Programme

With so much happening in the industry this year, we’re dividing each day into two themes, that’s six themes over the course of three days.
Click through the 2022 Programme themes to find out more.

Economic Disruption

This theme aims to explore how key players have shifted strategies in the short and long term as a consequence of the pandemic. Its economic consequences are undoubtedly one of the most impactful for the tourism industry, affecting travellers' decision-making and in-destination spending. That is why with this theme we want to explore and understand the trends that economic disruption is setting, making sure we adapt to these changes. What does travel's future look like in light of the increasing prices? How will the euro-dollar parity impact different travel markets?

Panel

How Inflation is Shaping Brand Experiences

Dive into how inflation is impacting brand experiences and travel spending.

Panel

Is the Way We Pay for Travel Changing?

Explore how new payment methods are transforming the way travellers are paying for their holidays...

Panel

Challenges Faced by the MICE Sector

What does the future of the MICE sector look like? Dive into its challenges during this session.

Panel

Tourism Development During Conflicts

Uncover how conflicts impact the tourism industry and what destinations' recovery looks like.

Talent & Capability

This theme aims to explore how key players have shifted strategies in the short and long term as a consequence of the pandemic. Since it hit in early 2020, the tourism industry has faced countless challenges. Now showing a strong recovery as a consequence of borders opening up, restrictions being removed and testing requirements being dropped by many countries currently, one of the most relevant challenges, is presented by tourism personnel. The industry is facing important workforce shortages, numerous strikes and a generalised feeling of discouragement. How can we best respond to these challenges? What are the leading organisations in the tourism sector doing?

Panel

How has Tourism's Workforce Responded to the Pandemic?

Numerous strikes and crises have emerged after the pandemic, what is their root cause? How can we...

Keynote

Highlighting Women Leading Tourism

Recognising the great work of women in the tourism industry should be part of each organisation's...

Healing Hotels of the Future

Keynote

Tourism's Talent Crisis

Explore and understand how organisations and the industry as a whole are responding to this crisis.

Keynote

Business Travel and Its Future

Will tourism professionals ever be willing to travel again like they did before? In this keynote,...

Panel

Augmenting Cultural Experiences Through Innovation and Digital Partnerships

Explore how to maximise the potential of cultural experiences through innovation and digitalisation.

Sustainability Champions

The rise of climate disasters and the pandemic have highlighted sustainability as the most crucial challenge of our time. Over the last years, we have observed and understood that sustainability is about stewardship; it is about leading the industry towards a better future for people and the planet. That means that succeeding in this area requires being able to create a movement of change-makers, where everybody aligns with the same vision to achieve common goals. It also means setting the right parameters so that sustainable development can be assessed and measured regularly and so that those organisations who are really taking action can be rewarded. Join this theme to discover what today's sustainability champions are doing to achieve their goals.

Keynote

How is Climate Change Impacting Destinations?

Learn how arctic destinations are facing climate change head-on, getting a deeper understanding of..

Panel

Sustainable Certification Challenges

Get a better understanding of the sustainable paths and certifications that destinations can choose.

Keynote

Policy Leadership for Sustainable Transformation

How can policy leadership and applying the UN Sustainable Development Goals help destinations to...

Panel

Tackling Plastic Pollution in Tourism

Explore how all tourism stakeholders can lead the shift towards a circular plastic economy.

Reshaping Tomorrow

The rise of climate disasters and the pandemic have highlighted sustainability as the most crucial challenge of our time. Having considered the importance of taking action in sustainability matters and understanding what today's leaders are doing to ensure tomorrow's future, it is time to take a look at those who are going the extra mile and innovating the way in which we think of sustainability. Take a deep dive into what cities might look like decades from now, explore the different futures that tourism might be facing and take stock of what's needed to guarantee everyone can keep discovering our beautiful planet through tourism. This theme will require you to explore the unexpected and to open your mind to all of those possibilities that seem unreachable.

Keynote

Adapting to New Tourism Ecosystems

This keynote aims to uncover the keys to becoming a social enterprise and its sustainability impact.

