Day 1

Opening session: Chairman´s introduction

The outlook for online travel distribution in emerging markets including the huge potential of the Russian online travel market.

• Alexey Krylov, UTC Travel
• Simon Carkeek, EyeforTravel

Session 1: The Future of Online Travel Distribution

The future of online travel distribution in Russia and CIS. Understand the changing relationship between suppliers, intermediaries and 3rd party.

• Hear statistics and purchasing trends for the Russian travel market. What % of travel is sold online and how will it impact on the market? Which distribution model will dominate?
• In times when suppliers are working on increasing direct business from consumers, on what basis should they continue to work with 3rd party sites?
• How will the growth of online sales affect the future of the Russian travel market?
• How to successfully invest in the Russian Travel Market - strategic overview and business model.
• How different are the Russian and Western markets? Which ideas and strategies can be borrowed and must we take into account the regional specific of the Russian market?

• Yury Nosov, Natalie-tours
• Stefan Scholle, TUI AG

ON-line Vs OFF-line.

• The high dynamic growth of the Russian online market is redefining existing business strategies. The growth of Russian internet users in 2008 will be registered at a rate of 27-30%. There are currently 32 million internet users in Russia over 18 years old. The share of e-reservations is 10% and sales made online are just 2-3%.
• Which channels are worth investing in and what travel products have the best prospects in Russia?
• Evaluate the cost of going direct compared with the cost of selling through intermediaries.
• Despite the rapid growth of the online market, customers in Russia use the internet to gather information but traditionally book offline. Is it likely to change and how are online habits evolving?
• What is the difference of using internet in cities and regions across the country? How can you increase customer retention and effectively deliver the information to your customers using the right combination of online and offline strategies?

• Vladislav Kostyukovski, Thomas Cook
• Boris Samaryanov, STAR Travel

Q&A Panel Session

Session 2: Online Payment Solutions

Implementation of online payment technologies into your business. How will it impact sales and how quickly can you get your investments back? Are we ready for massive online payment initiatives?

• Hear information and statistics for on-line sales, analysis of trends and customer needs.
• How can you avoid problems on the stage of implementing on-line payment into your business?
• Do new technologies guarantee you enough security, convenience and simplicity of operation?
• High rates and commissions? How can you reduce the cost of taking online payments and where can you find profitable on-line payment solutions? After the integration, when can you expect to get your investments back?
• An overview of payment providers. Which payment solution suits the size of your business?
• Hear from experts on the legal side of e-commerce in Russia.
• Step by step recommendation on how to implement on-line payment on your web-site.

• Andrey Polozov-Yablonsky, National Association of E-commerce
• Georgy Gorshkov, VTB24
• Maxim Morozov, UCS
• Nikolai Ionkin, Mobiticket

Q&A Panel Session

Session 3: Industry Focus: Hotel Distribution Strategy

Hotel distribution strategies - the next generation in sales and e-marketing techniques.

• How fast are hotel on-line bookings growing in Russia? What opportunities are offered on the market to increase your internet sales and what changes we are facing in the future?
• Direct sales vs. intermediary distribution. How can profitable partnerships with intermediaries be maintained?
• Hear best pratices from western hotel chains´ on their e-marketing strategies. How can you keep customers and encourage them to stay in your hotel again and again?
• How can domestic hotels compete with the international hotels chains?
• How do you manage prices across multiple channels? How can you make sure you have an effective on-line distribution strategy, maximize prices and not lose your customers.
• How can you achieve the right selling price when you sell packages?

• Mikhail Ushakov, Nota Bena - Hotels.su
• Alexey Volov, IHG Russia
• Frank Zehle, Marriott Hotel Holding

Q&A Panel Session

Session 4: Industry Focus: Airlines

Airline Distribution and Marketing strategies.

• Future of on-line distribution. How are the traditional airlines developing their on-line strategies?
• How to imply international standards of reservations and sales. Western experts´ perspective and experience.
• How can airlines increase their direct sales and still ensure a profitable working partnership with intermediaries?
• Changing relationship with intermediaries. How flexible will airlines be with tour-agents in terms of payment settlement especially in times of financial uncertainty?
• How can you compete with low-cost airlines?
• With a growing online audience, what are the opportunities for airline websites to sell ancillary products to their direct customers?
• How can you integrate an ancillary product or service into your web-site and what extra opportunities this may open for airlines, intermediaries and customers?
• Offer insurance for non-refundable tickets to you customers and see how you can increase the sales level in this segment.
• Service and security for on-line payment modules. Hear expert advice on how to minimize cost and effort.

• Maria Yurchenko, BA Russia
• Andrey Polozov-Yablonsky, Airline Expert
• Roman Zaichenko, KD-Avia
• Maxim Polukhin, S7 Airline + Dmitry Krasnov, SITA

Q&A Panel Session

Day 2

Opening session

Chairman´s introduction

• Alexey Krylov, UTC Travel

Session 5: Online Marketing Focus

The future of e-commerce. Understand the needs of Russian travel customers. How to increase ROI from your online marketing initiatives?

