Day One: Wednesday 29th August

07.30 – 09.00 : Registration

09.00-09.15 : Chairman’s Address

• David Scowsill, Vice Chairman, WORLDHOTELS

09.15 - 10.15: Session 1 : The Future of Travel Distribution in China

• By 2015, an estimated 50 million Chinese will travel overseas; what will be the primary distribution channels and how can this burgeoning market be sold to?
• What are the emerging distribution channels in the Chinese market?
• Will the undercurrent of a relaxation in regulations due to the Beijing Olympics continue post 2008?
• What impact will the Chinese Citizens Outbound Travel Contract have and will it increase the F.I.T. sector of outbound travel with a correspondingly higher use of internet booking?
• Its not all about Beijing 2008 – what lessons have already been learnt in the lead up to the Olympics that can be applied to 2010 World Expo and the Asian Games in 2012?

• Johan Svanstrom, Managing Director, Expedia APAC
• Mr D. Teddy Zhang, President & CEO, HUBS1
• William Bao Bean, Partner, Softbank China & India

10.15 - 11.15: Session 2 : Intermediaries Online vs Offline

• How culturally specific is the online vs offline paradigm in China between the traditional travel intermediaries and the growing number of online players. Will the Chinese consumer continue to want the familiarity and personal interaction provided by offline travel intermediaries?
• It has been established that there is a gradual shift from offline channels to online. Has this become any more rapid in 2007 and what are the expert predictions for 2008?
• Will the Beijing Olympics have any impact on the Chinese consumer’s familiarity with and desire to purchase travel through growing number of online travel agents?
• What is the best way for international travel companies to address the continuing dominance of the traditional travel intermediaries?
• For travel companies to succeed in this market place, is a market specific hybrid required combining the potential of online with power of the offline intermediary model?

• ZhiXiang Wu, CEO, 17u.net
• Zhiguo Tan, President, Top Travel

11.15 - 11.45 : Networking Coffee break

11.45 - 13.00: Session 3 : Airline growth, change, success and impact

• Possibly the biggest changes in the Chinese travel market in the last year have occurred in the airline industry. What picture is emerging of the Chinese market and who is dominating?
• Have the airlines made any advances in their ability to sell direct to the Chinese consumer and are any new channels emerging?
• If the traditional channels are still dominating, what can be learnt from the success of China Spring Airlines benefiting from the Spring Travel Agent outlets?
• China Eastern Airlines have made great changes and improvements in their online consumer experience with facilities now available such as seat selection and online check-in; has this driven up online bookings?
• Who is dominating the China domestic market and what are the prospects for both LCCs and international carriers if the domestic market opens up through loosening of regulations?

• Jerry Hu, CIO, China Southern Airlines
• Junhao Wang, Chairman, JuneYao Aviation Investment Co. Ltd
• Cui Ling Li, Spring Air
• Sandeep Bahl, GM China, Northwest Airlines

13.00 - 14.30 : Networking Lunch

14.30 – 16.00: Session 5 : E-commerce in the Chinese market

• Has there been any significant increase in online travel bookings in China?
• What methods are being adopted to overcome the significant online language problems: quite simply – how can you best capture, process and store Chinese characters and use this data in an effective manner?
• What is the best way to host a website in China?
• What server-location strategies are best – how do you host your web-sites in China – web-sites hosted abroad aren’t generally regarded to be as effective as those in hosted in China
• Usability of web-sites to the Chinese user

• Lukas Ding, CEO, 1rest.com
• Jos Weesjes, VP Distribution Marketing, Intercontinental Hotel Group
• Chris Warwick, Managing Director, Multimap.com
• Michael Tang, Managing Director, Beijing Mapabc Ltd.

16.00 – 16.30 : Networking Coffee Break

16.30 – 18.00: Session 6 : RM Basics

• Domestic hotels use a flat rate online, but a daily rate on telephone bookings – is there a solution to this RM conundrum?
• What problems do 3rd Party bookings represent: C-trip & E-long often give better rates than online, but are these countered by the ‘no-show’ cover that E-long & Ctrip provide?
• Should different policies be adopted when approaching the traditional domestic versus the international market?
• What is the best way for small franchise hotels or independents to adopt a revenue management strategy that is both realistic and practical?
• Can profit really be optimised on a low level by doing this?
• What can hotel Revenue Managers learn from their airline counterparts?

• Phil Zhou, GM Revenue Management, China Eastern Airlines
• Meng Yu, Executive Vice President, Jinjiang Inn Co.
• Edmund Pak, Director of Revenue Strategy, Meritus Hotels & Resorts

18.00 – 18.30: Case Study - Session 7 : Getting to know the Chinese Customer: is CRM possible?

• What makes the Chinese consumer tick in the booking process
• Whilst there is little to be done in maximising revenue in Beijing for the Olympics because of the BOGOC controlled buy-ot, what ripple effects can be expected in the secondary and tertiary cities and how can revenue be maximised in these cases?
• Should different policies be adopted when approaching the Chinese domestic versus the international online customer?

• Michael Chen, VP Marketing, Jinling Hotels & Resorts

Day Two: Thursday 30th August

08.30 - 09.00 : Networking Morning Coffee

09.00 - 10.30: Session 8 : Corporate Travel

• How do Chinese corporations purchase their travel?
• With an ever increasing amount of outbound Chinese business travel, can global TMCs offer savings and services on a global level that cannot be expected at a domestic level?
• How do travel suppliers sell to business travellers in China?
• Has the amount of travel managed by TMCs grown and what opportunities are there for growth by TMCs in the coming year?
• Is managed travel experiencing any changes as a result of online purchasing?

• Qing Chen, Managing Director, Hotelzon China
• Matthew Ng, Chairman, ET China Holding

10.30 - 11.00 : Coffee

11.00 - 12.30: Session 9 : Search and the Chinese Consumer

• What are the best ways to drive travel to your site and are their any new opportunities or methods of doing this for China?
• How do Chinese consumers use search to research, if not to buy travel products and what are the predictions for the future?
• What techniques can be used to optimise search from a travel company perspective and what strategy gives the best ROI when approaching Search Engine Optimisation?
• Google's market share in China appears to be increasing - hear what strategies and services they are harnessing in order to compete with their competitors.
• Meta-search in the Chinese market – what value can be added by the plethora of meta-search engines trying to break in to the Chinese market and how successful are existing ones?
• What Affiliate networks and opportunities exist in the Chinese market?

• CC Zhuang, President, Qunar.com
• Sherry Lei, Travel Industry Manager, Google (China)
• Martin Symes, CEO, Bezurk.com

12.30 - 14.00 : Networking Lunch

14.00 - 15.00: Session 10 : Arrogance & Ignorance in Payment: avoid the pitfalls and find the best payment solutions

• Several large travel companies and intermediaries have fallen foul of the complex payment strategies needed in the Chinese market. Ticketmaster and Ebay both have interesting stories to tell
• What are the best payment solution methods and how can these be adopted at the best ROI
• Find out why simply implementing the ‘American’ model of online payment can land you in such hot water
• China Union Pay – debit card with pin number – how are these being used? What is the most effective way to receive CUP?
• Has there been any change in consumer confidence in China with regard to payment and what can be learnt from credit card issue statistics?
• What are the prospects for a ‘Black-list’ database for non-payers and will this become a realistic check and balance in the payment process?

• Martijn Hovinga, CEO, Bill2Bill

15.00 - 15.30 : Networking Coffee

16.30 : End of conference