Execs Dealt with Economic Issues at TheTradeShow

Travel executives from five companies participated in a panel discussion titled “The Recession: Does It Manage You or Do You Manage It?” at TheTradeShow. The panel kicked off the Main Stage presentations at TheTradeShow when it opened in Orlando at 2 p.m. on Sept. 7.

Participants were Michael Batt, chairman of Travel Acquisition Group (which includes TraveLeaders, Tzell and other agency groups); Imad Khalidi, Auto Europe CEO and president; Maurice Zarmati, Costa Cruise Lines’ North America CEO and president; Ellen Bettridge, vice president of American Express Retail Travel Network; and Julius Robinson, Marriott International’s vice president of global intermediary sales.

The discussion was moderated by Arnie Weissmann, Travel Weekly’s editor in chief. The group examined the impact of today’s economic environment on the travel industry in the short-, medium- and long terms, and explored what opportunities exist among the challenges during a recession.