Eye on Travel

Radio Guest List—WTTC Global Summit in Bangkok, Thailand—June 3, 2017

Locations in this article:  Bangkok, Thailand

peter-wttcThis week, the Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio Show broadcasts from the World Travel and Tourism Council’s Annual Global Summit hosted in Bangkok, Thailand. Each year, heads of state, leaders of industry, ministers of tourism, and Fortune 500 CEOs in travel and tourism gather in a different city to discuss the cutting-edge issues facing the industry. This week, Peter is joined by Tony Fernandes, the CEO of AirAsia. He discusses disruptor airlines, and how budget carriers are changing the way the airline game is played, including a new aircraft that better suits the long-haul, low-cost model. Cassie De Pecol, Founder of Expedition 196 and holder of two Guinness World Records for fastest person and fastest female to visit every sovereign nation in the world, drops by to share highlights from her 18-month and 10-day journey around the world. She discusses her visits to Yemen and Syria, the countries she had to hop in and out of, her issues obtaining visas, and the biggest surprises on the road. She also confesses her fear of flying. There’s all of this and more as the Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio Show broadcasts from the WTTC Annual Global Summit in Bangkok, Thailand.

Click here to listen to the show streaming live from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 3, 2017.

Have a travel question? Ask Peter. Email him at peter@petergreenberg.com, post on his Facebook page, or tweet your questions to @PeterSGreenberg.

David Scowsill, President & CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council, talks about countries where tourism is currently suffering from politics and terrorism. He also predicts up to a seven percent decline in international visitors to the United States, returning the United States tourism industry to post 9/11 levels.

Arnie Weissman, Editor-in-Chief of Travel Weekly, chats with Peter about how attendees of the conference may think about travel differently than travelers. There is a deep-seated importance in the politics of immigration and visa availability. He also discusses airlines not wanting to devalue their brands by offering cheap fares.

Kelly Craighead, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Travel and Tourism and Executive Director of the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office, joins Peter to talk about the current global travel crisis and how the ability to move between borders is critical for the travel industry.

Tony Fernandes, CEO of AirAsia, discusses disruptor airlines, and how budget carriers are changing the way the airline game is played, including a new aircraft that better suits the long-haul, low-cost model.

Eric Ricaurte, CEO of GreenView, discusses environmental problems, and some small solutions posed by the travel industry. He also offers some of the best questions travelers can ask to determine if a hotel is really “green.”

Cassie De Pecol is the Founder of Expedition 196 and holder of two Guinness World Records for fastest person and fastest female to visit every sovereign nation in the world. She shares highlights from her 18-month and 10-day journey around the world, including her visits to Yemen and Syria, the countries she had to hop in and out of, her issues obtaining visas, and the biggest surprises on the road. She also confesses her fear of flying.

Brett Tollman, Chief Executive of The Travel Corporation, tells Peter about a bizarre uptick in travel to Russia, and wonders if it’s because people want to go while they still can.

Professor Susanne Becken, Director of the Griffith Institute for Tourism at Griffith University, reveals her work on tracking real benchmarks of sustainable tourism including poverty alleviation, emissions, and gender equity.

Mario Hardy, CEO of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, talks about the double-digit growth of tourism in the Pacific area over the past several decades and the resilience of the travel industry as a whole.

By Mara Marski for PeterGreenberg.com