ARC TravelConnect

Quantitative futurist Amy Webb dazzled the audience with stories about companies that successfully anticipated and adapted to disruption over and over again. (Did you know that Nintendo got its start creating handmade playing cards in the 1800s — and that it still produces them?)

Webb described how companies can be “pathfinders” by confronting uncertainty using data — and by flexibly recalibrating their strategies when needed.

Resources: Amy Webb’s TravelConnect 2019 Presentation Resources

TravelConnect audience favorite Wayne Best, chief economist for Visa, shared his outlook on the global economy and its impact on travel. According to Best, while the U.S. economy is slowing, the probability of a recession remains low. If we see any kind of business-centric downturn, Best said, it’s likely to look more like 2001 than 2008.

Closing out the conference, a panel of industry leaders (BCD’s Miriam Moscovici, United Airlines’ Tye Radcliffe, JetBlue Ventures’ Bonny Simi and ARC’s Peter Kane) was moderated by Skift’s Rafat Ali. Their conversations focused on the hottest topics in travel, including sustainability, blockchain, omnichannel retailing and the future of travel journalism.