The Global eTourism Community meets in Innsbruck to discuss future challenges brought by Information and Communication Technologies.
On January 22nd-25th, 2013 Innsbruck, Austria will be the place to be for eTourism enthusiasts. Organized by the International Federation for Information Technology and Travel & Tourism (IFITT), the ENTER Conference 2013 celebrates its 20th anniversary. On this occasion representatives from leading universities, industry players, governmental and non- governmental institutions will gather at the ENTER home base in Innsbruck, Austria. The conference will reflect on the past 20 years of technology in travel and tourism. Moreover the global eTourism community comes together to discuss and outline the future information technology challenges that the travel and tourism industry will face in the next 20 years.
As the oldest conference of its kind, ENTER offers a worldwide and unique forum for attendees from academia, industry and governments to actively exchange, share, and take forward state-of-the-art research and industrial case studies on the application of information and communication technologies in travel and tourism. Detailed information about the line-up of speakers and registration is available on the conference website.
ENTER 2013 is supposed to be the largest international IT and tourism related event ever, attracting participants from over 60 countries worldwide. ENTER 2013 will host in total 150 speakers from national tourist authorities, academia and. The theme is on eTourism Challenges and Opportunities for the next 20 years. Leading technology and tourism organisations their insights, expertise, and outlook for the next 20 years. Established in 1994, ENTER conferences assemble every year a global audience of 350 people from industry, governments and academia to network and discuss the latest technological advances and impacts of eTourism.
In addition to academic research, ENTER2013 includes the presentation of industry and destination projects primarily aimed at representatives as well as technology and marketing practitioners from companies working in the travel and tourism sector who have valuable experience to report and present. “ENTER celebrates 20 years and it is really incredible how much the IFITT community has contributed to what we take for granted as eTourism today. Back then the Internet was just born and now it it the absolute backbone of the tourism industry. In ENTER2013 not only we celebrate the 20 years of the IFITT history but also project on the innovations and challenges that technology bring to Tourism and travel. Tourism industry professionals, technology creators, and researchers gather to celebrate dynamic eTourism futures” says Bournemouth University Professor Dimitrios Buhalis, the President of IFITT.
IFITT is one of the leading eTourism knowledge-hubs for tourism and technology experts in industry and academia. The Federation extensively discusses and progresses the economic, consumer and organisational impacts of eTourism through events such as the ENTER conference, Workshops and IFITT supported publications. IFITT members include researchers and practitioners of eTourism who treasure the power of networking and global knowledge sharing for improving their competitiveness and innovation. Institutional members include organisations, companies and research institutes active in the eTourism space.
The Social Programme at ENTER 2013
The ENTER 2013 Conference forms a very important event for social networking with people from the tourism industry from around the world. Therefore its social programme has always been an integral part of the ENTER experience bringing the eTourism community togetherand making the event one of the biggest highlights of the year for the participants.
The social programme will start on Monday, the 21st of January 2013 with an invitation to all conference delegates to join for drinks and snacks at the bar and restaurant ‘Elferhaus’ in Innsbruck. This first social event will create a good opportunity to get an overview and to make first contacts.
The following day, which will mainly be centred on the PhD Workshop, will conclude with an informal get-together at ‘Stiftskeller’ in Innsbruck to reflect the new knowledge gained from an inspiring day. For those PhD students awarded for their research proposals this evening will also be a good reason to celebrate their success together with peers and friends.
Wednesday, the 23rd of January will be the day where the ENTER 2013 Conference is officially starting. Therefore a traditional welcome reception at ‘Seegrube’ restaurant invites all participants of the conference and their accompanying persons to attend this reception and to take part in the review of a fruitful first conference day.
Thursday will end with the highlight of the social programme at ENTER 2013 where the conference invites all delegates to a networking dinner in order to celebrate its 20 years anniversary. Themed around the ’20 Years of ENTER’ a picture-show of all the ENTER conferences since its beginning in 1990’s will be aimed at reliving the spirit of 20 years research about information and communication technology in travel and tourism. An anniversary cake and a special 20-year-ENTER cocktail will be served to the guest in a lounge-atmosphere that is toned for the ‘back to the roots’ motto to encourage interaction and communication. This networking dinner will take place in the Forum 2 at the Convention Centre in Innsbruck, which is a brand-new room at the Messe Innsbruck and the perfect setting for this event. This festive evening will also be used as an award ceremony for the winners of the outstanding industry contribution award, innovative destination award and the journal paper of the year award.
For those delegates intending to stay over the weekend, ENTER 2013 suggests joining the last social event of this conference on Friday, the 25. January 2013 at the brewery Theresien Brau in the centre of Innsbruck.
ENTER 2013 wishes all conference delegates a joyful and exciting time in Innsbruck, which is Europe’s oldest city in the state of Tyrol and enjoys the reputation to be an impressive holiday destination that offers a number of cultural activities such as historic churches, monuments and museums. More information can be found at http://www.enter-2013.org/About-Innsbruck-101.htm.
The ENTER 2013 Conference will be held in the Congress Convention Centre in Innsbruck, Austria, on 23rd until 25th January. More information about the conference and its social programme, is provided on the website (http://www.enter-2013.org/) which is also the website where people interested in attending the conference can register.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