Keynote

Sustainable Cities of the Future

Are you ready to see what the future looks like? This keynote dives into how sustainable cities...

Panel

The New Role of DMOs

DMOs are no longer just marketing organisations, sustainability and management have also become key.

Keynote

What do Sustainable Futures Look Like?

We all have a responsibility when it comes to defining what the future looks like, are you ready?

Keynote

Taking Action to Protect Biodiversity

Join this session to learn about the game-changing sustainable initiatives that destinations are...

Digitalisation & Competitiveness

Ten years ago, the DTTT was born responding to the needs of the emergence of digitalisation. Despite the fact that a decade has gone by, we are still considering it amongst the most relevant topics in 2022. Thus, we will hear from destinations that are investing in an end-to-end digital transformation of the industry, equipping organisations with the tools and insights they need to grow and develop successfully. It is time to explore how DMOs can differentiate themselves from the competition and start building hubs of knowledge that will lead to the development of the whole industry.

Keynote

The Short-Form Exchange

Short-form videos are revolutionising the way digital marketing is done, join to learn the key to...

Panel

Bringing the Destination's Digital Presence Closer

This keynote aims to give an overview of how destinations can improve their digital presence.

Keynote

Reviving Traditional Folklore

Explore how excellent storytelling digital campaigns can attract travellers to the destination.

Keynote

Becoming a Smart Destination

Understand what it takes to become a European Capital of Smart Tourism from winners of the award.

Keynote

Developing Experiences through Gamification

Join this session to learn how you can further in-destination discovery through gamification.

Trends & Brand Engagement

At the end of every year, we refocus and try to predict the growing trends we should expect for the year ahead. 2022 has represented a moment of restart for the industry, where we are learning again how the industry acts and responds, where digital, sustainability and community-driven solutions are at the core. In 2023 we will need to become more agile than ever before, quickly responding to the changes presented by the market in order to survive and remain competitive.

Panel

The Power of Nomad Living

Learn how to maximise the attractiveness of your destination through post-pandemic trends.

Keynote

Exploring Global Trends

This session will help you understand the digitalisation scenario and investment opportunities...

Interview

Reinventing Travel Agents

Deep dive into how travel agents and their role are changing to respond to recent consumer needs.

Panel

The Aviation Industry in 2023

Dive into the 2023 predictions for this sector and prepare by understanding what others are doing.

Panel

How is e-Tourism Transforming the Industry?

Bridge the gap between research and industry through a panel on the transformation of e-Tourism.

Emerging Trends

At the end of every year, we refocus by looking at growing trends and discuss what the expectations are for the year ahead. 2020 and 2021 have represented a moment of pause, where we've had to reset and get ready for a new era, where digital, sustainability and community-driven solutions are at the core. In 2022, the stakes are even higher.
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In this theme, we will present the stories of those who are challenging the norms, striving to succeed and setting a new direction for the whole travel industry. We will look into the future of data and tech and how consumer behaviours are expected to evolve, following the "pandemic-effect": from outdoor and isolation to workations and co-living.

Digitalisation & Competitiveness

We've spoken about digitalisation for decades now, yet we are still here considering it amongst the most relevant topics in 2021. During X. Festival, we want to discuss Digitalisation in parallel with Growth & Competitiveness. The pandemic has shown us how the tourism industry was sometimes unprepared; we have seen DMOs wanting to drive digitalisation across their destination, sadly recognising that a lot of businesses still lack the tools to embrace digital.
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In this theme, we will hear from destinations that are investing in an end-to-end digital transformation of the industry, equipping organisations with the tools and insights they need to grow and develop successfully. We'll establish that tourism can be a force for good. It is time to explore how DMOs can differentiate themselves from the competition, identify and focus on their USP. Once found out what sets them apart, it is time to build centres of excellence, hubs of knowledge that will lead the development of the whole industry.

Sustainability & Stewardship

Sustainability has been a key pillar of our programme for years. The rise in climate disasters and a pandemic have highlighted sustainability as the most crucial challenge of our time. It is now time to move beyond a buzzword and towards real lasting changes.

