Cinnamon’s ‘Future of Tourism Summit’ to explore ‘Challenges and Growth in the Face of Crisis’
Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts is preparing to host the third edition of the ‘Future of Tourism Summit’ (FOT 2019), on September 23, at the Cinnamon Grand Colombo.
Running under the theme ‘Challenges and Growth in the Face of a Crisis’, this year’s event will bring together top global destination experts, who will share their specialist knowledge and insights on how tourism industries can implement sustainable strategies in the long-run and recover and rebuild following a variety of incidents ranging from terror attacks, to natural disasters. “With tourism often contributing substantially to economic growth of different nations, it is imperative that travel brands and industry professionals alike have the tools and know-how needed to respond to and recover after a period of crisis,” Cinnamon said in a media release.
This year’s summit will feature an exclusive line-up of speakers and in- depth talks with top destination marketers and travel industry professionals, and will kick- off with a special discussion with CNN’s Richard Quest, on the future of tourism locally and globally, followed by the keynote speaker of FOT 2019, Anita Mendiratta (Special Advisor to the SecretaryGeneral, UNWTO) who will explore her topic ‘Rising Above - Emerging Stronger Through Crisis’. The summit will have its first group talk on ‘Facing a Crisis’ with Puneet Chhatwal (Managing Director and
CEO of IHCL), Dileep Mudadeniya (Vice
President of John Keells
Group and Head of Brand Marketing- Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts), and Kishu Gomes (Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism) which will be moderated by Damian Cook (Destination recovery expert).
The summit will also feature Michael Yam, CEO and Managing Director of Impetus Alliance and Zubin Karkaria, CEO of KUONI who will share their insights and industry experience in handling unforeseen challenges and rebuilding business operations. The group talk will focus on hospitality best practices, implementing a winning destination campaign and a recovery marketing plan with reference to case- studies from Egypt, Bali and Taj Hotels. An investor forum discussion consisting of a panel of Dilith Rajakariar (one of Sri Lanka’s high net worth investors), Malik Fernando (Managing Director – Resplendent Ceylon), Krishan Balendra (Chairman of John Keells Holdings) and Shiromal Cooray (Chairman, Jetwing Hotels) which will be moderated by Murtaza Jafferjee (Managing Director - JB Securities (Pvt) Ltd).
Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts marked its first- ever ‘Future of Tourism’ Summit in 2015 to commemorate ‘ World Tourism Day, and featured global experts exploring future tourism trends. FOT 2017 was centred on the theme of ‘ Technology, Innovation and Authenticity’ with 13 globally renowned speakers addressing the conference and 400 members present. Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts is a chain comprising 14 distinct hotels and resorts located in key areas across Sri Lanka and the Maldives.