The 3rd World Tourism Forum Lucerne opened today following a pioneering ‘Think Tank’ led by key industry leaders

17 April 2013: Christopher Rodrigues, Chairman VisitBritain, Reto Rittwer, President & CEO Kempinski Hotels and Professor Geoffrey Lipman, President of International Coalition of Tourism Partners, were among those leaders present.

Professor Lipman explained the “Think Tank was unique in that it brought key leaders and young talent together to form strategic ‘out of the box’ change making solutions”

“It reaffirmed in this challenging economic and political environment there is a need for faster and more nimble decision making in order to respond to the huge opportunities arising from ‘hyper-connectivity’. New structures are needed to martial industry sector initiatives, to develop strategies at the highest level of government and set in motion steps to initiate necessary action”

The 2013 edition of the World Tourism Forum Lucerne opened this afternoon by General Manager Martin Barth and Reto Wittwer, President and CEO Kempinski Hotels and Chairman of the international Advisory Board of the Forum. The 3rd World Tourism Forum Lucerne is being held under the theme of "Tomorrow's drivers – green growth, talents and new marketing." Some 400 participants from 64 countries are expected to attend the three-day international event.

This year's Forum themes are closely connected. Tourism is one of the world's fastest growing industries and – predicts the United Nations World Tourism Organization – the number of international travellers will almost double between now and the year 2030. For this reason, new sustainable models of travel and tourism are required. In addition, the industry will need to embrace innovative ideas, new technologies and visionary methods of tourism marketing. The tourism sector also requires new talent familiar with technological advancements, online communication and trends in booking behaviour.

About the World Tourism Forum Lucerne

The World Tourism Forum Lucerne is a professional, interdisciplinary platform which offers decision-makers in business, government, science and finance an overview of current topics and trends in the tourism industry. It is the only international platform in which leading decision makers and emerging young talents in the industry have the opportunity to interact as part of a next generation programme. The World Tourism Forum Lucerne is supported by an international Advisory Board under the chairmanship of Reto Wittwer (President and CEO, Kempinski Hotels). The World Tourism Forum Lucerne is taking place from 17 to 19 April 2013. www.wtflucerne.org

-wtflucerne.