World Routes Tourism Summit Programme Launched

Manchester, England (ots/PRNewswire) -

Brand USA sponsors the event which is attracting an outstanding
programme of speakers

Senior figures from the travel and tourism industry are signing up
in force to speak at this year's World Routes Tourism Summit which,
sponsored by Brand USA for the second year running, will take place
alongside World Routes in Chicago, 20-23 September 2014.

Building on the success of last year's event the programme is
attracting some very senior speakers to take part in the panel
sessions with confirmations received, so far, from the likes of Ricky
Skerritt, Minister of Tourism and International Transport for St
Kitts and Nevis, Peter Cerda, RVP The Americas for IATA and Alfredo
Gonzalez, Senior Vice President, Global Market Development, for event
sponsors, Brand USA.

"The aviation system is a critical part of the global economy and
essential to connecting people and places. At Brand USA, our mission
is to increase the number of people who make the USA their number one
travel destination-the vast majority of whom arrive by air. Through
our participation in Routes, we are able to network with the right
players that will help us and our partners build capacity to meet the
increasing demand of the world's travellers," said Christopher L.
Thompson, president and CEO of Brand USA, the destination marketing
organisation for the United States.

Occurring on Monday 22nd September, the World Routes Tourism
Summit is open to all attending delegates at the 20th World Route
Development Forum which will take place in Chicago, Illinois, USA
co-hosted by the City of Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) and
Choose Chicago, the city's tourism organisation.

Mike Miller, Head of Content and Industry Relations for Routes
highlights the importance of this event: "The travel & tourism
industry is expected to grow 4.3% this year and now supports 266
million jobs worldwide. We look forward to discussing these benefits
in Chicago with the top tourism officials from around the globe."

The Tourism Summit is the forum where senior leaders and key
stakeholders come together to participate in a number of discussions
covering topics affecting the tourism industry today. Key sessions
include Global Tourism, which will essentially look at how
established destinations are re-positioning or investing to ensure
they continue to grow alongside new destinations that are offering
different opportunities and types of holiday to travellers. The
session will investigate the ways in which destinations can grow
visitor numbers and make predictions over future potential travel
types.

The Future Patterns of Travel session will examine the move from
travel agent to online in many markets, and the rise of new booking
agents for flights and hotels. This discussion will also look at how
social media and search engines are entering into the market and
discuss the role which they will play.

Other confirmed speakers at the Tourism Summit so far include
James Beresford, CEO of VisitEngland, Amit Rikhy, Senior Vice
President of ADC & HAS Airports Worldwide and Vernice Walkine,
President & CEO of Nassau Airport Development Company and Regional
Executive, The Americas, Vantage Airport Group.

The 20th anniversary World Routes event will be held at Chicago's
McCormick Place, the largest convention facility in the Western
Hemisphere. With the most diverse economy in the United States, and
home to several of the aviation industry's leading companies, Chicago
makes the perfect home for the 20th World Route Development Forum.

For more information and to register for World Routes in Chicago
visit http://www.routesonline.com

Notes to Editors

About Routes

- Routes organises world-renowned airline and airport networking events
through its regional and global Route Development Forums. Each year, there is one
global event and one regional event in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas and CIS
respectively. http://www.routesonline.com
- Routes was founded in 1995 as part of the Manchester, UK-based ASM Ltd., a
consultancy specialising in the field of route development for airports.
http://www.asm-global.com. Routes and ASM are part of the UBM Live division of UBM
plc.
- UBM Live connects people and creates opportunities for companies across five
continents to develop new business, meet customers, launch new products, promote their
brands and expand their markets. Through premiere brands such as MD&M, CPhI, IFSEC,
TFM&A, Cruise Shipping Miami, the Concrete Show, the Routes portfolio of events,
Airport Cities and many others, UBM Live exhibitions, conferences, awards programs,
publications, websites and training and certification programs are an integral part of
the marketing plans of companies across more than 20 industry sectors.
http://www.ubmlive.com

Follow us on twitter: @Routesonline, @TheHUBRoutes,
@VictoriaRoutes, @NLPROU, @airlineroute

About UBM plc

- UBM plc is a global events-led marketing services and communications
company. We help businesses do business, bringing the world's buyers and sellers
together at events and online, as well as producing and distributing news and
specialist content. Our 5,500 staff in more than 30 countries are organised into
expert teams which serve commercial and professional communities, helping them to do
business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently.
- For more information, go to http://www.ubm.com; follow us on Twitter at
@UBM_plc [http://twitter.com/UBM_plc ] to get the latest UBM corporate news; follow
@UBM for news from all UBM's businesses; follow @UBM for a flavour of UBM from
selected members of UBM's Twitterati.

ots Originaltext: UBM Live Routes Ltd
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
For further press information please contact: Victoria Jones,
Communications Manager, Routes, T: +44-(0)161-234-2730, E:
pr@routesonline.com