5 July 2010
Inspiring leadership and developing strategies to steer the tourism industry through economic uncertainty will be the focus of a national tourism forum held in
Mr Lawlor said the 2010 Tourism Futures conference, which was sponsored by Tourism
"Tourism Futures is the premier national conference for the tourism industry and is attended by industry leaders, policy makers, operators, tourism professionals and academics from across
"The theme of this year's event is 'Leaders Driving Innovation'.
"The agenda is forward-looking and provides delegates with the perfect forum to discuss market forecasts, trends and best practice information.
"The eighth annual Tourism Futures conference will be held over three days (5-7 July) at South Bank in Brisbane with keynote speakers providing an update on the current state of play, emerging trends and challenges facing the tourism industry, both domestically and abroad."
Mr Lawlor said the program would focus on creating opportunities for innovative leadership at every level.
"Discussions will centre on future-thinking concepts, including the development of indigenous tourism and the next generation of tourism experiences such as the 'floating (airborne) hotel concept'," he said.
"Speakers include Tourism and Transport Forum Chairman the Hon. Bruce Baird AM; Yahoo!7 CEO Rohan Lund; AirAsia X CEO Azran Osman-Rani; United Nations - World Tourism Organisation Secretary General Taleb Rifai; and visionary Design Director Nick Talbot.
"There aren't many times that our industry's key players, including tourism leaders, operators and government representatives, ca n come together at once, so events like this that are crucial in future development.
"Tourism Futures is a great opportunity to come together, review the challenges that lie ahead and develop responses that take advantage of the real opportunities."
Mr Lawlor said more than 350 delegates from across
The Tourism Futures Conference is a joint partnership between Tourism
