CAPA Melbourne Aviation & Corporate Travel Summit

The Aviation Summit will consist of the following topics:

• Driving inbound tourism
• New route opportunities: Are markets opened up by new generation aircraft viable over the long term?
• Industry outlook moderated by CAPA - Centre for Aviation Executive Chairman Peter Harbison , Association of Travel Management Companies Chair, Rob Dell and Board of Airline Representatives of Australia, Executive Director, Barry Abrams
• Regional development and access
• Essential Infrastructure: Accessing the airport
• Social impact in the travel and aviation industry - gender diversity, Indigenous affairs, environment and more

CAPA Melbourne Corporate Travel Summit

Running alongside the CAPA Melbourne Aviation Summit, the CAPA Melbourne Corporate Travel Summit will explore new trends impacting the travel industry, as well as assisting buyers and suppliers in understanding how technology and accommodation markets can directly impact their own travel programmes.


The Summits will feature the following Corporate Travel Community Education Forums:

• Airline Distribution & NDC Workshop
• Accommodation & Innovation Workshop
• Payments and Expenses Workshop

They will each comprise of 15 minute corporate buyer led discussions. Each session will be followed by a 35 minute interactive audience workshop, allowing some of the most influential people and organisations to share their knowledge on the industry.

Running in parallel, to the Aviation stream, the Corporate Travel stream will focus on:

• NDC + airline distribution buyer education forum: What do we want?
• NDC + airline distribution education forum: The experts weigh in
• A Fireside Chat with ATPI, International Board Director, Peter Muller
• The accommodation outlook and technology innovations buyer education forum: What do we want?
• The accommodation outlook and technology innovations education forum: The experts weigh in
• Payments and expense buyer education forum: What do we want?
• Payments and expense education forum: The experts weigh in

Melbourne

Melbourne is a thriving hub for transformation and networking in the aviation and corporate landscape, with infrastructure developments, tourism surges and international expansion, as well as technology and accommodation markets opening up for corporate travel.

Renowned as a centre for hospitality, culture, nature and wildlife, it is frequently a popular destination for priority markets including China, North America, India and Southeast Asia. Victoria welcomed three million visitors during 2018, injecting $8.5 billion into the economy.

Visit Victoria has launched major consumer brand campaigns, as well as entered into partnerships with airlines and travel distributors to increase visitation to Melbourne and regional Victoria. This has included close collaborations with Invest Victoria and international carriers to support aviation links. Melbourne will also host Australia's largest annual tourism trade event, Australian Tourism Exchange, in 2020.

Keynote speakers

a2 Milk Company Managing Director and CEO, Jayne Hrdlicka

Ms Hrdlicka worked for five years as CEO of the Jetstar Group and also as a Non Executive Director for Woolworths Limited. Her multiple industry roles have provided her with extensive experience in strategy formulation, execution and innovation. Ms Hrdlicka's roles as an airline executive and now as a corporate buyer give her unique insights into corporate travel.

A keynote presentation by Melbourne Airport CEO, Lyell Strambi

Mr Strambi joined Australia Pacific Airports Corporation in 2015, with over 30 years extensive experience in the aviation sector including as CEO of Qantas Domestic and eight years spent at Virgin Atlantic Airways.

Melbourne Airport is currently experiencing more transformations than ever before. Traffic is expected to almost double to around 67 million passengers per year by 2038, it now serves 40 international destinations on direct services, as well as 31 domestic and regional destinations. Access to the airport will broaden with Victoria's Government undertaking a $11 billion rail link due to open by 2031. Hospitality and retail offerings continue to expand and a re-imagined T2 terminal expansion is set to open by mid to late 2023.

Tigerair Australia CEO, Merren McArthur

Ms McArthur has worked in a number of key executive positions within Virgin Australia Group, including the dual role of Group Executive of Virgin Australia Regional Airlines and Virgin Australia Cargo. She assumed the role of Tigerair CEO in 2018.

Tigerair Australia is a prime example of an LCC thriving and challenging the aviation industry, it is continually undergoing fleet restructuring and rebranding, and is still being considered to operate Trans-Tasman services by Virgin Australia Group. It reported strong passenger and revenue growth in the second half of 2018.

Other speaker highlights include:

Avalon Airport CEO, Justin Giddings

Mr Giddings is in his eleventh year as CEO of Avalon Airport, he is also the Chair of the Gordon TAFE, the Independent Chair of the Youth Justice Centre Community Advisory Panel, a board member of the Committee for Geelong and a member of the Visitor Economy Ministerial Advisory Committee.

A low cost commercial airport, Avalon serves the Melbourne and Geelong metropolitan regions. AirAsia X reported a decision to relocate its base to Avalon Airport will help "bring in the numbers to secure Melbourne as one of our more popular destinations". It inaugurated a $48 million international terminal in December 2018 and became the first airport in Australia to offer intelligent CT cabin baggage screening to international travellers.

Government of Victoria Senior Investment Manager, Nigel Aldons

Mr Aldons has worked at Invest Victoria for three years, with a focus on attracting airlines and other sectors' investment into the state. He has over 17 years experience in investment, marketing and aviation in global markets, also holding a number of marketing, investment and aviation roles within Tourism Victoria.

Visit Victoria GM Marketing, Nicki Kenyon Ms Kenyon has held leadership and change management roles in Technology, Financial Services and Travel with companies including Facebook, Visa, Cathay Pacific and AsiaRooms.com. She is also a Singapore Committee member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is currently a non-Executive board member at Shootsta.

ATPI Regional MD Australia and New Zealand, Peter Muller

The ATPI Group delivers corporate travel and events solutions to organisations in specialist sectors across the world.

Mr Muller has worked at ATPI for over ten years, overseeing all client services throughout Australia and New Zealand, and is also responsible for operational aspects of the business, including in developing markets.

Tourism Australia Executive GM International, Phillipa Harrison

Ms Harrison has worked for Tourism Australia since 2017, leading international operations for Asia, the Americas, Europe and New Zealand, as well as Global Distribution and Partnerships. She oversees Tourism Australia's network in 12 countries and manages airline relationships and distribution channels. Prior to her role, Ms Harrison also worked at Hamilton Island Enterprises, STA Travel and Contiki Holidays.

For more information or to register to be part of the discussion, visit the CAPA Melbourne Aviation Summit and CAPA Melbourne Corporate Travel Summit website.