New York Times Travel Show Sets Trade Day for Feb. 28

The New York Times Travel Show remains one of the largest consumer travel shows in the United States. For more than a decade, however, the show has also staged a dedicated Trade Day for travel industry professionals on the Friday before the weekend event.

This year’s Trade Day will take place Friday, Feb. 28, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Conference sessions will be held from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. The exhibition hall will be open just for travel trade professionals from 2 p.m. until 7p.m. The event will be open to consumers on Saturday, March 1, from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and on Sunday, March 2, from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.

The show will be held in Halls 3D/E and 1E located on 11th Avenue. Admission for travel industry professionals is $35 in advance ($45 at the door); admission to the exhibition floor is free with Trade Day registration. On-site registration for Trade Day begins at 7:30 a.m. For a full schedule of seminars and exhibitors, or to register online, click on New York Times Travel Show Trade Day.

The New York Times Travel Show is the largest trade and consumer travel event in North America, featuring nearly 500 exhibitors from Africa, Asia, Australia/South Pacific, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, Mexico and the United States. Trade Day speakers include the following:

Lillian Africano, president, Society for American Travel Writers; Kate Auletta, founding editor, Huffington Post Travel; Sylma Brown Bramble, director, Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO); Jason Clampet, co-founder and head of content, Skift; Terry Dale, president, United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA); Doug Duda, immediate past president, International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP); Michelle Fee, president, Cruise Planners; Yana Carter Gutierrez, vice president, American Express Consumer Travel (keynote speaker).

Other speakers include: LoAnn Halden, media relations, International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA); Tiru Irani, chairman, Pacific Asia Travel Association-New York; Kier Matthews, vice president of sales, Europe Express; Anne Marie Moebes, executive vice president, Well-Being Travel; Sree Sreenivasan, chief digital officer, Metropolitan Museum of Art; Yvette De Vries, president, Association for the Promotion of Tourism; John Peters, president, Travel Media Group, USA Today; James Shillinglaw, editor in chief, travallianceMedia; Shannon Stowell, president, Adventure Travel Trade Association; Michael Yessis, editor-in-chief, AOL Travel

The Trade Day keynote address, which will take place 12:45 p.m. to 1:15 p.m., will feature Yana Carter Gutierrez, vice president of American Express Consumer Travel. From 1:15 p.m. to 1:50 p.m. there will be a panel discussion with speakers to be named.

The Travel Industry Conference seminars will focus on adventure travel, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, cruising and river cruising, culinary tourism, Europe, LGBT, Latin America/Mexico, travel media, tours, wellness travel/medical tourism, and young travel professionals. Cruise Lines International Association also will offer a cruising certification class (requiring separate registration) that will explore how to develop a group business.

American Express is the founding sponsor of The New York Times Travel Show. Supporting sponsors include South Africa and Visit Florida. Contributing sponsors include Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Florida Keys and Key West, and Turkey.

Source: Travel Pulse, http://www.travelpulse.com/news/travel-agents/new-york-times-travel-show-sets-trade-day-for-feb-28.html