Combining panel discussions, carefully curated workshops, inspirational keynote speeches, tailored networking opportunities and one-to-one business meetings, the two-day event over 29-30 September at Glaziers Hall in London has become the must-attend professional development forum for the expedition cruise industry.
New for this year, the content has been separated into a clearly defined two-day format designed to support delegates at different stages of their expedition cruising journey. Day One is targeted at new to intermediate expedition cruise sellers, while Day Two is aimed at more experienced expedition specialists.
So far, contributors across the speaker and workshop programme will include: Rémi Bouysset, CEO of Oceanwide Expeditions; Gebhard Rainer, CEO of HX Expeditions and Nathaniel Sherborne, SVP and MD EMEA and ANZ of HX Expeditions; Captain Dan Blanchard, CEO and Founder of UnCruise Adventures; industry veteran Peter Shanks; Ponant’s UK and Ireland General Manager (and ECN Chair), Anthony Daniels; Mario Bounas, CCO at Swan Hellenic; Dani Bates, Head of UK Sales at National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions; John McKeon, Founder and Chair of Polar Latitudes Expeditions; and Editor-in-Chief at Wanderlust, George Kipouros.
The programme launch follows the announcement of the two keynote speakers – marine archaeologist Mensun Bound (often described as the "Indiana Jones of the Deep") and trends analyst Dr Antonia Ward.
The conference content has been put together by ECN CEO and Co-Founder, Akvile Marozaite, who said: "The ECN Conference is not just a travel trade event, it’s a highly-targeted professional development platform designed to inspire new ideas, encourage collaboration and give delegates relevant and practical knowledge they can take straight back into their businesses.
“The programme content, alongside several important announcements we have planned, make this our most significant event to date."
The conference is expected to welcome more than 26 expedition cruise operators, 150 delegates and host more than 800 scheduled one-to-one meetings
