There may be brakes on the economy but there are no brakes on innovation. The future of the travel industry is taking shape at The PhoCusWright Conference.

After a hugely successful inaugural year, The Travel Innovation Summit@The PhoCusWright Conference received a record volume of applications in 2009. A variety of travel technologies, solutions, and mobile apps will be demonstrated by 34 start-up, emerging, and established travel companies on Tuesday November, 17 in Orlando Florida. Among them will be the next big innovations that will significantly impact travel planning, purchasing and memorializing.

“The quality and volume of the candidates this year has been impressive,” says Bob Offutt, PhoCusWright senior technology analyst. “We even had to turn away many intriguing technologies. The level of interest proves that economic challenges spark business innovation.”

There are no “speakers” or “presenters” at The Travel Innovation Summit. The innovators demonstrate their products through live walkthroughs of their technologies and tools.  At intervals throughout the day, the innovations are reviewed by the Critics Circle – a distinguished panel of travel technology gurus made up of Rod Cuthbert, Founder and Chairman, Viator Inc., Jim Hornthal, Chairman,  Triporati Inc., Rick Lewis, Principal, U.S. Venture Partners, and Kevin May, Editor and Co-Founder, Tnooz.  Four finalists are sent on to have Five Minutes of Fame later in the week during Center Stage@The PhoCusWright Conference. There a blue ribbon panel of judges will determine the “PhoCusWright Travel Innovation Summit Winner” announced at the conclusion of the conference.

The PhoCusWright Conference itself is leading the way with an innovative new feature that redefines the boundaries of a travel industry event. The Online Ticket, a live streaming and on-demand conference environment debuts this year. The new social media interface for The PhoCusWright Conference enables you to watch the conference program in real-time, interact with the audience in Orlando and online attendees worldwide, and review archived content through January 31, 2010. Travel Innovation Summit demonstrations, Center Stage presentations and interviews with key travel executives will be presented in this unique environment and conversation will take place live via Twitter. The Online Ticket enables viewers from around the world to access The Travel Industry Event of the Year whenever and wherever they want.