An Inside Look at 2018's European Mountain Travel Summit

Jan 11, 2018

The second-annual European Mountain Travel Summit (EMTS) took place in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, from January 9-11. More than 160 senior executives from the mountain travel industry were in attendance.

The business-to-business event, produced by Northstar Travel Group (parent company to TravelAge West), connected top-level executives from across the globe for thought-provoking content, a number of networking events and alpine skiing in a leading mountain resort destination.

Attendees represented countries across the world, including Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Switzerland and the U.K., among others.

“All of the content delivered over the last day and a half at EMTS was of high quality, and it was relatable to people in both North America and Europe,” said John Frasca, international vice president for Ski.com. What we heard on stage was extremely diverse. The speakers kept us thinking and engaged, and the caliber of those in the audience led to increased levels of participation.”

A range of sessions were available to attendees, including “Attracting Younger Generations,” which featured a panel with Andrew van der Feltz, senior director of Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific for Expedia Media Solutions; Nicolas Mayer, partner and industry leader for Lodging & Tourism Clients, PwC; and John Urdi, executive director of Mammoth Lakes Tourism. Another highlight was “Innovative Ski Pass Programs,” which was presented by Daniel Brauer, senior director of marketing for Vail Resorts; Bohus Hlavaty, CEO of Tatry Mountain Resorts; Evan Reece, CEO of Liftopia; and Urs Zurbriggen, COO and deputy CEO of Saas-Fee.

Featured speakers throughout the event included Trevor Crist, CEO of Inntopia; Brad King, vice president of marketing and vertical sales for Sojern; and Reto Gurtner, Chairman and CEO for Weisse Arena Gruppe, among others.

"The level of engagement we saw from those in attendance was outstanding," according to Michael Pierson, managing director of EMTS. "Because the content covered at EMTS is so relevant, attendees left the conference with actionable items to bring back to their businesses.”

Additionally, functions hosted by ADARA, Crans-Montana Tourism & Congress, SKIDATA and Sojern allowed for networking and building relationships.

“This has been a great and unique chance for Crans-Montana to host such a high-quality summit,” said Bruno Huggler, director of Crans-Montana Tourism & Congress. “EMTS enables professional development and an exchange of knowledge that encourages all participants to find new ways and approaches for sustainable economic development. The topics presented and discussed were of high importance for the future development of mountain resorts, and the fact that mostly top-level management is participating has led to an exchange at a very high level, with many takeaways for all partners involved.”

EMTS is produced by Mountain Travel Symposium (MTS), the longest-running and largest gathering of mountain tourism professionals. MTS will be held in Heavenly — South Lake Tahoe from April 8-14, 2018.