Top-level executives involved in mountain travel and tourism exchanged notes and gathered valuable information at the second annual European Mountain Travel Summit (EMTS) in Crans-Montana, Switzerland which concluded recently.
With over 160 senior executives from the mountain travel industry in attendance, the event provided thought provoking content, a number of networking events and alpine skiing in a leading mountain resort destination.
Attendees came from Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and others.
“All of the content delivered over the last day and a half at EMTS was of high quality, and it was relatable to people in both North America and Europe,” said John Frasca (international Vice President, Ski.com). “What we heard on stage was extremely diverse. The speakers kept us thinking and engaged, and the caliber of those in the audience led to increased levels of participation.”
Content highlights were Attracting Younger Generations with panelists Andrew van der Feltz, senior director, EMEA & APAC, Expedia Media Solutions; Nicolas Mayer, partner & industry leader – lodging & tourism clients; PwC and John Urdi, executive director, Manmoth Lakes Tourism, and Innovative Ski Pass Programs, presented by Daniel Brauer, senior director, marketing, Vail Resorts; Bohus Hlavaty, CEO, Tatry Mountain Resorts; Evan Reece, CEO, Liftopia; and Urs Zurbriggen, COO and deputy CEO, Saas-Fee.
Featured speakers throughout the event included Trevor Crist (CEO, Inntopia); Brad King (Vice President, Marketing and Vertical Sales, Sojern); and Reto Gurtner (Chairman and CEO for Weisse Arena Gruppe), among others.
The closing session, titled How Using Data, Insights and Consumer Data Can Drive a Winning Business, featured speakers Brad King, vice president of marketing & vertical sales, Sojern and Reto Gurtner, chairman/CEO, Weisse Arena Gruppe and Laax.
“The level of engagement we saw from those in attendance was outstanding,” said Michael Pierson, managing director, European Mountain Travel Symposium. “The content covered at EMTS is so relevant, attendees left the conference with actionable items to bring back to their businesses.”
“This has been a great and unique chance for Crans-Montana to host such a high-quality summit,” said Bruno Huggler, (Director, Crans-Montana Tourism & Congress). “EMTS enables professional development and an exchange of knowledge that encourages all participants to find new ways and approaches for sustainable economic development. The topics presented and discussed were of high importance for the future development of mountain resorts, and the fact that mostly top-level management is participating has led to an exchange at a very high level, with many takeaways for all partners involved.”
EMTS is produced by Mountain Travel Symposium (MTS), the longest running and largest gathering of mountain tourism professionals. MTS will be held in Heavenly South Lake Tahoe, April 8-14, 2018. For more information about the event, visit www.mtntrvl.com.
