A number of travel industry leaders, including Etihad Airways Chief Executive Officer James Hogan, took part in the Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) conference on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi yesterday.

A key element of the conference, themed New Heights, was an Industry focus session, moderated by Al Jazeera news presenter Darren Jordon, who invited a number of industry leaders to take part in a series of Q&A sessions and provide their insights on the issues that affect the business travel industry.

In his session, James Hogan focused on a range of topics including Etihad’s strategy on surviving and outperforming the global recession; the changes that have taken place in consumer behaviour; and the importance of listening to customers and providing them with the services they want.

James Hogan said: “For companies to survive they need to focus less on how unfair they perceive the world to be, and more on how to adapt to take advantage of emerging opportunities and changing operating conditions. We concentrate on providing our customers with the very best products and service, both on the ground and in the air. We listened to our customers, which is why Etihad has become increasingly popular with both the corporate and business traveller.”

Commenting on the conference, Hakan Ericsson, President EMEA and Latin America, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, said: “We were delighted that James Hogan and the other selected speakers were able to take part. Their insight is invaluable and will help us immensely in developing our global strategy and stimulating debate and understanding of the biggest issues and opportunities in the future.

The conference was attended by CWT’s leadership teams for the EMEA and Latin America regions, bringing together for the first time over 150 representatives of CWT’s wider global partner network. The 150 CWT delegates together manage in excess of $11billion in annual traffic.