Have you visited Virtual Vacation Expo yet? On Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 the doors opened for the show that tops the travel events calendar with “live” events, and it remains available on demand through the end of the year. If you haven’t already done so, be sure to visit the tradeshow at www.VirtualVacationExpo.com.

This year’s event features presentations by top travel executives; great panel discussions on cruises, tours, resorts and other topics; and the opportunity to network and gather valuable information at a wide assortment of tradeshow booths.

Industry Experts

Don’t miss what many people have to wait in line to hear: Michael R. Solomon, professor of marketing and director of the Institute for Lifestyle Research at St. Joseph University, speaking on the topic of consumer behavior in the travel industry. Solomon is an award-winning author on consumer behavior, and is in great demand covering this topic on the speaker circuit. He is also managing director of Mind/Share, Inc., whose clients include eBay, DuPont, Black & Decker, The Gap, Visa, Timberland, Calvin Klein and many more.

At the General Session, you can listen in on conversations with Richard Fain, chairman and CEO, Royal Caribbean Cruises; Randy Garfield, executive vice president, worldwide sales and travel operations, Walt Disney Travel Company; and Mike Going, president, Funjet Vacations.

You will also enjoy panel discussions featuring experts offering insight on subjects of the most interest to you. Tour, cruise and hotel and resort executives offer advice on what you should be doing to grow sales, and what tools you can use to help you do that. The list of panelists includes Steve Gorga, president and CEO, Travel Impressions; Nico Zenner, president, Travel Bound; Brian Stack, president, CIE Tours International; Vicki Freed, senior vice president, sales and trade support and services, Royal Caribbean International; Mark Conroy, president, Regent Seven Seas Cruises; Neil Palumbo, COO, MSC Cruises; and Maurice Zarmati, president and CEO, Costa Cruise Lines.

You’ll also have the opportunity to hear Las Vegas resort executives talk about the most important issues impacting your hotel and resort sales during this difficult economic period. These executives include Donna Marcou, vice president of leisure sales, Planet Hollywood Worldwide Resorts; Gail Fitzgerald, vice president sales and marketing, CityCenter; and Michael Larragueta, director of leisure sales, The Venetian. They’ll also provide an update on what’s going on in the Las Vegas market today, and let you know about education, training and incentives opportunities.

In addition, you can access virtual tours of Crystal Cruises’ Serenity, Holland America Line’s Eurodam, SeaDream Yacht Club’s Seadream II and AMAWaterways’ La Marguerite; view a Destination Showcase on Great Britain; and attend a social networking workshop.

At Your Fingertips

Virtual Vacation Expo makes it easy for you to absorb a wealth of information, delivered right to your desktop, eliminating the need for travel and time out of the office. At the tradeshow, you can visit the booths, watch videos and download sales materials. And, while you can no longer have a “live” chat with the supplier and destination representatives whose names appear in the booth, you can still interact with them. Just click on their names and you’ll be able to email them. You can access all these resources, at any time, through the end of the year.

One of the best features of this online tradeshow format is the ability for you to see all the speakers and panels when you want to see them. In traditional tradeshows, once the panel is over you can’t go back unless someone has recorded the event for posterity. With our Virtual Vacation Expo, however, all of the speakers and panels are online for at least three months. So, instead of having to choose between speakers, panels and tradeshow booths in the limited time you have available, you can view them all at your leisure, 24/7.

Virtual Vacation Expo is designed to literally bring a travel trade event to your desktop, reaching the 95 percent of you who cannot travel to a traditional land-based trade event. Once you register, you can navigate the site to the things that interest you most, from the tradeshow floor full of exhibitors to the educational panels to the interviews and more.

Don’t miss the opportunity to interact with exhibitors and hear from top travel executives and marketing experts all at the click of a mouse. Take advantage of all the educational and networking opportunities available through Virtual Travel Events, and visit the Virtual Vacation Expo at www.VirtualVacationExpo.com.  @

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