• Which customer segment makes most internet inquiries and what strategy should you apply to maximise customers´ influence.
• Is there any regional specific in measuring customers´ behaviour? Do you know customers´ preferences in searching and booking online?
• CRM in travel. Find out how to successfully manage customer experiences for different customer profiles and how to use your CRM data to leverage the best marketing strategy.
• Hear professional tips that will help in promoting your brand online.
• Hear what impact web 2.0 can have on your CRM process.
• Where should you spend your e-marketing budget to boost your sales?

• Andrey Sebrant, «Yandex» and «Internet Marketing» magazine
• Natalia Morzhova, GfK
• Petr Busalov, Capital Tour

Social Media

Social online marketing and User-Generated Content in Russia.

• Social media as a distribution channel - how big can it get?
• The future of User-Generated Content. Find out how Social Media is taking the industry by storm and who you need to work with to develop a comprehensive web 2.0 strategy.
• How can you aggregate content from multiple sources and syndicate your own content to other sites (such as meta-search sites)?
• Blogs and how they affect the industry. Will blogs dictate consumer trends?
• User-generated content has transformed the traditional channels of communication between business and consumers. Do such techniques translate into increased sales? How can you ensure your product is at the forefront of B2C/C2C communication?
• Future of social on-line marketing in Russia.

• Max Trukhin, “Mamba”
• Stephan Bosman, Zoover International
• Anastasiya Partysheva, Travel.ru

Q&A Panel Session moderated by Andrey Sebrant

How can you move your business online?

How can you move your business online?

• Lots of info, pictures, video, prices… what design and content do you need to ensure the best traffic rates and the best booking experience of your customers?
• How will user generated content eventually impact customer loyalty and retention?
• E-CRM. When customers experience problems with your website you risk losing them. How you can make sure that your website is always current informative and user friendly?
• When things get nasty - how do you deal with negative publicity on the Web and ensure one angry customer doesn´t ruin your brand.

• Irina Voroshilova, Tourism-Advertising-Internet
• Dmitry, UsabilityLab

Q&A Panel Session

Session 6: Travel Search and Optimisation

Travel search techniques and search optimisation in Russia.

• Which opportunities are opened for the travel industry by using direct search techniques?
• How to target your customers effectively by using their search habits?
• Niche branding strategy.
• Search Engine Optimization vs. PPC (pay per click) CPA (cost per acquisition) marketing. Where should you spend your valuable marketing budget and how?
• How can you ensure your customers find you before your competitors online?
• How can you measure the quality of traffic driven to your site and control your investments in internet marketing?
• What search engine optimization strategies work and how can you apply effective strategies across multiply products?
• What you should take into account when promoting your company via search engines? How to avoid mistakes on the stage of creating web-site content.

• Nikolay Shestakov, Yandex
• Ivan Sevostianov, Webprojects

Q&A Panel Session

Session 7: High Travel Technology

Latest technology in online distribution. Get a market update about the latest technology and what opportunities exist to create a successful sales and marketing strategy.

• What advantages of entering online sales market. Which solutions are currently available and how much do they cost.
• The pros and cons of available solutions from Russian and Western providers. Which technology will function better in the Russian market in your size of business?
• Overview of GDS available for suppliers of services and intermediaries that guarantee them effective business relationship.
• Hear expert suggestions for available GDS technologies that minimize the cost and effort for its users.

• Niklas Andreen, Travelport
• Irina Studneva, UTS Travel

Q&A Panel Session

Coffee Break

Session 8: Tour Operators and Travel Agents

Tour Operators and Travel Agents online distribution and marketing strategies.

• Customers rely on offline markets so traditional travel agencies have always been an important distribution channel in Russia and CIS. Is this likely to change and what you can do in order not to reduce your sales level?
• Traditional tour operators are tending to increase their direct sales. Taking this into account, are travel agents keeping up with the latest trend? How the relationship between operators and agents will develop?
• How will the travel market react on rising financial guarantee deposit by the government?
• Changing relationship between tour-operators, tour-agents and GDS providers.
• How can you sell effectively packages on-line?
• On-line travel agencies. Western experts´ experience and live recommendations on how to do business on-line.

• Vitaly Golovchenko, Megatech

Travel market strategies in times of financial uncertainty

Travel market strategies in times of financial uncertainty.

• How will the crisis affect the consolidation of Russian Travel market?
• One year travel market forecasts and sales incentives strategy for the times when business activities are slowing down.
• Are there any alternatives of borrowings from a bank?
• Which business strategy does it makes sense to apply in times of financial uncertainty?

• Group discussion

End of Day 2