WTCE’s Taste of Travel Theatre Gets Tech Savvy

Technology will play an important role at this year’s Taste of Travel theatre at World Travel Catering & Onboard Services Expo (WTCE), reveal organisers. Taste of Travel, produced in association with Onboard Hospitality and sponsored this year by En Route, will see a panel of experts debate over the impact technology, and more specifically, AI will have on the onboard industry over the three-day event.

On Tuesday 28^th May, attendees will be able to hear Maryann Simson, Director, Jetway Communications, Job Heimerikx, CEO, AirFi, Raluca Ioana Avram, Anti-Fraud and Investigations Manager, Wizz Air, Manuel Hübschmann, Retail Director, Retail inMotion and Livia Vité, CCO, Perseuss, discuss ways to overcome fraudulent transactions made on board. As airlines are losing up to 5% of their income through this, the panel will look at online payment verifications and in addition enabling the sale of high value items using the latest connectivity solutions.

In addition to this, industry leaders from across the globe will explore ground-breaking approaches to driving inflight retail and pre-ordering services for the next generation of travellers. This session will feature Joe Harvey, Business Development Manager, Deli Lites, Thorunn Gudmundsdottir, Purchasing & Logistics Manager Icelandair, Salim Hazif, Managing Director, Food Folk, Brett Hooyerink, Director of Sales & Culinary, McGuire & Associates and Co-Chairman of the IFSA Innovation Committee and Paul Bilham, VP Sales, Omnevo.

As we navigate the ever-evolving landscape of aviation, hospitality and tourism, AI is rapidly emerging as a game-changing catalyst for change. On the Tuesday afternoon, Lance Hayward, Founder, Hayward Partnership, Max Pillong, Director AI & Data Analytics, Lufthansa Industry Solutions and Jon Harwood, VP Retail, dnata Catering will take to the stage to question if AI is a catalyst for positive change.

To continue the discussion around AI, Vimal Kumar Rai, Managing Partner, Commercial Excellence Partners will derive inspiration from AI-led transformation in other industries, to zoom into potential use cases for the inflight domain. He will attempt to answer the question: Will AI really transform the Inflight Customer Experience?

Located in Hall A1 at the Hamburg Messe from 28-30 May 2024, Taste of Travel Theatre will host a programme of educational sessions where live cooking demonstrations and tasting opportunities will also take place. All sessions are free to attend to registered visitors and exhibitors.