World Travel Market has announced two industry-leading participants for its inaugural WTM Vision Conference in Milan on 14 April 2011.

The half-day conference, which takes place at the Palazzo Mezzanotte ­­­- the Italian stock exchange, will be moderated by the Italian journalist Lorenzo Ottolenghi. Ottolenghi is Assistant President for state-owned public sector broadcaster RAI.

In a long and distinguished journalism career Ottolenghi has also held the positions of Managing Editor of RAI and Chief Editor of news agency AP Biscom.

Ottolenghi is joined by e-tourism specialist Professor Dimitrios Buhalis, who will give a masterclass on how the travel and tourism industry can best utilise social media entitled The Impact of Web 3.0 on the Travel and Tourism Industry.

Buhalis is Established Chair in Tourism and Deputy Director of the International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research (ICTHR). He is also Director of the John Kent Institute in Tourism at the School of Tourism, Bournemouth University and Professorial Observer at the Bournemouth University Senate.

Furthermore, leading global research company Euromonitor International will give delegates a detailed insight into the travel and tourism industry by unveiling its report The Travel Industry Global Overview.

The report will be given free to all delegates.

The WTM Vision Conference in Italy will be in English and simultaneously translated into Italian.

World Travel Market Chairman Fiona Jeffery said: “I am delighted to be able to announce Lorenzo and Buhalis as key participants in the new WTM Vision Conference in Milan.

“WTM Vision Conference in London has been a real success and I’m confident the Milan event will become as much a fixture on the travel and tourism industry’s calendar as the London conference.”

WTM Vision Conference launched in London as a mid-year half-day conference in 2009.

For 2011 the London conference will be supported by two new further WTM Vision Conference events; the first in Milan, Italy on April 14 and the second at WTM’s sister exhibition Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai, UAE on May 3.

WTM Vision Conference in Italy is being organised in association with TTG Italia.

WTM Vision Conference in Dubai is being organised in association with Arabian Travel Market.

WTM Vision Conference in London will continue to be organised in association with Kingley Event Management.