Arival’s Top 5 Sessions at IPW

For the first time, IPW is providing an educational program for delegates to the conference — IPW Focus. The program will run between Monday, September 20, and Wednesday, September 22, at the Las Vegas conference, and is designed for tourism operators and markets across destinations, hospitality, tours, attractions and more. 

Arival will be running two sessions, focusing on The Big Shifts in the Visitor Path to Purchase and What It Means for Attraction Operators, Resellers and Destinations and What Google’s Things To Do Means for Tours, Activities & Attractions.

IPW has also added new health and safety measures. All delegates must show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test and face masks are required at all times.

Here’s Arival’s top 5 sessions at IPW:

Growing Your Share of the Global Group Student Travel Market

24% of global tourism comes from the group student travel market. Before the pandemic this was worth $185 billion dollars in revenue. Carylann Assante, Executive Director at SYTA and the SYTA Youth Foundation, will provide practical tips and research data that supports your investment in the market.

How New Orleans Tapped its Culture Bearers and Queer Community to Drive Visitation

Who knew that New Orleans claims it’s home to the oldest gay bar — the Cafe Lafitte in Exile? This session from Dustin Woehrmann, CEO and Creative Director at Communify, and Mark Romig, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at New Orleans & Company, will delve into how the city tapped into the storytelling of their LGBTQ community to increase visitor numbers.

Google Things to Do: What Google’s New Initiative Means for Tours, Activities & Attractions

Google is in the middle of recreating its approach to the in-destination experiences sector. This will have big implications for tours, activities, attractions and the online travel agencies who sell them. This in-depth session hosted by Arival unpacks the changes underway, discusses what’s likely to come, and explores what this means for tour and attraction operators, resellers and technology providers. 

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Authentic Travel Experience Meeting Expectations

Travelers are looking for more “authentic travel”, according to Greg DeShields, Executive Director at Tourism Diversity Matters. He will examine why it is essential for travel industry suppliers to understand the monetary value diverse customers, such as LGBTQ, generate to ensure their products and services are well-tailored to meet this market’s specific needs.

Attractions Revisited: The Big Shifts in the Visitor Path to Purchase and What It Means for Attraction Operators, Resellers and Destinations

Visitor attractions have always been at the heart of each trip, and the center of each destination. From museums and zoos to cultural monuments, theme parks and observatories, every attraction has had to confront profound changes in marketing, operations and guest experience. 

In this session for tourism professionals involved with visitor attractions, Arival CEO Douglas Quinby presents exclusive new research, in partnership with Go City, on the huge shifts in traveler planning and purchasing, the move to online and advance planning, and what attractions need to know as travelers get back to visiting. 

Following the keynote presentation, Douglas will moderate an in-depth discussion with Maria Gutierrez-Winder, Senior Leader of Sales at SeaWorld San Diego, Carrie Keplinger, COO at Go City, and Haley Ward, Vice President of Sales at Hudson Yards Experiences, on what’s next for the sector, including distribution, the shift to advance booking, connectivity, touchless entry, capacity management and pricing, visitor sentiment and more.