really committed to showing that actually, that does not need to be the case – we can still travel. Our role at large is not to judge what people do or where they travel to: it's about embracing the benefits of travel and the good it delivers."
The bigger picture
The agenda's plenary sessions tackle, as Julia puts it, "high-level industry activity and challenges." From sustainability to geopolitics, sessions examine the barriers to success in travel: and the opportunities presented to those savvy enough to navigate them as they come.
Sarah Whiting, Thrust Carbon's channels solution lead, will host the opening keynote of the Conference, as part of a commitment made at 2023's edition, to analyse the carbon impact of the conference: this opening keynote begins a notable trend that continues throughout the agenda.
Hopeful London Mayoral candidate Natalie Campbell follows Sarah's opening keynote, examining how disruption, with passion and purpose behind it, can refocus organisations for the better. Lauri Reishus from ARC (the North American equivalent of IATA) will show how travel businesses should (and could) navigate the challenges and opportunities of rising geopolitical tensions.
The opening plenary sessions are drawn to a close with a fireside talk with Natalie, Lauri and Julia dissecting the learnings from the previous sessions, moderated by returning host David Meade.
Honing in
Following the macro discussions on industry impact and the conference's analysis of "the bigger picture," delegates will have the opportunity "to delve into the detail" over the final two days of the conference, with dedicated sessions for business and leisure agents.
"Delegates will get a really clear picture of where the industry is, but they will also delve into the detail of how that affects their businesses, with workshop activities they can attend, too, to hone in on the skills they might need to approach those challenges and opportunities."
Questions remain
As the conference's two-week countdown continues, Julia hopes the conference will solve "the challenges we set ourselves: how do we deliver a sustainable message at a long-haul conference? How do we do the right thing? How do we embrace all the good that travel delivers?
"How do we give our members the best opportunity to get to a really exciting destination and experience great content and networking opportunities?"
The Advantage Travel Partnership, its members, and delegates will hope to answer those questions, and more, when the Advantage Travel Partnership Conference 2024 kicks off on May 15th at the Grand Palladium Costa Mujeres Resort and Spa, in Cancun.