Over the last couple of years, we have built a framework to categorise how organisations have committed to sustainability: Saying, Doing, Succeeding. In this theme, we will explore who is making the difference in the sustainability and stewardship scenario, using this framework to explore everything from pledges through to complete strategies.

Future of Urban Tourism

The urban environment is a space for inspiration, where communities meet up and ideas are born. Cities are also the place for innovation, where design, architecture, engineering and technology are combined to find human-centred solutions to everyday challenges. And finally, cities carry the stories of people who think outside the box, define new movements, set trends and make real changes.
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Cities have faced the toughest of times: 2021 has forced them to be tactical, react quickly, pivot. In this theme, we will explore how the outlook of city DMOs shifted in the short and long term, how they set their radar on new audiences, shifting their focus to local and proximity markets. We will also try to establish a path towards a purpose-driven future, defining challenges, centres of excellence, key players and stakeholders.

Leaders of Digital

In this theme, we are focusing on content, channels, technology and platforms. Our digital strategy cannot be the same: the pandemic has accelerated trends and defined new reasons for people to consume content. We will explore why people are online, what they are looking for in the current landscape, going well beyond promotional campaigns. Should we be on TikTok? Is Facebook still worth the effort? What on earth are people doing on Clubhouse?
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Through Digital All-Stars, we go back to our core focus: Digital Tourism. How is the travel and tourism industry evolving and planning its recovery? Who are the real Leaders of Digital? What's the content that works? How have destinations kept the conversation going at the inspiration and awareness levels? How can we boost conversion? And finally, how do we measure success and learn from failure? All this will include a nice and fun watch party, so get your popcorn and get ready to learn.

Previous Speakers

Swipe through to see last year's X. Festival speakers Leading the Tourism Transformation.

View all speakers

Programme

Economic Disruption

How Inflation is Shaping Brand Experiences

Is the Way We Pay for Travel Changing?

Challenges Faced by the MICE Sector

Tourism Development During Conflicts

Talent & Capability

How has Tourism's Workforce Responded to the Pandemic?

Highlighting Women Leading Tourism

Tourism's Talent Crisis

Business Travel and Its Future

Augmenting Cultural Experiences Through Innovation and Digital Partnerships

Sustainability Champions

How is Climate Change Impacting Destinations?

Sustainable Certification Challenges

Policy Leadership for Sustainable Transformation

Tackling Plastic Pollution in Tourism

Reshaping Tomorrow

Adapting to New Tourism Ecosystems

Sustainable Cities of the Future

The New Role of DMOs

What do Sustainable Futures Look Like?

Taking Action to Protect Biodiversity

Digitalisation & Competitiveness

The Short-Form Exchange

Bringing the Destination's Digital Presence Closer

Reviving Traditional Folklore

Becoming a Smart Destination

Developing Experiences through Gamification

Trends & Brand Engagement

The Power of Nomad Living

Exploring Global Trends

Reinventing Travel Agents

The Aviation Industry in 2023

How is e-Tourism Transforming the Industry?

Emerging Trends

Digitalisation & Competitiveness

Sustainability & Stewardship

Future of Urban Tourism

Leaders of Digital

*New for 2021*

X. Festival Destination Awards

Celebrating the best of the best in tourism

Improved Experience

Be present and take action

Staying Local

Support Local Businesses

Previous Speakers

Jost Neumann

Eva Britt Kornfeldt

Sabine Schwanz

Filipa Cardoso

Tiffany Misrahi

Peter Reelfs

Christian Møller-Holst

Tobias Hartmann

David Meany

Mathieu Dabon

Ellen Ruiter

Magnus Brekke Nygaard

Sabine Rottmann

Julie Benisty

Marco Minicucci

Julia Jakoubek

Jonathan Lucas

Daði Guðjónsson

Pierre Bouton

Miguel Angel Pérez

Pier Paolo Mariotti

Laura Vennes

Tasha Hayes

Barbara Jamison

Jorge Ventocilla

Ann-Kristin Ytreberg

Barbara Jamison

Rebecca Mackenzie

Sabine Schwanz

Nagore Espinosa

Max Schweder

Runa Sabroe

New for 2021